I was working with Kimiko-chan on a website concept for someone I know. Kimiko-chan is the name I gave my ChatGPT assistant.
The person had not yet settled on what kind of website they wanted. We could start with a page and work out the details together by looking at it.
I said I could keep revising it. A lighter colour here, slightly larger text there—if they told me what caught their attention, we would have somewhere to start.
Then a thought occurred to me.
Being willing to make repeated changes is one thing. Does that make it easy for someone to keep asking for them?
If they were hesitant, simply waiting for requests might not bring out what they wanted. So I asked Kimiko-chan how I could make the question easier to answer.
The suggestion was to treat it as a conversation about work in progress and offer a small choice.
For the atmosphere of the website, for example:
- Gentle and calm.
- Bright and lively.
That would let the person begin by choosing what appealed to them. We would also leave room for both, or for neither to feel quite right.
That approach made sense to me.
They did not have to start by writing a list of requirements. We could move towards a finished design as they told us what they liked.
And the preference that came back was…
Both.
So I asked Kimiko-chan whether we could make a version that combined the two.
On reflection, gentleness and liveliness were not necessarily qualities that required us to give one up.
Soft green and generous space could give the page a calm atmosphere. Orange accents and a smiling illustration could add brightness.
Kimiko-chan revised the review version along those lines. Its new headline was “A reassuring conversation. A little more optimism.”
I had asked for help with the wording. Kimiko-chan had organised the options. The wish to have both had come from the person the website was for.
Their wishes did not have to fit entirely inside our original two choices.
When offering options, I want to leave room for “C: Something else.” If that reveals a different preference, we can think of the next proposal.
This time, “both” found its way into C.
Apparently, a question with two options does not mean the finished design has to choose between them too.