
The User Is Drunk - richardlitt
http://theuserisdrunk.com/
======
sharkweek
Love it -

How about this as an alternative: The user is stuck in a very
(corporate/government/sluggish) environment. I will review your site/app from
a major bank's / federal government's offices and report back!

Or maybe this: The user is a 65 year old dad whose son doesn't come around
often enough to ensure his father hasn't installed countless malware that he
blames "internet" on. I will go to my dad's house and use his computer to
browse your site/app and report back!

This list really should get longer, HN, I turn to you.

~~~
johnlbevan2
The user is a woman: standard UX testing, only you're forced to confront your
own preconceptions for having assumed it would be otherwise.

~~~
cbd1984
> The user is a woman

Nothing changes.

Downvoters are sexist.

------
mytochar
The comments are suggesting that this is niche. I don't think it's niche at
all. On products I've worked on, I've frequently declared that all usability
testing should be done when you're exhausted and grumpy. You don't tolerate

    
    
        * pointless process,
        * extraneous fields,
        * improperly labeled things,
        * poor ordering,
        * sloppy UX flow,
        * excessively accurate controls, 
        * super-tiny buttons, 
        * things when you're like that.
    

In a similar way, when you're drunk, you can't /do/ process like that.

I think it's a lovely idea and more systems should be designed with that in
mind.

Drunk, I might be able to operate a computer as well as my grandmother; so, if
it can support me drunk, it can support my grandmother.

~~~
astolarz
> * super-tiny buttons,

He includes a link to his website, which has a very tiny and fairly condense
header bar but plenty of white space. Perhaps he should hire himself?

~~~
edem
Plus it works with 6 colors.

------
fireworks10
"The User is Drunk" is explained better in video by Will Dayble of
Squareweave:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CbbBLVaPk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CbbBLVaPk)

Also, OP's post seems more like "The UX Consultant is Drunk".

~~~
cheepin
And the discussion of that video:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7655281](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7655281)

------
Zak
If you're concerned about your drinking habits, you should probably not check
out aa.org. There is little solid evidence that AA is a particularly effective
treatment for alcoholism. Various types of therapy with real trained and
certified therapists have good success rates backed by actual scientific
evidence, as do certain prescription drugs. Combining them likely has an even
better success rate. Talk to your doctor.

[http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/10/26/alcoholics-anonymous-
mu...](http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/10/26/alcoholics-anonymous-much-more-
than-you-wanted-to-know/)

~~~
Devthrowaway80
Definitely talk to your doctor.

It's not true to claim that there is no solid evidence suggesting that AA is
not effective. There is a lot of shitty evidence both supporting and
discrediting 12 step programs, and the author of the linked article has found
plenty of shitty science to wave his hand at. Look through the dates of the
studies referenced - 1967, 1981, 1985, 1996. The most recent paper there is
almost 20 years old, with the exception of Project MATCH (2006), which the
author appears to have not read very closely.

The Project MATCH paper which the author above dismisses as "showing everyone
does the same with or without AA" actually shows that "12-step treatment had
more than double the number of patients who were continuously abstinent at one
year after treatment and about one third more at three years after treatment."
That does not strike me as being "the same". The latter interpretation of the
results comes from Harvard Medical School professors, the former from some
random anonymous dick on the internet.

An article on the topic from the aforementioned Harvard Medical School
professors (who are addressing a particularly well known "debunker" of AA, who
also coincidentally has his own method he is trying to sell) can be read here
- [http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/04/defense-12-step-
addicti...](http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/04/defense-12-step-addiction).
It references many recent, randomized, controlled studies that directly
contradict the assertion that AA has no effect.

My own personal experience is that AA, when stripped down, is very strongly
reminiscent of CBT (which I have also been on the receiving end of), mixed in
with a strong social support network. I also have seen that AA in practice
varies wildly from place to place, so my own experience is likely not the same
one that you'd have in the Bible Belt or elsewhere.

