Use humor correctly in web design

Joan is applying for a small loan at all-Online-Loanzzz.com. She was frustrated by the number of forms she had to fill out for financial information. She is considering applying for a loan from the local bank. While waiting for the page to load, the app presented a cartoon of a man in a suit sitting in a jail cell. The caption reads: “Hey, everyone hates disclosure. We know you hate it, too. We’re doing our best to keep everyone out of jail. Please pay more attention to us. You won’t regret it. Our loan officers won’t go to jail.” ‘said Jo, smiling at the figure. She may not understand the number of forms she has to complete, but she understands the seriousness of applying for a loan. Humor is an important aspect of life. Researchers have found that humor has many positive benefits. It can reduce stress, increase mental health, and increase pain tolerance. Most of us have had the experience of using humor to reduce negative feelings or cheer someone up. Humor is an integral part of human relationships.

We can use humor to enhance the user experience. (Image by Brandon Sax)

You can use humor in your design (both in your process and your product) to create a positive user experience. We want to build a positive relationship with our users — humor can help achieve this goal.

But what about me? You may ask. Do I need to be a comedian? Should I format all the FAQs as knock jokes? The answer to both questions is yes. You can incorporate humor into your designs and maintain your brand image without looking like you’re trying too hard in the process.

Humor plays an important role in design

In general, the general public is full of potential users who love humorous things every day, and laugh-a-laugh things go viral: people share humorous personal stories with friends and colleagues on social media, embarrassing family photos, and commenting on others’ work on Facebook, to name a few. We have to admit that sometimes humor works better than digital media. Remember that the Webbys Website of the Year awards had a humor category – the “Best Use of Humor” category for social media.

Maybe you don’t know how to use humor. But you can experience using humor. You can inject humor into an experience just like adding unique ICONS: adding meaning and creating a shared language with users. You can also use humor in your content to help connect with your users.

Speaking at Beyond Tellerrand, Espen Brunborg discussed the importance of using humor effectively where many different industry sites look and feel the same. Humor can separate your experience from others in a positive way. By using humor effectively, you can make your brand memorable and build a relationship with your users.

Humor may lead users to a deeper emotional experience, which is a key component of an effective user experience. Later I’ll talk about how to insert humor into the experience. But first, let’s discuss the general types of humor.

What makes things interesting?

I’m going to try to explain why something is interesting. First of all, humor is very subjective. I happen to think I’m funny. I often make jokes during and when I speak at conferences. Almost as usual, no one laughed at my jokes. Humor is context. You might make a joke in one situation and take it seriously in another. Besides, humor is culture. My experience of humor has always been through the lens of Western culture. I don’t think my sense of humor is transferable to other cultures.

Researchers have tried to develop theories about why something is interesting. Incongruity theory holds that people find humor when things don’t match their expectations — for example, when an envelope is opened and the room sparkles. The benign aggression theory holds that people find humor in situations that seem threatening, but where they know they’re safe. For example, puns often violate the laws of language, but the words in them still make sense. Listeners face the threat of having to decode language in a new or unusual way, yet they still feel safe in the knowledge that the words themselves retain their meaning. Slater discusses humor theory in more depth, and suggests that you can understand it.

So why do we sometimes fail at humor? The theories mentioned above suggest that going too far or not far enough in creating dissonance or threatening transgressions is a recipe for humor’s failure. For example, standing up and Shouting while working in an office is very obtrusive. However, this may be too much of a violation of what people think is funny. Or, from the perspective of benign violation theory, the situation would reach a threshold that presents a threat, but people might not know if they are safe. As a result, they may react to fear rather than humor.

Reduce the number of users (in a good way)

Whether you agree with the above or other theories, your use of humor is an active attempt to degrade the user’s ability to process information. The researchers call it “elaboration,” and it’s a word worth keeping an eye on. The reason is that inconsistencies or breaches of norms require more scrutiny to process information, which leads users to elaborate on humorous messages.

Using humor to slow users down may enhance the experience, Espen Brunborg said. When it comes to processing information, we shouldn’t worry that this slowdown will negatively impact our experience. Users are unlikely to notice unless they find humor inappropriate. The researchers suggest that users will have a more memorable experience if they are more specific about your experience and content. At the same time, having users elaborate when using your product can also help us improve processing power and better call content.

Six kinds of humor

We need to understand the context in order to use humor properly. Researchers have identified different types of humor. Choose the type according to the situation to increase the likelihood of success. It is often possible to label attempts at humor into multiple categories. Here are the six types defined by the researchers.

contrast

Combine two or more elements to create a humorous contrast. Take our old friends Mac and PC, the old Apple AD “Get a Mac.” The comparison between the sleek and cool Mac and the dreary PC is humorous. It also has an element of hyperbole (discussed below), as it is questionable that Mac users share all the characteristics of Mac in business (and PC users with PC).

