The Seven Deadly Sins of UX – Gluttony

Een gulzige big

The Seven Deadly Sins of UX – Gluttony

Recently, I listened to the album Ziltoid the Omniscient by Devin Townsend. It tells the absurd yet human story of Ziltoid the Omniscient (shocker, I know), an alien ruler who scours the universe in search of the perfect cup of coffee. He arrives on Earth and receives a cup of coffee that does not meet his high expectations, making him furious. This leads to a bizarre journey filled with confrontations with characters like the Planet Smasher and the Omnidimensional Creator.

What’s fascinating about Ziltoid is that despite his alien origin, he struggles with the same issues we humans do. His anger over bad coffee, his jealousy towards the Planet Smasher, his pride, and his delusions of grandeur. This reminds me of three of the Seven Deadly Sins: anger, jealousy, and pride.

This gave me an idea: the Seven Deadly Sins appear everywhere. In movies like Se7en, series like Fullmetal Alchemist, music like (besides Ziltoid the Omniscient) Jimmy Buffet’s Bank of Bad Habits, and of course in Greek mythology. But what if we apply these sins to a completely different field, like UX? Because let’s be honest, everyone has used an application that triggered frustration (anger), that didn’t listen to users (pride), or that prioritized form over function (lust).

For clarity: the Seven Deadly Sins I refer to are Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. In this blog, I will delve into how these sins manifest in UX. I’ll say upfront: everyone is guilty of these, it’s human. Probably not to the extreme degree I describe here. It’s not meant to bring down specific people or companies. It’s more of a reminder, for when it’s needed.

I’ve divided the text into 7 parts to keep everything more readable. In this piece, we’ll look at Gluttony. The other Deadly Sins will be discussed in future posts.

Gluttony

I start with gluttony. I see gluttony as taking in too much of something. We begin with (as the English expression goes) a twofer: data hoarding and showing way too much information.

Nowadays, every site asks for cookies, requesting to remember your information. This way, they gather information like browsing history, name, age, location, favorite superhero, the symbol you use most, and perhaps worst of all, whether you are left- or right-handed. In the worst case, all this is also sold to advertisers. And yes, cookies are also used for security reasons and can make your online experiences easier. Still, I prefer fewer cookies, even if it means logging in again. Storing too much information is not how it should be, in my opinion.

Then we move from storing too much information to showing too much information on the screen. Pages filled with data that sometimes have nothing to do with each other. Often, I see companies wanting a so-called “one-pager,” one page where everything is displayed. This results in fewer clicks, and you can see everything at a glance. The idea behind this: less searching for the needed information. After all, everything is on the same page, and you don’t have to search through other tabs, so time is saved. What is forgotten is that the user is searching through an overcrowded page and can’t see the forest for the trees. It can be much more convenient to place specialized information that is needed once in a blue moon under a button/switch/menu item. In the kitchen, you don’t put everything in one drawer either, but divide it among multiple drawers. Think of dishes, fridge, sauces, spices, and so on. Apply this to your page, and it becomes super easy to use again.

By Jasper Blikman, Consultant and UX specialist