If you're struggling, by all means check out a meeting AND talk to your
doctor. If you hate AA, don't go anymore.

I tried and failed repeatedly to get sober on my own and with medical
treatment for about 8 years, from 26 to 34. Since I have started going to AA,
I have been sober for the longest period of time since I was legal to drink
(19).

If I had read that smug, halfassed article you posted, I probably wouldn't
have gone, and I probably would be either drunk or quite possibly dead, given
my intake and behaviour. Addiction is no joke. If you don't know what you're
talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself.

~~~
Devthrowaway80
I realize the above post may come off as rather angry. I'm already
anticipating a few "cult member identified!" replies.

I'd like you to reflect on the fact that you are suggesting people avoid the
primary form of treatment suggested by the National Institute of Health, the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the American
Psychiatric Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care
System, and many other large organizations. You are recommending against a
successful mode of treatment for people who have a problem that is potentially
life-threatening, that destroys both their lives and that of their families.

~~~
tempestn
For what it's worth I thought the post was fantastic until the last paragraph,
which was a valuable anecdote (and obviously a very personally significant
one), but very confrontational. Understandably so, but the tone probably makes
it less likely that a person on the fence would come around to your point of
view.

~~~
Devthrowaway80
You're right, that last bit was a bit of uncalled-for ranting. I would edit it
to remove it, but I think doing so would mess with some of the discussion that
has gone on since my post.

------
D_Alex
Well, it is a curious idea, and a very peculiar niche for a business! But...
"Your website should be so simple, a drunk person could use it" is kind of
arguable. For some sites (eg. hacker news...?) the desirable outcome is that a
drunk person should probably not use it. Still, I suppose the tester can test
for that as well.

------
practicalpants
I'm assuming this is just attention grabbing for this guy's personal brand.

Always interesting to see what kind of marketing stunts get you to the front
page.

If this were to be taken seriously, a guy regularly getting drunk is just sad,
as alcoholism is a real problem that this seems to be brushing aside.

~~~
richardlitt
As soon as I get a certain amount of clients, I'll cut this off. I'm not
interested in drinking professionally.

~~~
patrickmay
So you're not interested in a sales job?

~~~
richardlitt
Nope.

------
nickysielicki
I just wanna give you props for how good this site looks on a vertical
monitor. Full screen background images generally tend to break HARD, and sites
are always either going into mobile mode or look ugly as hell. This looks like
it was made for my monitor, though.

[http://i.imgur.com/DZBvync.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/DZBvync.jpg)

~~~
wz1000
Is that i3 and surf?

~~~
nickysielicki
i3wm and vimb

[https://fanglingsu.github.io/vimb/](https://fanglingsu.github.io/vimb/)

------
20kleagues
Instead of testing it myself, I will go to the clubbing district of Hong Kong,
and pay drunk users to test your website. You can tell me how many users you
want to test. Starts at 3USD/user.

P.S.: This way I stay away from alcoholism, too.

~~~
richardlitt
If you're going to be in Hong Kong this weekend, ping me. I'll be around. :)

------
BadassFractal
I think there's also an opportunity here to crowdsource UX testing to our
moms. They're the ultimate litmus test when it comes to being able to use
technology.

~~~
mattl
how about instead of 'mom' we use 'inexperienced user', and don't make a bad
assumption?

~~~
BadassFractal
It's not a bad assumption, you've never tried to explain how to use the iPad
to my mom.

------
jmtame
hacker news is now singlehandedly responsible for this guy being completely
wasted for the next month.

well done, everyone.

~~~
ccvannorman
the system works!

------
bitwize
This is why it's immensely sad that Unix "won".

Unix's developers just didn't grok usability. At all. As a result, Unix is
very sensitive to even small mistakes. It's like the OS was not intended to be
operated by humans, with faulty memories and clumsy fingers.

VMS, on the other hand, was much more tolerant of drunk users, or just tired
sysadmins who haven't had enough coffee. These considerations were baked in
from the start, resulting in a far more robust command line environment.