Apple uses comparisons and hyperbole in its “Get a Mac” marketing campaign. (Photo: Adweek)

personification

This attributes human characteristics to animals, plants and objects. Anthropomorphism helps us understand complex concepts and may also make people more receptive to information. Clippy, Microsoft’s Office assistant, is an example of anthropomorphism. Microsoft hopes that fun, personalised paper clips will help users learn key tasks in Office programs. Clippy is no longer with us, but personification continues. Users found Clippy annoying and intrusive, emphasising the need to know our users and their backgrounds and then bombard them with what we thought was humorous. Clippy actually slows down.

hyperbole

This exaggerates or exaggerates something out of proportion. Hyperbole is often used to drive an idea. Researchers have found and shown that exaggerating makes people more aware that you’re trying to make a point, but not necessarily more open than you are. “It took me a long time to write that sentence” is an example of exaggeration — though the editors of S Mashing Magazine might find it true.

A pun

Use language elements to create new meanings that lead to humor. Researchers found that people were better able to remember puns than other types of information. You can use puns to make parts of your experience more memorable or to increase the likelihood that users will remember parts of their experience, such as passwords. David Pope’s post on the SAS blog uses puns to connect terms related to SAS products and tells a story of how the company has evolved over time.

stupid

It went from a funny face to a ridiculous situation. Sarcastic comments and situations can be classified as silly. We see a lot of silly humor online and in movies. The example at the beginning of the article can be categorized as stupid. Philosophers argue that this kind of humor allows us to laugh at ourselves, potentially eliminating learning disabilities and critical thinking.

surprise

Humor can come from unexpected situations. For those who think that the person opening the letter is not ready for the flash, a spring-loaded flashbulb bomb would be a surprise example. While not everyone will find it funny, the aim is to create a surprisingly humorous situation.

When to Use Humor

Use humor experiences when and where appropriate. Remember to use humor to build your brand and connect with your audience. And humor is great for other benign situations: successfully sending an email, placing an order or updating a profile, etc.

For example, if someone just successfully completed a transfer from a checking account to a savings account, you might show them humorous information about building their savings. On the other hand, if someone doesn’t have enough funds in their account to cover the bills they’re trying to pay, they may not appreciate a humorous element that reminds them of their financial situation.

Unless your experience is centered on humor, there’s no reason to have fun or go overboard. Humor is a good thing. It’s a distraction. The following is an example in place.

On the About page

Potential clients and recruiters will look at your “About” page to learn about your culture. Highlight your sense of humor on the page if appropriate. The About page is an opportunity to show visitors the types of people they will be using. The folks at EY Intuitive chose the photo below for their “About” page. Many employees express humor through body language or props. Imagine how many people went to the office to ask Michael how the box on his coat rack was made, or whether Kieran always wore his superhero costume around the office.

EY Intuitive encourages employees to use humour in their photos.

Convey important information

Researchers found that people tend to pay more attention when confronted with appropriate humorous messages. The folks at Slack are pretty good at getting people to pay attention to their product updates (see below). There may be ways to present end User License agreements (Eulas) and other traditionally cumbersome documents in a way that better captures the user’s attention. Even though your EULA may need to meet the needs of someone with a law degree, your image or visualization of the EULA may use funny to reduce the reading burden.

Slack offers a delightful list of updates and fixes. (Photo: Slack)

Build or fit your brand

You can use humor to inject personality into the relationship between your brand and your users. We don’t usually think signing up for insurance and workplace benefits is fun. The complexity can be overwhelming.

ALEX is a tool for communicating employee benefits. It builds its brand on humor and communicates diverse interests and choices for its employees. ALEX relies on subtle humor through imagery and a relaxed conversational tone (see below). Jellyvision, the company that created ALEX, maintains a sense of humor throughout the brand – for example, in its engaging blog posts.

ALEX uses humorous imagery to build a relationship between the brand and its users. (Photo by Jellyvision)

The outline team interspersed humor throughout their experience. For example, floating avatars and other objects next to articles on its home page provide humorous glimpses into the topic of the article (see below). Simple wavy lines establish a common language with users, who associate simple wavy lines with the look of quotes.

The compendium includes humorous elements to tease the content of the text.

Like ALEX, you’ll want to use humor in a consistent manner and tone if it’s going to be part of your brand communication. No matter who creates the content or typeset it. It should all be the same channel and media. For example, similar to MailChimp’s content style guide, humor on your site should be transferred to your marketing materials. Will contribute to the consistent application of humor.

