That One's Yours, This One's Mine! by Jonathan
November 11, 2008 in interaction design with 3 Comments
In the course of working on a new mobile site for one of ZURB's clients an interesting point arose. On the original non-mobile site, areas on the site specific to the user were referred to as 'your stuff' or 'your albums' whereas on the mobile site we unconsciously changed them to 'my stuff' and 'my albums.' This brought up an odd notion: who exactly is speaking in these cases?
In cases like "your stuff" the site is speaking to you. "Here is your stuff. Here are things you can do." A lot of sites use this style including some notables like Amazon, Apple and 37Signals' tools. They refer to "your cart" or "your account", "your page" – suggesting that the site is the one speaking to you, saying what they have available for you.
In contrast a few sites go the other direction – Lighthouse, LinkedIn (partially) and Google Analytics. I was surprised to find so few examples of this style as my gut feeling was that it would be more common, not less.
There are quite a few sites that don't settle on one but switch between both. Google, as is generally the case, lacks consistency here – Gmail alone manages to refer to "my chat history" on the same page as "your AIM account." LinkedIn seems to try and stick with "my" but quixotically mentions "people you may know."
So which is it?
Should we as designers be speaking to the user, or should the user be speaking to us?
In many cases the language a site uses is unconsciously selected by the designer. If as a designer I'm creating a site based on my imagined use of it, I'm more likely to say things like "my pictures" or "my account." I picture myself using it and thus expect it to be an extension of me, of my content, rather than a tool that speaks to me as a user. If on the other hand I work on the language from a more detached perspective, not envisioning myself using it, I'm more likely to think of the users as a separate entity, one to which I don't belong. Hence the use of "your account" or "your stuff."
So is there a place for both styles? Probably. There are times when a site should feel like an extension of self and times when a site should be speaking to the user. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
Jeremy (ZURB) says:
I found a study published by San Jose State user experience and usability expert Dr. Abbas Moallem that goes into this subject in detail. Here is a link to the PDF: http://tinyurl.com/5avnrj
He interviews three groups and does a comparative study of 27 web sites. In short, a large majority of the interviewees prefer a consistent use of "my" when referring to content they can control. Only usability and HCI professionals are split on this usage, which lends credence to your idea that it's their frame of mind that leads to the mixed use of "your" and "my" out in the wild.
The study goes on to conclude that a use of "your" resonates with people in cases where they cannot control content, including description and instructional texts.
Jonathan (ZURB) says:
Great study! Thanks for tracking that down. I think it all hinges on whether the user has control or not, and in a lot of cases they do...but systems use 'your' anyways. I think we need to see some more 'my' out there.
Michael Curry says:
After reading this, I immediately asked myself what I always ask: What would iTunes do?
This got me thinking that the reason to use "My" or "Your" ( or no association at all) language should be decided in whether or not the user has to dialog with interface to gain any kind of permission allowance. Bottom line: If the user does not have full disposal and permissions to the named object/tool/page/and its containing items it should not use "My". This goes for any shopping cart or any administrative section. This also goes for anything else that requires any interstitial/intermediary action or process to gain full permission to the object/tool/page/and its containing items. The use of "My" is better for pretty much everything else. Also, for some reason it seems friendlier in site usage. (Yes, it's cute.) Furthermore, like a good tool - "My tunes, games, books" feels like an extension of me (the user) like an arm or leg. They serve only me (the user) in any and all instances.
And Really? Who needs "Your"? It seems cold and creepy. Can't it be implied like iTunes. "Your Account, Your Bill, Your Cart, Your Preferences" can all be replaced with the awaiting action or nothing at all: "Access Account, Pay Bill, Checkout Cart, Preferences". Its more direct, clear, and purposeful.
Yep, that's how I like it.
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