------
ccvannorman
well, i threw my $50 in. looking forwards to the results! (mathbreakers.com)

~~~
qzervaas
Same here, for [http://transitfeeds.com](http://transitfeeds.com)

~~~
kincardine
Why is "Sign in with GitHub" not a button? (Also, what value is there in doing
that?)

~~~
qzervaas
Many of the features required sign-in previously, but now they don't. Some
still do (e.g. API), but good point, it need to be better documented

------
farresito
Well, that's what I have experienced for the past four years. I've been
suffering from extreme brain fog due to very high copper and mercury levels
which I'm getting detoxed, and that's more or less what I'm going through. It
will be quite interesting to hear his thoughts.

------
richardlitt
I added a note about alcoholism. It is very serious.

Please check out AA if you or anyone you know relies on alcohol. aa.org.

~~~
Retra
AA has a bit of a reputation for spending more effort trying to get you to see
God than to stop drinking.

~~~
richardlitt
I highly suggest Dharma Punx if you're in California. Have some friends who
have gotten a lot out of it.

------
Naushad
"I'll get very drunk, and then review your website. I'll send you a document
outlining where I thought the website needed help"

When you are drunk, would you be actually in the state of mind where you can
document the issues ?

Even if you record your observations, will you remember the thought process
that was happening in your mind while you did the review? Which is the most
critical part of Usability Review.

Assuming the core idea is to test when an intoxicated person has effects like
problem with muscle co-ordination and lack in decision making...

Probably a nice marketing trick...

~~~
richardlitt
Let's find out! I doubt I'll remember the thought process.

------
userium
Hilarious. :) In case you want to catch common usability problems on your
site, before he tests it, use [https://userium.com/](https://userium.com/)

------
bpg_92
The user is left handed. As if there weren't enough left handed products
websites should be too. Login/logout on the right side? Talk about equality.
(It is a joke)

~~~
shultays
It is decided, all menus should be on the center!

------
nmb
haven't seen the similar Three Sheets Research mentioned yet:
[http://threesheetsresearch.com/](http://threesheetsresearch.com/)

------
benatkin
This is actually kind of funny IMO. Definitely don't try this at home,
especially if you're worried about your liver. Some people who ought to be
worried about their liver aren't.
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9602154/Middle-a...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9602154/Middle-
aged-drinkers-unwittingly-risking-their-health.html)

------
dedif
Not a new idea. I used to follow:
[http://threesheetsresearch.com/](http://threesheetsresearch.com/)

Unfortunately their last review dates from 2012 (ThreeSheets, if you hear me
.. please come back !)

E.g., Check this hilarious Microsoft Surface drunk review:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cMVKW-
fR1M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cMVKW-fR1M)

------
johnchristopher
I like that concept :).

I also like your `easy on the eye` site. I peeked at the code and found this
little tiny typo:

    
    
        <meta property="og:url"content="http://theuserisdrunk.com/" />
    

A space is missing between url" and content.

~~~
richardlitt
Thanks! Fixed.

------
smoyer
This would be safer with a set of alcohol impairment googles ... you can at
least simulate the blurry vision part of the experience -
[http://www.lifeloc.com/goggles.aspx](http://www.lifeloc.com/goggles.aspx)

------
cel1ne
[http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/42026/could-user-
tests...](http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/42026/could-user-tests-with-
impaired-drugged-tired-people-lead-to-better-interface)

------
solve
Been using this exact UX testing approach for years. Has served me well, no
joke.

------
glifchits
This is an awesome idea. The example I'm most passionate about of web design I
hate is an online pizza ordering site, because when I was intoxicated it was
super confusing to just order a pizza.

