Hey {{first_name}}
One of my all time favourite movies is Snatch. Growing up I must have watched it a gazillian times.
There is this scene from when they try to rob the bookies that actually illustrates something called the Norman Door effect.
A Norman Door is when a something gives you the wrong subconscious signal.
Something like a big handle telling your brain to pull.
But the door needs to be pushed.
The usual way this gets solved is by putting a label on it that says:
PUSH
That label 100% helps…
But it is also a bandaid or a failsafe because the design and mechanics of that door do not match.
And this is where a lot of websites go wrong.
The site technically works.
The product page loads.
The button exists.
The filter opens.
The cart drawer appears.
The subscription selector can be changed.
The information is somewhere.
But the customer still has to stop and work out what to do.
Because those UX features and functionality on the site are not intuitive.
They have Mechanics problems.
Mechanics is how your website works when the visitor tries to find a product, open a menu, close an accordion, choose an option, add it to cart, buy it.
It is the part of the site that either makes the next step easy or passes the cognitive load back to the customer.
A lot of “UX messaging” is really just a PUSH sticker on a bad door.
“Scroll for more.”
“Click to see options.”
“Tap here to choose frequency.”
“Swipe to view colours.”
“Open the accordion for delivery.”
“Checkout below.”
If the page needs instructions to explain basic movement, the interface is already making the customer work too hard.
The better the Mechanics, the less the website has to explain itself.
And the copy can do all the things you want the copy to do, like:
Sell the product.
Explain the value.
Remove doubt.
Build confidence.
Your copy should not have to act like a tour guide for a confusing page.
I am not saying, you can’t and shouldn’t sign post and use messaging in your mechanics
I am just saying good mechanics makes the next step behave the way the customer expects it to behave.
The messaging should compliment the mechanics not be the mechanics.
On of the best ways to spot if you have a mechanics issue is to look at for rage clicks or dead clicks.
Those are signs someone is pushing or pulling the wrong way on your door.
Chat soon,
Peter
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