Progressive disclosure - techniques are
available now that you should be able to show the user the data they need to
see when they need to see it (i.e. tooltips are no longer limited to text, we
can make them look how we want them to look).
Highlighting - lots of techniques,
non-traditional include offsetting, spotlighting
Mapping - should be so obvious what an element
does that any other interpretation does not occur to the user
Physical location
mapping to some kind of virtual location.
Leverage conceptions of the real world
Design affordances - scissors, the thumb
location is smaller than the finger one.
In software, drag handles in the bottom right corner.
Entry points - get the user moving in the right
direction at the beginning of an interaction.
i.e. click here to begin on an empty from, arrows pointing to where they
should be interacting, etc.
Constraint - prevent
the user from doing something that is inappropriate or impossible at that time.
One of the most
frustrating flaws is denying the user an action they should be able to perform
(i.e. not enabling things appropriately).
A good example is a slider, which sets a max and minimum, and could set
increments.
Feedback
Warnings and errors
Progress
Changes in status
Position the element
giving feedback close to the item it is giving feedback on
Confirmation -
asking too much dilutes the value of it.
Reserve it for exceptional circumstances
Forgiveness (undo) -
holding area for irreversible operations
Meta-Design
Taking context and
circumstances into account
Balancing design
factors against one another
Design principles
are guidelines
This trash can
design on the left is from Juno, AK, where there are bears nearby. It would be bad design for New York city (as
it would require one to use one hand to open it (putting down your briefcase in order to open it and throw away your coffee cup), as opposed to an open design
that you just toss things into it, but is perfectly acceptable in Juno because
no one wants to attract bears.
Good design vs bad
design depends on context.
Don't be dogmatic in
applying design principles - there is no one true way.
New conditions have
made certain design principles more relevant - i.e. touch interfaces.
Gesture
lexicon
Element
size
"Gorilla
arm" - don't want the interface to
be vertical if the user is going to be using them for very long
Form follows function
A
hallmark of a design that matches the user needs is that it tends to have an
elegant feel
This is
an emergent property of good design, not an initial goal
If you
start with elegance as your goal, it's easy to over-invest in cosmetics, and the
elegance of "form follows function" is not about cosmetics
Application of
Occam's Razor - choose the simplest design
Most Advanced Yet Acceptable
To make
a difference with design, you need to push into new territory
Sometimes
that means radically new and different designs, especially if the older designs
were either bad to begin with or are now obsolete
The
limiting factor is often what users can accept
If you
get too advanced, users can become uncomfortable and wary
During periods of
transition designs need to push into new territory, or shelf life may be too
short.
If you don't get a
certain level of change, inertia may become an issue due to familiarity with
the old design.
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