My New Hero
Joel Spolsky has worked on UI problems for a long time, and he is better at stating the normal problems than I am. The thing I like about it is, he takes things we see in everyday life and looks at them through their interface (traffic lights, an assembly line, etc.), then he relates them back to the Windows and Mac UIs.
I love his main point: to design a good UI, you have to have respect for the user. Most programmers think users are idiots because they can't follow simple instructions. Here's the thing: if you won't simplify your interface, you don't have respect for the user's time. The user is not an expert in clicking through a brilliantly conceived hierarchy of options. They're an expert in accounting, or hospital administration, or, maybe, testing software. If you slow them down, They will be distracted and frustrated. They won't like you. They'll begin to count how many times in a day he has to click here, then there, then type that word, then click "go", because YOU didn't take the time to make it easy.
I love another of his main points: a) Users won't read the manual. b) Users won't read anything.
I was leaving the building the other day when I got stopped: the door was locked. I pushed the handle. Nothing. I bodily pressed on the door while pushing the handle. Nothing. My friend pointed out the huge orange sign that said "PLEASE USE OTHER DOOR". It was right in front of my face, taped onto the glass. Now, I'm no idiot. The 4 or 5 other people I've seen make the same mistake, they aren't idiots either. The fact that that same door has been dodgy for weeks , and that we should remember that fact, doesn't mean we're idiots. It means that WE DON'T CARE THAT THE DOOR IS BROKEN. We won't think about it, we won't remember it. We have too much going on in our lives to add that to the list of things to worry about. The only effective way I've seen to handle the situation is to put a giant black garbage bag over the handle. Make it tactile, and put it where our hand actually goes, and we'll be able to pay attention. If you're sitting there laughing at our stupidity, I'd like to know if you've ever done that before. Never? Not once? You're too smart? You read all the signs?
Liar.
For a clear example of what I'm referring to, check this out. Thanks to incandragon for the link.
I love his main point: to design a good UI, you have to have respect for the user. Most programmers think users are idiots because they can't follow simple instructions. Here's the thing: if you won't simplify your interface, you don't have respect for the user's time. The user is not an expert in clicking through a brilliantly conceived hierarchy of options. They're an expert in accounting, or hospital administration, or, maybe, testing software. If you slow them down, They will be distracted and frustrated. They won't like you. They'll begin to count how many times in a day he has to click here, then there, then type that word, then click "go", because YOU didn't take the time to make it easy.
I love another of his main points: a) Users won't read the manual. b) Users won't read anything.
I was leaving the building the other day when I got stopped: the door was locked. I pushed the handle. Nothing. I bodily pressed on the door while pushing the handle. Nothing. My friend pointed out the huge orange sign that said "PLEASE USE OTHER DOOR". It was right in front of my face, taped onto the glass. Now, I'm no idiot. The 4 or 5 other people I've seen make the same mistake, they aren't idiots either. The fact that that same door has been dodgy for weeks , and that we should remember that fact, doesn't mean we're idiots. It means that WE DON'T CARE THAT THE DOOR IS BROKEN. We won't think about it, we won't remember it. We have too much going on in our lives to add that to the list of things to worry about. The only effective way I've seen to handle the situation is to put a giant black garbage bag over the handle. Make it tactile, and put it where our hand actually goes, and we'll be able to pay attention. If you're sitting there laughing at our stupidity, I'd like to know if you've ever done that before. Never? Not once? You're too smart? You read all the signs?
Liar.
For a clear example of what I'm referring to, check this out. Thanks to incandragon for the link.
posted by Marcus at 11:49 AM
1 Comments:
The whole thing with not reading signs ties into my last post. I think it's a defensive measure because we're bombarded with so many signs, and most of them are stupid wastes of brainspace.
If you can take this into account at the design stage, that cuts out a whole load of problems.
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