S.M.A.R.T. design for S.T.U.P.I.D. users

This is a very interesting article about good design for users that are stressed, tired, untrained, passive, independent*, and/or distracted (S.T.U.P.I.D.).

How do we address this?

The cliffs note version is to make your design Simple, Memorable, "Accept Autopilot**," Recoverable, and Tested in real life situations.



This is almost common sense, but even the best designers are S.T.U.P.I.D. at times. The S.M.A.R.T. principles have become much more popular lately, commonly seen in Apple and Google offerings.

These concepts should apply to anything from designing a checklist for a surgeon, software, a web page, or a new board game.

The image, taken from the blog I referenced earlier, is a great guideline for assessing your solutions.

*Independent means that the user's needs differ from the mainstream.
**Accept Autopilot is basically the same concept as "Simple" except it has a twist. It's mostly about setups. Make setup steps simple enough that someone can Autopilot through but make sure to put a "stop" where your audience needs to think.