Designing for Perfect Fit Means Embracing Individuality.
What “Fit” Means, and Why it Matters.
What comes to mind when you hear the word 'fit?' It's such a small word, but holds immense meaning. It can refer to physical fitness, asking 'am I fit?' It can reference compatibility between two things, wondering 'does this fit?' And it can even relate to the relationship between oneself and a larger whole, questioning 'does this fit in?' “Fit” can also relate to an individual’s internal perception of themselves in relation to an object (i.e., does it reflect their identity), or to the environment or socio-cultural structure (i.e., does it help them “fit in” to a social group or environment, or does it help them stand out). There are, indeed, many other modes and meanings of “fit” as well. It is these variances of fit; their application, meaning and context, that I refer to as the “modes of fit.”
A driving influence of one’s decision-making process when selecting products and services is the consideration of how this offering fits in to their life. When compared to alternative choices, does it genuinely reflect the user, or are there more appropriate “fits“ out there. Of course, what one determines to be a “better fit” is subjective to the individual. For one, “fit” could be solely based on a desire to reflect their inner identity, while for others it could be an attempt to “fit in” within a social, cultural, or professional group. As with most things, the determination of “fit” is likely influenced by several modes of fit, with fluctuating levels of prioritization and factors per individual.
The desire to find meaningful fit between oneself, others, and products and services drives expectations. These expectations are key to the evaluation of one’s experience when using a product or service. If a product or service fails to meet the user’s expectation of fit, that product or service is immediately going to result in a poor user experience. In essence, poor user experience is often the result of the designer’s failure to understand and deliver the expected synergistic fit between the product, the user, and their environment.
For design researchers and strategists, understanding and designing for the user experience is at the heart of their role. However, in surveying the products and services available, and even reflecting on our own experiences, it is obvious that fit is not a strongly considered factor of the user experience. To illustrate my point; how many times have you bought a clothing garment that didn’t fit? Or felt isolated and lonely while using a social media platform? For the prior, if the physical fit of clothing is unsatisfactory, the misfit results in poor experience and an unwearable garment. For the latter, if the digital product fails to understand the user or support them by guiding them to a safe online community, the misfit can result in social isolation. Services are just as guilty and likely to fail in similar regards. Whether an isolated product or service, or an integrated offering between the two, it is important for designers to consider the experiences of their users through these different modes of fit, so that the expectations and desires of the user can be met, thus providing a positive experience.
And yes, design researchers and strategists do consider fit. However, they predominantly focus on physical fit in an attempt to design for a spectrum of abilities, and thus offer accessible products. While this is great and should be encouraged and conducted, it can be greatly improved, as accessibility design does not inherently produce inclusive designs and products. In short:, there is no one-size-fits-all.
It is important to understand that everyone has a different expectation and definition of fit. No one likes being left out, or dealing with misfitted products and services. Everyone wants to find fit, but we all define it differently.
Thus, researchers and designers must understand what “fit” means to their customers and move beyond the trope that “fit” is tethered to a physical and ability-based understanding. Instead, we need to take an integrated approach by designing for different users and their respective spectrums of “modes of fit.”
By celebrating and supporting the diversity of users and their respective values related to fit, data-driven products can be developed that, from their inception, are designed with the ability to morph and fit everyone, producing completely unique and individualized solutions. Not only does this open the market, serving everyone, but the solutions meet the individuals’ expectations, and thus elevate the user experience.
