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The Reservoir of Patience

Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by Bradley Hebdon in Features

The longer I’ve been a UX professional, the more aware I’ve become of usability issues and poor experiences around me. And consequently, the more annoyed I have become.. Then again, it might also be a product of living in Los Angeles and fighting freeway congestion everyday.  Add to the mix, a crying newborn – and you can imagine why my fuse is pretty short, both online and offline.

Regardless of the causes, this trend got me thinking. Can someone’s patience completely run out? Are we all born with varying degrees of patience that can be affected by what we do?  I’m starting to think that everyone is born with a reservoir of patience; and as the years tick by, the level can potentially drop. Visualizing a metaphor like this could help us measure and prevent the levels from dropping to a point where frustration takes over. As with water conservation, we need to learn to curb consumption, but we also rely on rain to replenish our supplies.

So, that leaves me with two more questions:
1) What can we do to burn less patience?
2) What can we do to replenish patience?

I’d love to hear from you guys.  Is there another way to explain the phenomenon of grumpy old men?

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Tags: Annoying, Frustration, Patience, UX