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up, and he can't even punch in a number, he realizes that he's reached the unknown. That's
the last thing he wants. He feels as if he's done something wrong, and he's afraid to admit
it. He doesn't understand this phone. It's a complete mystery. It's obviously complex, its
workings are hidden, and its operating principles must be in a language that only a genius
could fathom.
The same thing happens to another user installing new software on her tablet. She
downloads, follows the first installation instructions, and suddenly everything stops. She
looks at the screen, examines the keys, and knows she's totally lost. She feels incompetent
and powerless. She sets the tablet down and walks away. She may be moving slower than
the guy who was fleeing the lion two thousand years ago, but her motivation is similar:
she wants to put some distance between herself and the unknown. Anything that can stir up
that many negative feelings is a suitable object for fear. Could it also produce a delightful
surprise? Yes, but first we must get her past that roadblock of fear.
Both of these users are in the dark. They've been using digital products all their lives,
but neither one knows the first thing about how they work. Which brings us to the second
source of fear: past experience. They've been through this before. The recollection of pre-
vious frustrations just adds to their fear. They eventually found other products that worked,
but they can't remember exactly how they did it. What they do recall is service line phone
calls with endless hold times, websites they didn't understand, and the embarrassment that
accompanies ignorance about current technology. They are afraid of the dark.
Though once-rampant technophobia has receded in recent years, in its wake comes a
flood of lesser fears. As a society, our paranoia about digital functions and connections
has ebbed. This can be seen in a shift in individual attitudes, allowing many former tech-
nophobes to overcome their fears, and go online. But the fear of new products is nothing
new. Consumers will always shy away from products whose complexity and fragility seems
threatening. The most common threat is that of unknown and seemingly mysterious func-
tions. An average user is still afraid of purchasing a new product, only to realize an hour
later that he or she has no idea how to make it work. A psychologist might call this “func-
tion phobia.”
Any digital designer aiming at a general audience should consider the fear factor. When
a product promises to satisfy needs and produce delight in its user, but that user has no clue
of how it works, when something goes wrong—even something minor—the first response
is often paralysis. Whether a user gets over that paralysis, or not, the memory of it remains,
reinforcing fears of all things digital. Understanding this fear requires empathy. Empathy is
