Too many apps and digital products treat users like passive observers. They surface dashboards, deliver reports, and walk users through prescribed paths. But they stop short of what really builds engagement: giving users the power to do something.
The best tools go beyond presentation by creating space for interaction, decision-making, and play. They let users touch the product – shaping and creating, not just consuming.
This is the difference between a tool people visit once and a tool they live in.
User Agency: The Core of Product Value
At the heart of a successful product is agency. When users can take meaningful action within your interface, they begin to trust it. They learn by doing. They adapt it to their workflows. And most importantly, they return.
User agency means:
- Direct manipulation of objects or data
- Instant feedback and visible results
- Flexibility in how to approach tasks
- The ability to create, not just navigate
Products that support this empower users, not just inform.
Why Static Interfaces Fall Flat
Read-only dashboards, rigid forms, locked-down views – these are all signs of static design. They might look clean, even sophisticated. But they don’t invite exploration. They don’t reward curiosity. They don’t scale with complexity.
Users in work environments aren’t just there to observe. They’re there to do things – communicate, take action. If the interface doesn’t help them act, it quickly becomes a bottleneck.
Static interfaces:
- Feel like dead ends
- Reduce engagement over time
- Push users to seek alternatives (like spreadsheets)
Let Users Play (Yes, Even in Enterprise Tools)
Play isn’t just for consumer apps. In the world of work, play means flexibility, control, and discovery. It’s about letting users experiment safely and learn as they go.
Some of the most successful modern tools embrace this:
- Figma: The canvas is live, collaborative, and endlessly adjustable. Users create directly.
- Airtable: Drag, drop, filter, link – it’s data, but fluid.
- Notion / Coda: Every element is editable. Structure emerges from interaction, not imposition.
Even serious enterprise software can adopt these principles. Inline editing, interactive workflows, sandbox environments – these are all ways to support play.
Designing for Doing
When designing products for work, ask:
- Can the user make a change here?
- Do they see the result immediately?
- Can they adapt this flow to their needs?
It’s not about endless customisation. It’s about action. Giving users the power to move through the product with confidence.
Sometimes, it’s the small choices that matter. Replace “Request Access” with a way to draft and share immediately. Allow drag-and-drop over drop-down menus. Let users start with a blank canvas, not a fixed form.
A Quick Note on Architecture
Some digital products are like show homes: pristine, polished, and untouchable. Others feel like real homes – lived-in, adjustable, personal.
The best interfaces are soft where it counts. They don’t lock users out of interaction. They make space for movement.
Conclusion: Give Them Something to Touch
Modern apps are no longer static systems of record. They’re active environments for thinking, collaborating, and building.
To design for this, we have to give users more than status updates and pretty charts. We have to let them touch the product and do things. Create. Change. Shape what they see. Make it theirs.
Because the more a user can do, the more value they’ll find – and the more likely they are to come back.