But what does a user look like who uses the feature when it requires a single click, but doesn’t use the feature if it requires a double click? Clearly the data shows that these people exist, but I couldn’t easily point to a single person for whom that intervention is decisive in determining their behavior.
I use Discord, which recently switched the file-upload feature from requiring one click to requiring two (the first of which, if you single-click as you used to rather than double-clicking to skip, opens a context menu that I never use and did not want). I do still share images most of the time, but every single time I upload an image it’s noticeably higher-friction and more frustrating than it previously was, and if I valued the feature less I can easily imagine ceasing to use it.
Prior to the update, the path from wanting to share a file to actually doing so was sufficiently short to feel effortless. The extra click, even though it’s minor, adds a stumbling block in the middle of what was previously an effectively-atomic action (and moreover, adds latency; there’s not very much more, if I remember to make my click a double, but there’s still some, and as a user I consider latency one of the worst crimes a developer can commit).
Thanks for the example! It reminds me of how I once was a very active Duolingo user, but then they published some update that changed the color scheme. Suddenly the duolingo interface was brighter and lower contrast, which just gave me a headache. At that point I basically instantly stopped using the app, as I found no setting to change it back to higher contrast. It’s not quite the same of course, but probably also something that would be surprising to some product designers—“if people want to learn a language, surely something so banal as a brightening up the font color a bit would not make them stop using our app”.
I use Discord, which recently switched the file-upload feature from requiring one click to requiring two (the first of which, if you single-click as you used to rather than double-clicking to skip, opens a context menu that I never use and did not want). I do still share images most of the time, but every single time I upload an image it’s noticeably higher-friction and more frustrating than it previously was, and if I valued the feature less I can easily imagine ceasing to use it.
Prior to the update, the path from wanting to share a file to actually doing so was sufficiently short to feel effortless. The extra click, even though it’s minor, adds a stumbling block in the middle of what was previously an effectively-atomic action (and moreover, adds latency; there’s not very much more, if I remember to make my click a double, but there’s still some, and as a user I consider latency one of the worst crimes a developer can commit).
Thanks for the example! It reminds me of how I once was a very active Duolingo user, but then they published some update that changed the color scheme. Suddenly the duolingo interface was brighter and lower contrast, which just gave me a headache. At that point I basically instantly stopped using the app, as I found no setting to change it back to higher contrast. It’s not quite the same of course, but probably also something that would be surprising to some product designers—“if people want to learn a language, surely something so banal as a brightening up the font color a bit would not make them stop using our app”.