Goals, Context, and Meaning

Goals, Context, and Meaning

User goals, personas, dramatic structure, and emotional design in interaction.

Table of Contents

• Goal-Directed Design
• User Archetypes
• Dramatic Structure
• Emotional Design
• Designing for Transformation

Goal-Directed Design

The Fundamental Shift

Traditional interaction design asks: "How should this button behave?" Goal-directed design asks: "What is the user trying to accomplish, and should there be a button at all?"

Identifying User Goals

Life goals: Fundamental motivations (feel competent, be respected, have fun) Experience goals: How users want to feel (confident, in control, not stupid) End goals: What users want to accomplish (send the message, find the file, complete the purchase)

Design primarily for end goals, but never violate experience goals. Life goals inform tone and positioning.

The Goal Hierarchy

Life goal: Feel competent and respected
    ↓
Experience goal: Feel confident, not confused
    ↓
End goal: Submit expense report
    ↓
Tasks: Photograph receipt, enter amount, select category, submit
    ↓
Actions: Tap camera, position phone, tap shutter...

Most interaction design focuses on actions and tasks. But tasks are negotiable—the goal is not. If users could submit expenses without photographing receipts, they would. Every task is potential excise.

Excise Analysis

Excise: Work the user must do that doesn't directly accomplish their goal.

For every interaction, ask: Does this step directly serve the user's end goal, or is it serving the system's needs?

User Archetypes

The Perpetual Intermediate

Most users are neither novices nor experts. They are perpetual intermediates who:

• Learned enough to accomplish their tasks
• Will not invest time learning advanced features
• Use a small, stable subset of functionality
• Forget features they use rarely
• Develop personal workarounds

Design implications:

• The common path must be fast and obvious
• Advanced features should be discoverable but not intrusive
• Don't assume users will learn keyboard shortcuts
• Don't assume users read documentation
• Recognize that "intuitive" means "matches existing mental models"

Archetype Spectrum

Key insight: Design for the perpetual intermediate as the default, with graceful paths to novice (simpler) and expert (more powerful) experiences.

Creating Lightweight Personas

For interaction design, full personas aren't always necessary. Instead, consider:

The archetype question: Is this user a first-timer, casual, intermediate, power user, or expert?

The context question: Where are they? What device? How much time? What's their emotional state?

The goal question: What end goal brought them here? What experience goal must we not violate?

Dramatic Structure

Interaction as Drama

Every interaction has a beginning, middle, and end. Every interaction is a scene in a larger performance.

Aristotle's structure applied:

• Setup: User enters the interaction—what state are they in? What do they expect?
• Rising action: Building toward the goal—each step should feel like progress
• Climax: The moment of commitment—pressing Submit, confirming Delete, completing Purchase
• Resolution: Confirmation of outcome—what just happened? What comes next?

Dramatic Tension

Tension is not always bad. Appropriate tension creates engagement.

Tension that engages:

• Anticipation before revealing results
• The weight of an important decision
• The satisfaction of overcoming a challenge
• The relief of successful completion

Tension that frustrates:

• Uncertainty about whether action was received
• Fear of irreversible mistakes without recourse
• Confusion about current state
• Waiting without progress indication

Design principle: Don't eliminate all tension—channel it appropriately.

The Emotional Arc

Empty States as Dramatic Moments

An empty state is not just "no data"—it's a narrative moment.

An empty inbox says "You are free." An empty document says "The page awaits." These require different treatments.

Emotional Design

The Three Levels

Visceral (immediate): What does the user feel upon first seeing this?

• First impressions
• Aesthetic response
• Gut reaction: attractive, scary, trustworthy?

Behavioral (during use): What does the user feel while interacting?

• Sense of control
• Pleasure or frustration
• Flow state or interruption
• Competence or confusion

Reflective (after): What does the user feel about the experience?

• Did I accomplish my goal?
• Would I use this again?
• Would I recommend this?
• What story do I tell about this experience?

Emotional Qualities in Interaction

Designing for Specific Emotions

Confidence:

• Clear affordances—never wonder "can I click this?"
• Visible system state—never wonder "what mode am I in?"
• Predictable responses—same action, same result
• Visible recovery—undo available, changes reversible

Accomplishment:

• Clear progress toward goal
• Meaningful completion markers
• Appropriate celebration (not excessive)
• Smooth transition to "what's next"

Trust:

• Honest feedback—never false success messages
• Transparent process—show what's happening
• Respectful data handling—no dark patterns
• Graceful error handling—no blame

Delight (use sparingly):

• Unexpected micro-moments of pleasure
• Personality in transitions
• Easter eggs for those who find them
• Polish in the details

Designing for Transformation

The User's Journey

Users don't just complete tasks—they become different through interaction.

Before: User doesn't know X / can't do Y / hasn't decided Z After: User knows X / can do Y / has committed to Z

Design question: How does completing this interaction change the user's situation? Their capabilities? Their relationship with the system?

Onboarding as Transformation

New user onboarding isn't just "showing features"—it's transforming a stranger into a competent user.

Transformation stages:

1. Stranger: Doesn't know what this is or why they should care
2. Visitor: Curious but uncommitted, easily lost
3. Beginner: Committed but needs guidance at every step
4. Regular: Knows enough to accomplish goals
5. Advocate: Invested, may help others

Design for transition points:

• Stranger → Visitor: Clear value proposition
• Visitor → Beginner: Low-commitment first success
• Beginner → Regular: Repeated successes, building confidence
• Regular → Advocate: Investment, personalization, mastery

Marking Moments

Some moments deserve emphasis:

First-time moments:

• First successful [action]
• First completed [workflow]
• First [milestone]

Completion moments:

• Finishing a sequence
• Achieving a goal
• Reaching a threshold

Commitment moments:

• Making a choice
• Spending money
• Sharing with others

Design principle: Mark these moments appropriately. A first purchase deserves more ceremony than a search query. But don't over-celebrate trivial accomplishments—it feels patronizing.

Applying This Perspective

Before Designing Any Interaction

1. What is the user's end goal? (Not what they're doing, but why)
2. What archetype are they? (First-timer to expert spectrum)
3. What is the emotional context? (Rushed? Anxious? Playful?)
4. What is the dramatic moment? (Beginning? Climax? Resolution?)
5. How are they transformed? (What's different after?)

Questions to Challenge Your Design

• Does every step serve the user's goal, or are some serving the system?
• Could a perpetual intermediate complete this without learning anything new?
• Where is the climax of this interaction? Is it weighted appropriately?
• What emotion should the user feel at each stage?
• If this interaction were a scene in a play, what story is it telling?

Warning Signs

• You're designing a feature without knowing who uses it
• Every user gets the same experience regardless of expertise
• The interaction ends without clear resolution
• You can't articulate what emotion the user should feel
• Tasks exist because "the system needs" rather than "the user wants"