I recently read Seth Godin’s The Big Red Fez: How to make any website better - a compact book that delivers powerful UX insights in about an hour of reading time.
The Core Metaphor
Godin presents web design through a brilliant metaphor: building a website is like leading a monkey. To get the monkey to follow you, you need to dangle a banana in front of it. Without clear motivation, users won’t engage. If you confuse them or make the path too difficult, they’ll abandon your site entirely.
This translates directly to web development:
- The monkey represents your average web user
- The banana is the compelling reason that motivates users to take action
- The path is your site’s user experience and information architecture
Practical Applications
Clear Value Propositions
Godin uses Amazon as a prime example. When you visit their homepage, they immediately present a clear “banana” - whether it’s Mother’s Day gifts, seasonal promotions, or personalized recommendations based on your browsing history.
Better Error Handling
One particularly insightful point: search results that yield zero matches are user experience failures. A physical store salesperson wouldn’t simply say “Sorry, your search yielded no results!” Instead, they’d suggest alternatives or similar products.
This principle applies to:
- 404 error pages with helpful navigation
- Search suggestions for misspelled queries
- Related content recommendations
- Progressive disclosure of advanced options
Developer Takeaways
While Godin may seem critical of engineers, his real message is about the gap between technical capability and user-centered design. As developers, we often optimize for system efficiency rather than user comprehension.
Key lessons for implementation:
- Simplify user flows - Remove unnecessary steps and decision points
- Provide clear calls-to-action - Make the “banana” obvious at every stage
- Handle edge cases gracefully - Turn errors into opportunities to guide users
- Test with real users - Technical elegance doesn’t always equal usability
Final Thoughts
This book reinforces why user experience design is crucial for developers to understand. Technical implementation means nothing if users can’t achieve their goals efficiently.
At 96 pages, The Big Red Fez is worth the hour investment for any web developer looking to build more user-friendly applications.