#06 - Definition of expected utility theory

What is the expected utility or interaction cost?

That moment you're sitting on the couch, with a TV channel that's not very entertaining, but it's not the worst either, and you think, "What will be on the other channels?" There are two terms that will determine the action you're going to take, the interaction cost and the expected utility. Let's calculate them.

Interaction cost theory

You are quite far away from the remote, so you start calculating in your subconscious how much mental and physical effort you need to put in:

You need first to locate where the remote is, move your head to get a better angle of vision, locate the remote, see what you are doing with one arm in case you have it occupied or not, calculate the distance in case you get there or you need to use another movement, think that you are in a quite uncomfortable position and that you have to move to reach it, move to get your arm there, raise your arm, think how to grab it, and finally grab it. We haven't even interacted with the control system, do you understand how it works?

The cost of interaction is the total sum of all the mental and physical efforts, but this value cannot work without first having calculated the expected utility.

Before we execute this series of steps, we think and calculate this one, which is nothing more than the expected benefit minus the expected interaction cost.This is the reason why many times we are lying on the couch and we do not even get up to take control, because the expected utility would be negative because the expected benefit is less than the interaction cost.

Articles & Ideas

Ethics for Designers VI: Know thyself‍

As I wrote this series, I often discussed the ethics of design with my friends. Some of them are designers, others aren’t. But the same questions came up again and again: what’s the point of ethical design? Will it really make a difference? Matthew Strom

A universal theory for DesignOps‍

Sounds so easy, right? Well, of course not. We’re aware that this is much easier said than done.Andy Thornton ‍

Visual Hierarchy: Organizing content to follow natural eye movement patterns‍

Let’s look at a topic that deals with, oddly enough, how we look at designs. Once you understand how the human eye processes these, you’ll find yourself better able to arrange your elements more effectively.Mads Soegaard

How to select appropriate UX Research methods‍

When conducting research, you need to determine what you want to learn — how do we achieve product-market fit?Meghan Wenzel ‍

Leading vs Lagging Measures in UX‍

When it comes to UX metrics it can be helpful to think of metrics not as just lagging (dependent) and leading (independent) but as a causal chain from lagging to leading, with metrics acting in intermediate steps and as both leads (inputs) and lags (outcomes).Jeff Sauro, PhD and Jim Lewis, PhD ‍

Combining Our UX Metrics With Compelling, Emotional Stories‍

User experience, on the other hand, is a very emotional thing. When we deliver a crappy design, our users become frustrated. When we push out a delightful design, we see our users showing joy.Jared M. Spool ‍

Rating Scales in UX Research: Likert or Semantic Differential?‍

Likert and semantic differential are instruments used to determine attitudes to products, services, and experiences, but depending on your situation, one may work better than the other.Maria Rosala ‍

Design and Anatomy of a Push Notification 2020‍

Push notifications have been around for over 10 years. First introduced in 2009 for iOS, they quickly rolled out across all the major mobile operating systems. Then in 2014 web push came along.Lee Munroe

Products

Studio 3‍

Where your tools and team Click. Turn ideas to live web experiences, in one place with your team.

‍Edit‍

Edit any website, no code required. Live modify any web page directly from your browser, with a single click. ‍

Product Checklist‍

A collection of best practices for building products —from idea to launch.‍

Maccy‍

Clipboard manager for macOS which does one job - keep your copy history at hand. Period.

Blob generator‍

Generate beautiful blob shapes for web and flutter apps.‍

Custom Shape Dividers‍

We created this free tool to make it easier for designers and developers to export a beautiful SVG shape divider for their latest project. We hope you enjoy this tool.