The unintended consequences of easy-to-use

Ease-of-use is a central concept of usability (1), and is widely seen as the key for creating successful digital products.

But making things easy is not always a good design heuristic. Its impact depends on context. It can have negative unintended consequences.

One example is buy-now-pay-later loans.

In the past, this was an unpleasant and tedious experience. It was a tough administrative act, where you were aware at every moment that you were living beyond your own means.

Today, everything is done easily in one click. You feel good. And buy more.

The impact is significant. In the USA, late payers put around three and a half times as much into their shopping cart as instant payers. (2)

Delayed payments primarily tempt people with lower incomes to spend more. This particularly affects Generation Z: today’s 14- to 29-year-olds.

• Almost half of them buy online on credit.
• One in five people can no longer imagine life without it.
• About one in five were in debt at the end of 2022. (2)

Purchases on account are usually interest-free for 30 days. But the additional costs add up to 15 percent effective annual interest. This is more than twice as high as a loan from your local bank. This has foreseeable consequences. (2)

Finally… Whether ease of use is a good measure of success for a product depends on the context. Making things hard can be a good design choice in the right context.

This is why, as product leaders we must look beyond the product itself. We must look at the full end-to-end customer journey and the complete experience ecosystem to understand the impact the products we create are having on people’s lives.

Image credit: Photo by Bruno Kelzer on Unsplash

(1) Interaction Design Foundation: What is ease of use. Accessed: 8th April 2023.

(2) Brand Eins Magazine. April 2023. Page 56. Section: Einkauf First, Verschuldung Second.