Chatbot

Chatbots are becoming more and more popular in all industries. People want their chatbots to have personality, including appropriate humor. In an article for National Public Radio, Shay Maunz writes that chatbots need warm and human personalities to be successful in the long run. If you want your chatbot to have human-like conversational capabilities, you need to consider some level of humor.

404 pages or reduce frustration

Many websites have humorous 404 pages. You can curb users’ frustration at not finding what they’re looking for with a well-done humor 404 page. Norwegian design and development studio Agens has humorous images and animations with the theme of being lost in space on its 404 pages. At the same time, it displays links to existing content, allowing users to quickly navigate to pages that might meet their needs.

The folks at Blue Egg use humorous videos and (slightly annoying) sounds on their 404 page, linking directly to the home page.

When not to use humor

If you use humor inappropriately or at the wrong time, you could damage your brand or experience. Most users want a quick and easy experience — don’t use humor to prolong the time it takes to complete a task. For example, it’s ok to add a knock-on joke or funny comment to the screen as the page loads, but not to let the user click on a knock-on joke to access account information.

Another option is to use your app to do tactical humor based on the user or company — for example, choose a silly interface if you’re a startup, but keep it fairly direct if you’re working for a government agency or a bank. You can also let the user choose when to present humor. MailChimp achieves this with its “Party Pooper mode.” Users who want MailChimp without humor can use this mode to remove some of the funny elements of the application.

Used to complete critical tasks

Users often want to get important tasks done quickly. Your humor should not hinder their progress or cause confusion. Suppose you make a bulk purchase online and receive the following message after submitting your payment information. Not only is it unclear what is happening and how to correct the situation, but the laughing emoji is too sarcastic and condescending. You may be confused by the payment status, frustrated by the site’s flippant handling of the situation, and angry that you didn’t solve the problem in a quick and easy way.

When it’s inappropriate, overly sarcastic or mean

People often use humor to express negative comments. Don’t make fun of your users. Messages conveyed in digital media may lack context and tone. That’s why so many people type “JK” after writing something humorous; Some forms of humor require visual and auditory cues to tell them they’re joking. Tell users you’re not making fun of them.

Groupon found itself in hot water after a failed AD campaign during a 2011 show. The AD sheds light on the plight of people living in Tibet in a tasteless way. The media and customers immediately noticed, with many reporting on the bad use of humor and the brand damage it caused.

Brandon Dorn, a user experience designer, has published an excellent article on “Affirming shaming. Many digital assets have started to include these when users try to opt out, cancel their membership or ignore rallying terms (for example, refuse to sign up for newsletters). As Dorn puts it, confirming shaming is the numerical equivalent of a salesperson following you around a clothing store telling you that your current dress is ugly. In my chapter, I also discuss validation of design content for the brain in design. Confirmation is insulting and disrespectful to the user. If you feel the need to insult users by trying to force them to do something, reconsider what you’re asking them to do and why you don’t expect them to knowingly engage in this behavior.

Delish took steps to insult users by trying to get them to provide their email addresses. (Photo by Delish)

When it is distracting or providing false information

Users depend on you for accurate information and services. If they lose trust, you won’t succeed. Bad humor diminishes trust in a product. Avoid it by testing the user’s understanding and impact. Also, consider investing in professional writers with experience writing comedy.

I admit I’m not interested in April Fool’s Day. A day devoted to lying is not for me. However, April Fool’s day pranks proliferated on the Internet. Often, these hoaxes mislead users and waste time. Some users may find the particular April Fool’s prank very humorous, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk, and likewise, avoid any attempt at humor that might mislead users, no matter what day it is.

With power comes great responsibility

If you encounter condescending or insulting situations that cause harm to you. Do not prolong or distract users from completing critical tasks. As with any design element, if humor doesn’t improve the experience, don’t use it — even if the competition does. You’re better off not using humor than trying to use it and risking an apology.

Conduct usability testing to improve your chances of using humor in line with user expectations. Also, create personas to guide the type of humor you use. You can direct certain elements of humor toward specific characters and tone down other characters at different points in the experience.

Humor can give you an edge. Done right, it can defuse stressful situations, help build your brand and get your message across. You don’t need a funny product to use humor. There are also many opportunities to use it appropriately. Depending on your product, you can start incorporating it into an “About” or employee page, or try it out on your 404 page and gauge audience response. Test any attempts at humor before going live. Be open-minded and open to criticism. Users have more than one sense of humor, so if humor isn’t the goal of your product, don’t overdo it.

English address: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/06/connecting-users-humor-web-design/

Make/Victor Yocco

Xiao OO @ Chuangyu front end

Editor/Yingsheng @ Chuangyu front end