Annoy Your Users Less
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Presentation Transcript
Session 202 Philip Wolfe, Lead Developer Farm Credit Services of America Annoy Your Users Less
What are we talking about? • Human Factors of User Interface Design • Human Computer Interaction (HCI) • HCI is the study of interaction between people and computers. (wikipedia) • To the user, the user interface IS the system
Creighton University • ITM 734 – Human Factors in Information Systems
The Design of Everyday Things • Donald Norman (1988)
The Humane Interface • Jef Raskin (2000)
We are concerned with Fit HUMAN TASK FIT COMPUTER Optimize Fit and you optimize performance
Gestalt Psychology • Law of Prägnanz - we tend to order our experience in a manner that is regular, orderly, symmetric, and simple. • Reproductive thinking is solving a problem with previous experiences and what is already known • Your users are trying to make order out of the application that they are using • This may be based on a previously used application
Law of Closure • The mind may experience elements it does not perceive through sensation, in order to complete a regular figure (that is, to increase regularity).
Law of Similarity • The mind groups similar elements into collective entities or totalities. This similarity might depend on relationships of form, color, size, or brightness.
Law of Proximity • Spatial or temporal proximity of elements may induce the mind to perceive a collective or totality.
Law of Symmetry • Symmetrical images are perceived collectively, even in spite of distance. [ ] [ ] [ ]
Law of Continuity • The mind continues visual, auditory, and kinetic patterns. A C D B
Law of Common Fate • Elements with the same moving direction are perceived as a collective or unit.
Different Types of Users • Occasional Users • Everyday Users • Expert Users • Design the interface for each type
Recognition vs. Recall • What is the difference between these two?
Reduce the cognitive load • Use Models • Use Consistency • Use the computer's “memory” as much as possible • Don't disrupt the user with error/warning/information dialogs. They may forget what they were doing.
Donald Norman's Principals • Cognitive Model • Visibility • Feedback • Constraints • Affordance • Mapping
Cognitive Model • A Mental Model • An idea of how something works • Physical to more abstract • Structure the interface in a deliberate manner • Think of how does the user perceive solving this task
Visibility • Make all needed options visible • Don't distract the user with extra information • Don't overwhelm the user with alternatives
Feedback • Communicate to the user about the state of their action • Use more than one method • Don't use jargon
Constraints • Limit what the user can perform in certain situations
Affordance • A quality of an object that allows a user to perform an action • Involves the user's goals, plans, values, beliefs, and past experiences • Objects should project how to use them
Mapping • The user has an idea of how the interface is to be used (their mental model) • The object has a conceptional model of how it should be used (the designer's mental model) • When the two meet there is a close mapping. • The designer needs to think in a user-centered way
Jef Raskin's Principles • Monotony of Design – There should be one way of accomplishing a task in a system • Undo – Give users the ability to undo their actions. • Universal use of text – Icon only buttons are cryptic and can be experience / culture specific.
Raskin's Principles cont. • Elimination of warning messages – Users ignore these! Provide a way to undo their action.
Additional Principals • Tolerance – reduce the cost of mistakes by allowing “undo” or expecting varied inputs • Consistency – Users have knowledge of other systems (mental models) • Simplicity – Make common tasks easy, communicate clearly, break down complex tasks • Finalization – Users want to know that their actions were successful or complete
Consistency What else does this violate?
The Uncanny Valley • The more a robot appears to be (look/act) human, the more we notice how it is not human
The Uncanny Valley of Web UI • Is there an uncanny valley for web Uis? • The more a web application tries to emulate a desktop application, the more we focus on the missing pieces.
Summary • Design from the user's perspective • Conduct usability studies • Remember Norman's Principles • Your users are trying to map your system from something they know • Your users are trying to organize your system into something they can remember
References • Bill Higgins (http://billhiggins.us/weblog/2007/05/17/the-uncanny-valley-of-user-interface-design/) • Wikipedia • The Design of Everyday Things