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What do two literary devices have to do with UX design?
Interfaces that people love to use every day get a couple of things right: they’re easy to use and accessible for all users, irrespective of their technological acumen or knowledge. An interface’s ‘ease of use’ is determined by both how simple it is to extract meaning from, and whether or not users can relate to its functionality. Designers can promote ‘ease of use’ and set their interfaces up for success by incorporating metaphors and analogies. To use them effectively, it’s important to note the difference between the two, and conditions for their optimal use.
Metaphors
Spotify, Netflix, E-commerce websites, and even your Desktop — these are all digital versions of physical commodities or places; and were designed to make their respective experiences remote and online. While current users may be unable to fathom replacements for these services, relating the new and unfamiliar aspects of their domain to new users was critical for these platforms when they were first introduced. The best way to do so was by using a metaphor.
A design metaphor helps convey the similarities between a familiar domain (eg. shopping at a mall) and…
