I have seen the future of design. It is bite-sized, delicious and satisfying. 

Snackable design isn’t just the future, it’s the now. Products that aren’t easily consumed will soon be replaced. My product design approach reframes complex problems into simple, snackable solutions for outsized results. From the big picture to the smallest detail, if it impacts user behavior, it’s our concern to make it snackably simple and engaging.

Senior designers incorporate advanced strategies like Design Thinking & Habit Design, but it can get a bit utopian. In contrast, Snackable Design is all about the pragmatic details that make a design work. 

Your Design Isn’t Perfect – It’s Utopian

That surprise when users abandon your app? It’s likely a symptom of Utopian Design: the flawed belief that perfect design, user motivation, endless attention spans, or training can overcome complexity.

Utopian designs are built for “no place,” for users who don’t exist. The word literally means “no place” and comes from the book ‘Utopia’. Success comes from good design, built for real users, right here on Earth.

The Attention Economy: We’re All Dating Our Phones Now.

Our society is starving for focus, drowning in a sea of distractions. My colleague once presciently quipped, “I’m dating my phone.” Today, it’s an obsessive, stalker-like cling. People check social feeds crossing busy streets, or compulsively hit work email and Slack 15-25 times daily. Groups at restaurants sit silent, glued to screens. ADHD isn’t just a condition anymore; it’s a “normal” lifestyle. People rarely just are with their thoughts or surroundings. As designers, railing against this reality is futile. We must adapt.

Unplug from Utopia: Design for the Real World.

Our users don’t inhabit an ideal world. Interruption is the norm, not the exception. Many apps and sites crash and burn because they demand focused, multi-step processes that shatter with a ping from email, a message, or a dropped connection. Users especially loathe unexpectedly tedious journeys: a 15-20 minute flight booking, or forced account creation just to buy. Embrace the chaos, design for it.

Busy People: Functionally Impaired by Modern Life

Ever designed for disabled users? How about busy, interruption-prone people? Nowadays, it’s pretty much the same thing. Designing for everyone now demands the same empathy once reserved for the disabled. Sustained attention is dead. Burden an intelligent, charming individual with relentless work, kids, commutes, and exhaustion, and you’ve created someone easily irritated, scatterbrained, and incapable of single-minded focus.

The youth market? Even more extreme. Target 18-32 with disposable income? They don’t single-task. Guys game on tablets, stream Netflix, and phone-surf. Women text and Instagram mid-conversation, in loud settings or quiet rooms. Many, perhaps not you, dear reader, text while driving or Facebook while crossing busy streets.

Think enterprise apps are immune? Not so fast. Open offices are interruption factories – constant chatter, movement, and spontaneous disruptions. Add to that the relentless stream of email, texts, and Slack, and focus becomes a vanishing act. No one is truly “off the hook” from the distraction epidemic.  

Busy people are

mentally & physically disabled

Snackable Design embraces the busy-ness of life

Regardless of what you are designing or the target market, making your design snackable is the way to overcome the traps of Utopian Design. What is a Snackable Design? In general, snackable designs are much more successful because the task flow is carved into bite-sized parts that are easy on user’s brains, even in distracted environments where connections fail. Snackable design is a framework which accepts that users are focus-starved and allows them to easily accomplish tasks even if constantly interrupted. It combines big picture planning with attention to details. A couple of examples will illustrate this best.

Exhibit B for BAD: The Unexpected Slog.

The ultimate sin? Maybe it’s turning simple tasks into an infuriating marathon. Take booking movie tickets. One app I’ve used demands 6 screens, 5-10 minutes, and a countdown. It torpedoes your intent by forcing tedious account creation with absurd password rules, then won’t remember your login. You can’t even browse showtimes without specifying everything first. Each dense screen is a scrolling nightmare, errors are ignored, and progress is blocked. It’s less an app, more a sadistic game daring you to quit. A tax audit or root canal is less painful.

Exhibit A for AWESOME: Unexpectedly Snackable.

The gold standard: concise, flexible, proactively helpful design. Ordering a tablet case. I typed my model, and their smart search instantly recommended compatible options. Then, real life hit: work calls, emails, even a browser restart. No account, so I expected to start over. Instead, the site invited me: “Welcome back! Continue where you left off?” Genius. Filters quickly narrowed hundreds of options. Concise text. Two minutes, case found. The payment page upsold a needed charging dock. Seamless.

Then, a power flicker, internet gone. “Ugh, redo,” I thought. But no! The site had saved my cart. I clicked back, paid, done in 30 seconds. A final offer to create an account used my existing info – one click, done. If only everything were this easy!

How to make any task snackable

To summarize, do not design a task flow like a 7 course meal. Never demand that users sit, focus and remember what they’ve already done. Plan for graceful crash recovery. Any flow, process, or UI can become more snackable. It’s worth it!

The 8 Rules of Snackable Design:

Snackability is smart UX in a distraction-filled world.

1. Always Save Progress: Let users effortlessly resume unfinished flows. It’s a game-changer.
2. Forgive Every Flaw: Anticipate and design for disaster, like mid-flow internet failure.
3. Flex Your Entry Points: Don’t demand mandatory inputs when users could start with less, or even one.
4. Make Tiny Asks: Strip each step to essentials. Low cognitive load feels easy. Group complex steps into sections.
5. Intelligent Search & Filters: Deliver smart, fuzzy-matched results and lightning-fast client-side filters.
6. Chop Your Copy: Design should show, not tell. Use concise verbs for buttons. Lots of text flags complex design.
7. Automate Accounts (Post-Facto): Once users have provided info (e.g., after an order), offer to create an account using what they’ve already entered. Instant magic!
8. Test for Reality: Don’t just test usability; test snackability under adverse conditions – distractions, broken connections, real-world chaos. (Adverse testing is a combat sport!)

Summary: Make the smallest ask possible

Your Design’s “Ask”: Is It a First Date or a Marriage Proposal?

How big is the commitment your design demands? As a colleague and I quip, “Everything in life that’s really a thing is a metaphor for sex.” Forcing users to eliminate distractions, create accounts, and focus intently on something they’re lukewarm about is a massive ask. It’s like proposing marriage and a joint bank account to a stranger at a bar – absurd, yet many apps demand just that level of painful attention.

Most products would be more more usable if they were more snackable.

Heavy, un-snackable products will be replaced by alternatives that are.

Small Asks

Make small asks of users. Choosing from a few clear choices is a small ask.  Make small asks at every step and users will rave about your design, regardless of the task.

I was inspired to conceive of Snackable Design by re-reading classics like Daniel Kahneman, Steve Krug, and Susan Weinschenk’s book, 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People. It’s the most snackable; open a random page for actionable nuggets you can use.

Here’s my small ask. If you enjoyed this article, share it with others!
Contact me if you need a great Product Design Director.