Editorial
The Gist
- UX design strategy. A thoughtful approach ensures users stay on the "happy path" and prevents the "unhappy path" in user experiences.
- User research importance. Conducting user interviews and usability testing helps proactively identify and solve potential problems.
- Support for unhappy path. Designing for error resolution and providing clear support options enhances user satisfaction and retention.
User experiences, guided by a thoughtful UX design strategy, aren’t always the “happy path” despite best intentions. The “happy path” is when users follow the default scenario with no issues or errors.
Users rarely interpret and use software exactly how product teams expect them to, and the “unhappy path” happens quite often. Understanding how users interact with software helps teams recognize and prevent errors through a UX design strategy.
For example on a form, the “happy path” is when a user fills in all the fields correctly and submits the form without issue. The “unhappy path” might occur when the user tries to submit the form but the “dash” in their phone number causes an error. The validation rules for that field allow only numbers.
If they are lucky, there is an error message that explains the issue, and the user only has to take the “dash” out. It’s an easy fix.
UX Design Strategy: What Are the Consequences of the 'Unhappy Path'?
Now, consider another scenario where a user tries to upload a file but receives an error message that the file is not the right size. However, it doesn’t give the user any other information or troubleshooting tips to resolve the issue.
The user becomes frustrated trying to adjust the file so it can be submitted. It doesn’t work. What happens next? Does the user try the search feature, scroll through the help section, look for a chat option or just leave. If the customer relationship isn’t strong, the task isn’t vital or they have experienced issues with the company before, the user likely just leaves. A lost customer and lost revenue over something that could have been prevented.
Related Article: UX Is a Continuous Investment for Profitable Companies. Here’s Why
Designing for the 'Happy Path' and 'Unhappy Path'
Designing for the “unhappy path” goes beyond designing for edge cases (those rare but potential behaviors or errors), it’s designing the user experience for resolving problems. Proactively planning for what happens when things go wrong is just as important as planning for what goes right. That’s where user research comes in. Conducting user interviews and task-based usability testing can help to proactively not just problems but what solutions may be needed.
Types of user research to focus on:
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- Identifying unexpected user flows – There may be other paths they may use instead of the one expected. Teams need to plan a smooth user flow for those paths or provide a stronger guidance on the “happy path.”
- Testing error messaging – When an error happens, an informative error message that communicates what’s wrong, what needs to happen and what’s next helps users get back on track.
- Identifying support preferences – When a user unfortunately gets on the “unhappy path,” what support options are they likely to choose.
- Identifying issues with support options – How easy or difficult is it for them to:
- Locate contact options
- Use the site search feature
- Use chat messaging
Why the Research Isn’t Happening
No Need for Research
Some teams don’t conduct user research because they feel they know their customers so well that they don’t need to do interviews or testing. That’s a mistake. Users are trying to solve their particular needs or wants and have different expectations, preferences, life experiences, mental models, etc., than that of the teams that build a particular software.
Related Article: What Is Customer Experience Design? Benefits & Best Practices
Concerns About Costs
Some teams think it’s too expensive to conduct user research, but the cost of potential maintenance and rework must also be considered along with customer dissatisfaction and loss.
Related Article: Exploring the Crossroads of User Experience and Customer Experience
Deadline Constraints
A release date has been set, the team doesn’t feel it has time to do research, but there’s a cost of not doing research that will come back on the team. But, there is an additional expense of correcting issues after the system has gone live that teams need to consider. Users on the “unhappy path” complain and need more customer support to get tasks done.
Related Article: Using User Experience Analysis to Improve Customer Journeys
Changing Priorities
There may have been a change in direction of the project, and they spent more time on one feature over another and ran out of time to make all the changes they anticipated. Another item gets added to the backlog.
Benefits of Designing for the 'Unhappy Path'
If users can complete transactions or tasks successfully, it’s a win for the company. When teams consider not designing for the “unhappy path” or not doing user research, they also need to consider the cost of lost customers or the additional expense of correcting issues after the system has gone live and users on the “unhappy path” complain and need more customer support.
Even with the best of intentions, there may be an unexpected issue, but planning for the “unhappy path” when the path goes wrong helps users get back on track through a robust UX design strategy.
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