We've all ripped phoness and laptops away from our parents, too frustrated to watch them navigate the trickery of the Web. After 30 seconds of watching them click the wrong buttons, we're thrilled to take the reins and upload that batch of photos to Facebook for them. Of course, this digital babysitting is more of a hindrance than a help to their long-term web-savviness.
Those of us raised on the Internet---and adept at navigating god-awful social networks and e-commerce storefronts---may not be the best judge of a site's usability and UX. But your mom? She may be perfect. And if not her, then definitely Scotty Allen's mom.
Allen is a entrepreneur and developer who joined Richard Littauer to create TheUserIsMyMom, which launched just over a week ago. The service lets designers enlist Pam Allen, Allen's 64-year-old mother, to test their website for $75. The idea was inspired by TheUserIsDrunk, a similar conceit wherein Littauer, a UX designer and developer, tests a website while---you guessed it---drunk. The point is to determine how easy your site is to navigate even when you're hammered. Or, in this case, when you're a mom.
The two of them were working on the project but, according to the official story, Littauer's mother was too busy to help. So Pam Allen got the gig.
"We've gotten a lot of interest in the past week, based on some recent press," Scotty Allen says. "Based on that, we got our first two paying customers in the past 24 hours. Interestingly, we have more moms applying to help us review than people paying for reviews." He says that TheUserIsMyMom will also test mobiles apps in addition to website.
Contrary to what you may be thinking, TheUserIsMyMom is not a gag. Like Littauer's previous site, it's a sly indictment of the state of web usability. Designers too often rely on flashy technique or draw entirely incorrect conclusions from user testing, resulting in confusing and confounding user experiences. The team behind TheUserIsMyMom, in a both practical and lighthearted way, promotes the idea that we all need a better Internet.
The site's landing page is adorable enough to not only make want you want to enlist Pam's help, but also befriend her. ("My mom tutors high school students and likes quilting and hiking," the site reads. "She yells at her computer, doesn't know what a twitter [sic] is, and struggles to find windows she's minimized.") So, in the service's short history, what has Pam discovered?
When I asked Pam via email what sort of sites she'd found she liked and disliked so far, she first explained that she most often uses the Internet with purpose. "I do not 'surf' the Internet," she says. "Though I feel as though I end up doing something like that---or drowning!---when I'm trying to look for a specific item to purchase on retails sites."
To get more specific, Pam prefers:
• Sites that don't require a sign-up.
• Sites that are "clear and calm" without any moving ads ("Those make me crazy, to the point that I have a pile of sticky notes near my computer so I can cover up the moving ads on my screen while I'm trying to read the text.")
• Sites with clear "help" sections, specifically those with specific screenshots to walk users through any necessary steps.
"I'm not stupid," she says. "I have a master's degree and am a full-time tutor of middle school, high school, and college students in multiple subjects. I re-taught myself my high school math from algebra 1 to pre-calculus and I speak fluent French. And I'm not a computer illiterate: I regularly use Google, Google Calendar, Skype, and Scribblar. But I don't seem to lack the context that younger users have, that people who grew up on computers seem to have. I just don't think to try what they do. I don't often 'see' boxes or icons that are so obvious to younger people."
This naïveté---or, if you like, clear-headedness---is what makes her a good judge of a quality user experience. And don't worry: If your site fails her, she's more than able to go out and find something that will work. She recently installed Yosemite on her three-year-old MacBook Air with the assistance of a helpful blogger, some Google "how-to" queries, and detailed screenshots. "And it worked! I felt encouraged and empowered and, frankly, more familiar with my own computer." Which is more than I can say for most of my peers.
Despite her Yosemite gusto, there is one thing Pam admits to struggling with---and I can totally relate: Pinterest. "I've tried this but don't really understand it. I got on to look at other people's quilting projects but then got sent a pile of emails, suggesting what else I might be interested in," she says. "I don't understand how to 'pin' something or what that is or does. I tried it once, thinking that it would be a type of 'bookmarking,' the way I can bookmark a website I like. But then they wanted me to SIGN IN!! Ack! I didn't want to SIGN IN!!"
You and me both, Pam. You and me both.
While TheUserIsMyMom is amassing its own audience, Scotty Allen admits TheUserIsDrunk remains more popular. "I'd say drunk Richard is still more popular than my sober mom."
