Make It Cute

If you are developing a privacy-focused application or website, it's important that you do not neglect the design aspect of it. This is a common mistake that can have a significant negative impact on adoption by a general audience. Make it cute!

Here's why you should make your design appealing and accessible to everyone:

What happens when your app is ugly

Quality design for User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) is fundamental to product adoption. Unfortunately, this is regularly neglected by developers working on privacy-focused projects. Often, this is due to lack of resources, but sometimes it's simply an oversight.

The problem is that if your application or website isn't appealing visually, is awkward to use, difficult to understand, or use jargon inaccessible to newcomers, people who aren't already in your community are much less likely to adopt your product, regardless of the privacy benefits it offers. Trying to tell people a billion times they should switch to using your app will be no help at all if it's unpleasant to use on a daily basis.

When your app is ugly, fewer people want to use it, and fewer people benefit from its protections. Minimizing the importance of visual appeal and ease-of-use will only impact your goals negatively.

Beyond privacy features: Develop a product that is also accessible, functional, and cute!

If you've already done your homework to build the best app for people to protect their privacy, or the best website to provide privacy advice, here are other aspects you should consider to increase your product's popularity:

• Make sure that your app or website is accessible as much as possible. Accessibility will not only make more people able to use your application, but it's likely to also improve user experience for everyone.

• Wrap your product in a pretty package. If you can afford it, hire a professional designer to polish your app or website interface, as well as your organization's logo and promotional material. Design can truly be a make-or-break moment. Do not neglect it!

• People like cute things! Make your app and content cute! Additionally, this helps to make technically-intimidating projects feel more accessible to newcomers and beginners.

• Use good design to reinforce your privacy features or topics. Visual elements can be great assets to bring more attention to your product or content, and to highlight important privacy features in your application. Use design to guide users instinctively towards good privacy. And use design to make the information you share on your website or other content easier to digest.

• Make sure your application or website isn't just cute and privacy-positive, but also functional. Without good user experience, you will not be able to retain the users or readers you have managed to attract with cuteness or privacy, and people will move back to their old bad habits.

More resources

• Why are cute objects so seductive (Laura Sabau Tatar)

• The importance of User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design (Geeks for Geeks)

• Why do open source applications often have less polished UIs than commercial software (Darren Horrocks)

• How to start with design in your open source project (All Things Open)

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