USER EXPERIENCE
Lipstick On a Pig —The Phrase Misunderstood as UX
Does a sexy user interface bring user experience?
Heard of this expression? Many of you might have heard, and perhaps some of you might have used it too! This expression does not stop fascinating me — every time I hear someone use it. Let’s dig in..
The Origin and The Meaning
Before I start rambling about examples and talk about how to avoid the trap.. let’s dissect the phrase “Lipstick on a pig” first.
“UX is not UI.”
Huh? Sorry, I couldn’t resist starting with my favorite and never-ending debate I have with my audience. Although it gets exhausting, I don’t give up 🙃.
Anyway, going back to the pig.. let me spare you from the details on the origin of the expression — Lipstick on a pig — Wikipedia documents some very interesting historic references and usage. The common theme and belief is that the outer beauty will mask the inner flaws.
The truth is that no amount of superficial gloss can permanently hide the fundamental cracks. If your product is slow, erroneous, doesn’t guide the user to take the right paths, has confusing content, and is overall difficult to use.. do you think a pretty UI will save your product user experience?
❌ Certainly not!
The look and feel isn’t going to replace the functioning and the connect your product has.
Design is not just
what it looks like
and feel like.
Design is how it works. (Steve Jobs)
The pig is the product or the “UX”, and the lipstick is the “UI”. Alternative asks that mean the same thing, and are commonly used as suggestions to improve product UX:
Can you build a sexy user interface?
Can you bring a “wow” factor to the design?
Make sure it looks pretty.
Let’s give it a facelift.
All of these are afterthoughts. All the product decisions — good or bad — are already made, and now you’re subconsciously trying to compensate for or hide the bad UX.
This is why “UX” is and will probably stay a misnomer for a long time. Sexy, wow, pretty, facelift — are all subjective terms that can mean anything based on the client’s personal tastes and biases. User experience on the other hand is scientific, process-driven, and measurable.
If product user experience is not part of the strategy from the start, then the user interface is not going to be a successful tactic at the end.
Examples and Impact of “Lipstick on a pig”
- Keynote / PowerPoint presentation — “Let us use images, illustrations, and icons in our slide decks.. because a picture is worth a thousand words.” Sound familiar? This is LOAP (Lipstick on a pig). Wait a minute.. did I just coin a term 😉? Presentations need to convey specific message regarding one or multiple ideas. Use of visuals is a good technique, but only if the content and messaging is coherent. Surely, a picture is a good visual aid for storytelling.. but the question you need to ask is — do I have the correct thousand words I can replace with a picture?
- Enterprise software — Products like SAP, Salesforce, Oracle Apex, SharePoint.. and many more, have been through a journey of multiple “facelifts” in the name of UX, over the years. The user interfaces look more modern, they are touch-friendly and responsive. Also, they claim to be faster. But have they solved or fixed the fundamental issues with user workflows that still make it a challenging user experience for most enterprise customers? Another case of LOAP.
- Consumer websites — Predominantly observed in banking and financial domain, sites such as Bank of America, HDFC Bank, PayPal, ETrade, Empower.. and many more, are slowly catching up to a much better experience, thanks to nimble competitors. But they still are a victim of LOAP. They mostly apply incremental patches (lipstick) to their age old features and information architecture, but they never apply holistic design thinking to overhaul the site experience.
- Ads and commercials — Marketing departments and professionals true to their goals often use LOAP by having popular celebrities endorse products that are packaged to perfection, but may be inferior in quality as compared to some other products. Leaving moral judgment aside, this often results into fans getting upset and ending up hating the brand and possibly the celebrity too!
- Old homes and shops — Renovation often falls into the trap of LOAP. Some home / shop owners — instead of focusing on strengthening the weakened structure, making electrical and plumbing lines compliant with safety and local regulations — they focus on repainting the walls, replacing the furniture, and adding accessories. While this can save time and money, it can prove to be risky and even fatal.
The list can get exhaustive.. with so many examples from various industries — entertainment, food, fashion, travel, automotive, etc. I would love to gather some experiences and examples that you relate to, in the comments section :) Please share 🙏
Employ LOAP if So, for the Right Reasons
Whether you are the one making the LOAP request or the one receiving it, here are a few tips to be aware and not get carried away:
- Question the purpose — If the purpose is to make a fundamental transformation of UX, you should revisit the design goals, and make LOAP a part of the process, not the goal itself. But if the purpose is to hide or camouflage the short-comings, you can make LOAP as a goal, albeit knowingly.
- Know goals and outcome — Sometimes, LOAP can be a conscious short-term goal intended to bridge a long-term initiative. In such cases, it is best to define (and refine) the goals clearly, so you can measure the outcome for its intended purpose and term, thus moving forward strategically.
- Remove your bias — Regardless of your purpose and goals for considering LOAP, you should try and bring objectivity to the game. But how can you be objective in a subjective matter of “pretty?” The answer is bias. As much as it is hard to get rid of, having awareness of your biases is a great step towards managing it.
- Challenge the pig — There will be instances when you will realize that you don’t even need the pig, let alone the lipstick. One thing you should always do is challenge the pig — this may pave way for a new animal (or monster) — that you never considered earlier for your purpose, goals, and unbiased objectives.
Let me summarize how “Lipstick on a pig” — in my opinion, should feature into our initiatives, provided the reasons are justified. Taking an analogy from food/beverage industry, LOAP should be treated as garnish.
A garnish carefully crafted on a cocktail, is not to hide the bad taste or odor, but to truly elevate the beverage experience.
A good quality garnish ensures that the enhanced UX is wholesome — pleasuring four of our senses.. through — flavor, aroma, color, and texture! A bad one on the other hand makes itself too visible or tries too hard to hide something bad in the drink.
As a good practice, make LOAP an integral part of your design process, not an afterthought. It should truly blend in the overall objective of improving the user experience, not hiding a bad one.
Please share your thoughts, and any examples you might relate to — in the comments section ☺️.
Copyright © 2022 Vishal Mehta. All Rights Reserved.
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