One of the most frustrating things I hear from users who are struggling with a site is when they blame themselves for the problems they're experiencing. They assume it's "user error" and that there must be something wrong with the way they're thinking or using the site. This leads to comments like "I just can't seem to figure this out…am I missing something? I’m starting to feel stupid.”

But I don’t believe in user error. When people resign their inability to complete tasks on a website or online experiences to users error, it’s a sign that the site or experience is not doing its job properly. It is either unclear, unresponsive to user needs, or simply failing in some fundamental way that not only is potentially losing customers, but making them feel bad.

An online experience should never leave its users feeling annoyed, frustrated, or stupid. It's the website that needs to be intuitive, user-friendly, and effective. It’s time to let go of this idea of user error and focus on what users are really saying.