------
ffn
lol love this idea... but my target audience is teenage Asian girls who like
anime. If OP's current thing is successful, will you be willing to do a
theuserisajapaneseschoolgirl.com ?

~~~
timv
_my target audience is teenage Asian girls who like anime_

I knew quite a few guys at uni shooting for that same target...

------
fataliss
I like how I could't get anything out of this guy's personal website while
drunk. Start to get your own stuff together before selling advices for other.

------
dilipray
Rajesh Koothrappali can do it with better with Non-Alcoholic Beer.

[https://youtu.be/aHtSD4oU2Ro?t=26s](https://youtu.be/aHtSD4oU2Ro?t=26s)

Kidding.

------
mathattack
Seems like a fantastic way to get someone to pass the bill on their drinking.
Who knows if this will help any of their customers?

------
bunkydoo
So what prevents me from saving $150 and getting some homeless guy at the
shelter to do this same shit for the price of a bottle?

~~~
DanHulton
Well, the homeless guy probably isn't a trained UX guy, for one, so you're not
getting the same value. And you're probably enabling the substance abuse
problem of a person in real trouble, so I mean there's an added moral weight
here.

------
edem
Maybe you can get drunk with Baby Boomers and let them test the website.
Hilarious idea though! I think I will try it out soon.

------
facepalm
Interesting idea, but I think he should ask for at least 10 times what he
does, given that he poisons himself for the job.

------
jabo
Wonder if the author dog-fooded his concept, that would provide some real life
use cases to serve as reference.

~~~
richardlitt
I did. Wasn't an ideal real life case, though.

------
makemoves
Love it! Here is the follow up? oneloveux.com Get your project reviewd buy
stoned developers and creatives

------
mrsirduke
The price seem to be going up at some rate. It was $75 earlier, and now it's
$80.

~~~
richardlitt
Just trying to limit customers. I don't want to have to get drunk, if I can
help it - here and there is better.

------
lips
PEBCAB could be an issue.

~~~
johnlbevan2
Problem exists between chair and beer?

~~~
lips
Ah, my people.

------
meesterdude
hey! thats crazy that matt took the photo - i work with him.

~~~
richardlitt
+1 for matt

------
mjgold
Not surprisingly, TheUserIsHigh.com was registered today...

------
jrk_
I'll do the screencast for the beer only. :)

------
Raphmedia
Well, time for "theuserisonacid.com".

------
akshaykarle
Getting paid to be drunk. Kudos to the idea!

------
munchhausen
Were you drunk when you created this?

------
stevebmark
AKGs are decent headphones. Those look like 701s maybe? Or the discontinued
272? They're comfortable at least.

~~~
richardlitt
271s, iirc. Lost them a couple of months ago, sadly.

~~~
stevebmark
oh, good! the k2xx series is really bad. I had k272s. they're overpriced with
really disappointing frequency rolloff
[http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&gra...](http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID\[\]=2901&graphID\[\]=3281&scale=30)
also poor build quality / really plasticy / no detachable cable

------
LeonRobrotsky
I've been very thankful that I couldn't navigate some websites drunk in the
past.

------
amagumori
> Is this your only job? No. I have a full-time job changing the world.

dude, you do frontend development for a social network. how self-aggrandizing
can you be. just say you work for a social network ffs.

~~~
dudus
Social Networks changed the world. Building one, even a small part can be
rewarding. Maybe not everyone in the same position will feel the same way, but
you should definitively not criticize him if he does.

Good for you, I also believe I'm changing the world, and I'm not here building
rockets or anything like that.

~~~
themoonbus
I mean, by that broad definition, everyone is changing the world, it goes
along with being a sentient being that exists in the world.

Although I can't tell if his "changing the world" comment was tongue-in-cheek
or not, the tech industry does have a problem with self-importance... or at
least, that's the broad perception of the industry, to the point that it gets
parodied in media (see: HBO's Silicon Valley).

------
bbarn
Why not just post as show HN? If there's a nit, it'll be picked.

~~~
richardlitt
I don't hang out on HN much. Can I post to show HN?

~~~
anon012012
Typically you prefix "Show HN:" in the title, if showing your own product.
Maybe because this is a place for news, primarily, and so it's not humble to
link your own product as a news, but you can ask for community feedback with
the prefix.

