Get On My Lawn
The Challenge
How do you create a user flow for animals? Can I create a user flow that doesn't use any type of language?
To explore this idea, I decided to give myself a user flow challenge at my own home. I live on a fairly well-traveled street in the suburbs of New Jersey. Watching people walk back and forth on our sidewalk, I decided to see if I could alter their behavior. Without using any type of text or language communication, could I get strangers to walk on my lawn?
Rules
- No text; no visual symbolism.
- Must match the environment.
- Goal is to get strangers to walk on my lawn.
The Experiment
Research/Plan
What variables are there? What systems do animals react to or engage with?
- physics:
- gravity: uphill/downhill
- water: currents,
- something physically being harder or easier
- environmental conditions: rain, cold, heat, snow, humidity, wind
- smells
- barriers: fences, bodies of water, trees or bushes, predators
- desires: water, mate, food, friends
- other animals
- fear: flight or fight stimulus
- hierarchy?
What else could I research/learn about?
- Rube Goldberg machines
- Dog training, lion training, dolphin training
- Animal communication
- Zoo/wildlife design
- Bird watchers
- Bird baths, bird houses, bird feeders
Other thoughts
What would negative enforcement look like? Blocking the sidewalk. Positive enforcement? Finding a way to incentivize stepping off of the sidewalk.
A really strong visual cue is seeing that other people have walked this way. If I could make it look like an option that other people have already traveled along, then I think that would encourage people to walk on my lawn. This is a visual cue that is absent from web design. What if there was a way to show the most commonly trodden paths. That could be really helpful feedback and guidance for users.
What if there was away to show commonly trodden paths on a website?
Setup
When doing nothing, I saw 4 people walk by in an hour. 3 of them walked on the sidewalk, 1 was on the street, and nobody walked on my lawn. Note, I was sitting on my porch observing. This may have affected people's behavior, but it allowed my to observe the behaviors and also kept me nearby in case I needed to correct the obstruction on the sidewalk to make it accessible for a neighbor.
The Results
Blocking the Sidewalk
Blocking the sidewalk with a wheelbarrow of bricks was the most successful strategy. However the positioning of the wheelbarrow was pretty important. People really did not want to walk on the lawn. If there was any space on the sidewalk available, people would squeeze by, staying on the sidewalk as much as possible. I ended up moving the wheelbarrow a bit, so it really took up the entire walkway. Within an hour, there were 9 people who went down the sidewalk, either walking or on bikes. Of the 9, 7 walked on my lawn! The other 2 went in the street.
Making the Lawn Appealing
I explored trying to encourage people off of the sidewalk by leaving quarters in the lawn. This did not work at all. Zero people walked on the lawn. I think they did not see the money. Or if they did, they were not inspired to change their path.
Conclusions
The most effective strategy by far was to block or prevent what the user's most wanted to do. While this wasn't surprising, it did impact how I am thinking about other user flows. The benefit of a clear path over several doors is paramount. Rather than providing options, provide guidance. Edit, edit, edit.
This also reinforced my appreciation for building accessible products. There is nothing more important than ensuring that whatever you are making can actually be used by people.
