There’s a longstanding (and probably accurate) notion that the world would be a better place if everyone behaved as though their mothers were looking over their shoulders. Now, you can apply that same concept to website design. Ascribing to the idea that if your mom can’t figure it out, it’s probably too complicated, one mother is braving the depths of the Internet to review your website, all for the bargain price of $75.
User experience in this day and age is key, and The User Is My Mom uses the most unerring judge of them all — some guy named Scotty’s (an entrepreneur and developer) mom. “Dear Internet,” the site reads, “My mom is tired of your shit. She can’t understand your website and it isn’t her fault. It’s time we talked.”
And before you accuse Scotty’s mother of being an unqualified final arbiter of good website design, bear in mind that she “tutors high school students and likes quilting and hiking. She yells at her computer, doesn’t know what a twitter is, and struggles to find windows she’s minimized.”
But as theuserismymom.com rightly points out, “You should design with your mother in mind. If she can’t understand your site, others will struggle as well.” Thus far, Scotty’s mother has reviewed Twitter, though it is unclear whether the social media giant paid her the $75 fee to do so.
A few things to note — Scotty’s mother will not review a porn site (thank goodness), and Scotty promises to “refund your money if [he’s] too embarrassed to show your site to her.” And if you think your own mother might be up for a few honest website reviews, you can suggest your mom with this handy form.
While $75 may seem like a rather hefty price tag for a non-professional review, bear in mind that this fee is far less than the $500 charged by the closely related The User Is Drunk, in which UX professional and full stack developer Richard would knock back several beers then take to your site.
So proceed with caution, Internet users and website developers. But either way, be prepared for some very honest (and probably hilarious) feedback.
