From cars to websites, smart TVs, and phones, user experience (UX) hinges on one key principle: standardization. While personalization and unique personal preferences (UPP) are essential for engagement, breaking too far from established norms often leads to frustration rather than innovation. When designers and companies try too hard to be “creative” or “different,” they can alienate users instead of delighting them.
This has come up in multiple conversations over the past week, from parking apps that make users guess where the “confirm payment” button is to dog-tracking apps that use unfamiliar navigation. People are accustomed to Apple, Google, Yahoo, Instagram, and LinkedIn, which have spent decades refining predictable user behaviors. Changing these behaviors is costly—both in user frustration and lost engagement.
Cars: The Danger of UX Experiments
Imagine getting into a rental car, only to spend five minutes searching for the gear shift or turn signals. Automakers like Tesla have experimented with moving controls to touchscreens, eliminating traditional stalks—but is this progress? Studies show that muscle memory plays a significant role in safe driving. A poorly placed control, requiring the driver to look away from the road, can be a UX failure with real-world consequences.
Websites and Apps: The Cost of Overdesigning
Think of the last time you visited a website where the navigation wasn’t where you expected it to be. Companies eager to appear cutting-edge sometimes abandon industry-standard patterns—hiding menus, removing clear calls to action, or creating complex animations that slow users down. While some level of uniqueness is beneficial, straying too far from convention can lead to increased bounce rates and abandoned user sessions.
This issue extends to everyday apps, from dog-tracking apps that force users to tap through unnecessary screens to parking apps that make payment more complicated than necessary. These missteps waste time and frustrate users, who expect interfaces to behave like the apps they use daily.
Smart TVs: A UX Nightmare in Every Living Room
If you’ve ever struggled to find the power button on a smart TV remote or navigate a confusing settings menu, you’ve experienced the consequences of bad UX decisions. Some brands prioritize aesthetic minimalism over usability, burying critical functions under layers of submenus. The result? Frustration, support calls, and users reverting to simpler devices like Roku or Apple TV, which prioritize standardization and ease of use.
Phones: The Case for Consistency
Smartphones are a prime example of how UX standardization benefits users. Whether you pick up an iPhone or an Android device, you expect familiar gestures—swiping up to unlock, pinching to zoom, tapping to open an app. Imagine the chaos if each phone brand decided to reinvent these interactions. Companies that break from these norms (remember Windows Phone’s radical tile-based UI?) often struggle with adoption.
Personalization vs. Predictability
While personalization—through AI, language processing, and voice assistants—adds value, it should complement established UX patterns, not replace them. For example, voice controls work best when they mirror natural language. If a user asks, “Turn off the lights,” and the system requires an exact phrasing like “Deactivate illumination,” that’s a UX failure. Similarly, platforms that attempt to predict user needs should be transparent and easily correctable when they get things wrong.
When “Thinking Differently” Goes Wrong
Many UX failures come from companies assuming they’re being innovative when they’re overcomplicating things. A famous example is Apple’s decision to remove the Escape key from the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. Power users revolted, forcing Apple to reintroduce it in later models. The lesson? Innovation should enhance usability, not disrupt it.
The Future of UX: Balance is Key
The best UX strikes a balance between standardization and personalization. Companies that succeed—whether in automotive, software, or hardware—understand that users don’t want to re-learn how to interact with every product. Instead, they want experiences that feel intuitive, familiar, and seamless.