Walking down the corridor of the arty hotel I’d just checked into, I couldn’t find my room.
Because there were no room numbers.
At least, not where you’d expect them – on or beside the door.
After my third lap of the corridor, I finally spotted them.
The numbers were placed at the base of the wall, near the floor.
Later, in the elevator, I asked others if they’d had the same experience. They had. Everyone was confused.
I often say not all conventions are worth following. Some actually work against you, like:
- plastering social media icons on your homepage, which just tempts people to click away,
- forcing password resets every 30 days, which leads to weaker, more predictable passwords, or
- surveying customers immediately after a frustrating service experience, which only irritates them further.
If a convention doesn’t improve the outcome for you or your user, it’s worth challenging, not following just because “everyone else does.”
But some conventions exist for a reason. Like putting room numbers on doors.
Because it’s never clever make your customer feel stupid.
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