Did you even try?

No but really, what if you did?

There’s this idea that I’ve continuously noticed come up when I’m using or testing something that’s been made poorly, and it’s essentially: “Wow, did they even try here?” Before you get mad or wonder if this is just a cope for complainers, let me describe the scenarios where I’ve experienced this phenomenon.

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We rented a car for a road trip a month ago, and the car rental place offered us a Mercedes GLB-250 SUV. Excited by the new and interesting software features, we decided to try it out. However, our initial tests were underwhelming. It did not feel like it lived up to the hype. It didn’t feel any different than renting any other modern SUV. It was really when we drove the car on the highway for a couple of days that we started wondering if the people who made this car actually even tried their own product.

• The car would beep somewhat randomly without much explanation or indication of what we should resolve.

• When we were driving in reverse, the reverse camera showed up on our screen but stayed on even after we stopped reversing. There seemed to be an inexplicable lag in the software system.

• The Bluetooth would randomly disconnect without explanation.

• The driver’s dashboard was very cluttered, with a lot of useless additions to the speedometer. A lagging indicator to the speed dial didn’t do anything but add clutter.

A lot of this makes you wonder if they even drove their car before shipping it to production. If they actually tried and tested it, they would have probably caught obvious things that would feel unintuitive for drivers. What is an example of a car where you think, “Wow, someone is really trying”?

Tesla.

About a week later, we went on a roadtrip to see Mt. Whitney and the Sierra-Nevada mountains and rented a Tesla model 3.

From the start, it was clear that the makers of this Tesla had thoroughly tested their product. Nothing is perfect, but it was obvious that the standards for Tesla’s software were high. They cared about the experience being intuitive, and they did, in fact, try their own software.

• If there was a driving or software issue, the popup would explain why, and give a solution to resolve it in the user manual built into the main panel.

• The software did not randomly break, it worked as it was expected to work. It felt intuitive and seamless, even though some of the controls take a bit of getting used to.

• It literally drove itself up to our destination with minimal hassle.

The main thought I continued to have as I admired the car’s functionality was that it was very clear that these people tried and made effort towards the user’s software and experience. Of course, it wasn’t perfect (e.g. it locked me in for a few minutes in the desert with no climate control and played haunted alarming music and using the climate control would set off its own alarm when the car was parked). But, it was overall very fun, intuitive, and helpful.

It’s not just cars that makes me think “did they even try?” Sometimes, it’s road and infrastructure design. You find roads that want you to make a sharp turn where it doesn’t make sense. Or a website to a utility bill company that doesn’t let you pay online the way that it is supposed to work.

Contrast this with my experience with Apple products. Whether it’s an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, it’s clear that a lot of effort has gone into making the user experience as smooth as possible. The interfaces are intuitive, the designs are sleek, and everything just works seamlessly. It’s evident that the developers have put themselves in the users' shoes, tested the products extensively, and ironed out most of the kinks before release (contact and profile syncing software not included ha).

“What would this look like if you actually tried?” is a prompt for attention to detail and commitment to quality that makes a world of a difference - and I want this everywhere.

Thanks to Brian Timar, Emma Vidal, and Jonathan Kornich for reading drafts.