Michael J. Metts

Interfaces now sit between us and all kinds of intimate moments and critical tasks.

What does that button do?” asks one.

“It saves the user’s data,” says the other. “That’s why it says ‘Save.’”

“Does it save all their data, or just what we’re looking at right here?”

“Oh. Just what we’re looking at here.”

“How will users know that? Should we tell them?”

What terms are our users familiar with?

Do the words help people use the interface?

FIGURE 1.3 Pinterest’s Terms of Service uses words to design an experience that’s far more useful than most of the legal agreements users are forced into.

When you make decisions that affect the experience someone else has, you’re designing.

I use language to solve problems

if you take away the words, how much interface is left?

The words are everywhere, and it’s a mistake to treat them as an afterthought—something that can be filled in later.

FIGURE 1.12 You don’t need any fancy prototyping software to create a design for this thing—just a text editor.