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Teardown55 minutesUnit 2 of 8 · Lesson 1 of 4

Reading intent off an interface

Unit 2 of 8 · Lesson 1 of 4Index
A still from the film for Reading intent off an interface
The verification fix has an owner and a date. Maya's next ask is bigger: “I want you to know Sona better than anyone here.” You open the app like a stranger would.

Prominence, friction and default

drag the line, or pick a side
Big means wanted
Big means wanted
Taps mean tolerated
Taps mean tolerated
01

Big means wanted

The largest, most central thing on Sona's home screen is “Connect bank”. That is what the company most wants you to do. Small and grey is what it tolerates.

02

Taps mean tolerated

Adding an expense takes one tap. Cancelling takes five. Extra steps are rarely an accident. Someone decided where the effort goes.

  1. Defaults decide for most people
    03

    Defaults decide for most people

    Whatever is switched on when you arrive is what nine in ten people end up with. A default is a decision made on everyone's behalf.

  2. Every screen chose who to lose
    04

    Every screen chose who to lose

    Simple screens lose power users. Dense screens lose beginners. Ask “who did they decide to lose?”, not “is this good?”.

  3. Look for what is missing
    05

    Look for what is missing

    What used to be there and is not tells you what someone traded away. Search reviews and forums for “bring back”.

How Instagram handled it

Doing it with AI, and where it breaks

The move

Give a vision model a screenshot and ask what the screen optimises for and what it makes harder. Then argue with it.

The trap

Vision models describe what is visually loud, not what matters. They notice the hero image and miss the pre-ticked box in 11px grey.

Prompt worth stealing

Here is a screenshot of one screen. List: (1) the single action it most wants, with the visual evidence, (2) one action it makes harder, and how many taps, (3) every default that is pre-selected. Do not describe aesthetics.

Build it

The artefact

A one screen teardown of Sona's home screen, or your own product's: what it optimises for, what it trades away, and who lost.

Figma or ExcalidrawA vision model

0/4

The worked solution

Stuck, or want to compare?

There is a worked solution. Try the build first. Reading it before you have attempted anything is the fastest way to learn nothing.

Checkpoint

If you did the build, these take two minutes. If you cannot answer one of them, that is the part to go back to.

Go deeper

Moving on marks this lesson complete. Finish the build first, it is the part that counts.

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