2022-06-19
Why following interaction and interface patterns of competitors might not be a good idea for apps and software that are tools?
Following well established interaction patters is important, so people can use their mental models of how things work, and the elements of the interface ale pliant. This is true for many use cases like basic behaviour of HTML elements (what can be clicked, what is the most important thing on this page), fundamental interactions (how do I move from one page to another or what to expect from checkout process), or critical use cases, well established within a certain industry.
Following what other do or how {this big FAANGM thing} works might be a good thing for consumer apps. The once that are a mere interface for media or communication with others.
It is not as obvious for tools – this kind of software that people use in their work. We could use enterprise-grade or b2b or business applications as a synonym for tools. In the end what differentiates tools from consumer apps are:
- Tools are used on daily basis to do work, so the tasks performed require some level of skills, or experience in subject matter – as opposed to consumer apps that require no knowledge.
- Tools are rarely used interchangeably, this is because when you hire a tool for a job, it becomes your work companion – or a company just bought a hefty enterprise plan, and you are stuck with this enterprise grade Windows 3.11 like thing.
Because of that following direct competitors might not be a great ux strategy nor reference, because:
- The difference in usage paradigms and interaction patterns might be a differentiator! (Think about the last time you used two similar tools, and of them felt better for you than the other.)
- People rarely jump from one tool to another. We all use Signal, Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp interchangeably, but rarely work in the same tools on daily basis. People will not have their mental models so fixed on interaction patterns – and if they do, it is the thing that makes your app sticker for your users.
When working on tools, to not fall into a trap of what direct competitors do, because their interaction and interface patterns might not be as great for people as you think. And:
- You never know what is working for your competitors – maybe you are drawing an inspiration from a thing that is performing badly.
- Maybe there is a technological or UX debt accumulating on this app you are trying to mimic.
- There might ba an A/B test running, and you are experiencing the Verizon that will eventually loose.
- Even big companies doing a lot of testing before launch make mistakes (see how Google Material design admitted that the underlined only inputs were not great for usability).
For tools (enterprise-grade, business software, utility apps, b2b) the most important thing is to know your audience – how and what they work – and to experiment frequently to learn what works for _your_ users.