Google+ and evolutional UX

There’s an exchange in the film Little Voice which left a deep impression upon me as a designer.

In the pre-caller ID era, a woman has missed a call. She recently had new phones and service set up, and a phone technician visiting tells her to dial a code to get the number she missed. She dials the code, hears the number, and immediately says, “So you don’t get the name, then?” In other words, she’s just been told about a useful new service she didn’t even know existed, and already she’s disappointed and has an improvement.

This is one of the many reasons I don’t believe in pixel-perfect design. UX is about constantly reaching for perfection, not settling back and presuming you’ve accomplished it. The moment “perfect” UX encounters a user, the user and the environment change in response to it, and “perfect” needs to evolve.

Google gets this. Geek.com reports that Google+ is already responding to user critiques and feedback.

You may think Google could sit back and watch the Google+ network grow, but that would be a mistake. The search company has realized it can’t just watch what happens, it needs to respond to users quickly in order to keep them happy and the network growing.

Nice to see they’re not resting on their laurels. Intelligent designers evolve ;–)

P.S. Thanks to Shannon Brown for sharing the link—on Google+, of course!