ixd talk
TRANSCRIPT
Interaction Design
“The intractability of the software construction process – particularly the high cost of programming and
the low quality of interaction – is simply not a technical problem”
Alan Cooper
software
• Why is most software bad? Frustrating to use, buggy.
• Not programmers fault – they are often the agents of bad software but not the cause
• They are not given sufficient time, clear enough direction or adequate designs to succeed
• Providing these should be the job of the Executive and Product teams
• But they aren’t delivering – why?
• Not (just) stupidity
• They don’t have the right tools
software
• Businesses are structured & measured by a system born in mercantilism and refined in industry
• It measures the wrong thing in the information age
old methods
old methods
• In the industrial age products were manufactured from solid materials
• The money it took to create them were dominated by variable costs
• Costs that varied with the amount of stuff made.
old methods
• Software production is not like this
• It does not consume raw materials – no manufacturing costs
• The variable costs that dominated manufacturing are non-existent in software production
• Software production is not a fixed cost or a variable cost – and it is not R & D...
square peg, round hole
• ...but in practice it is treated like a manufacturing process (a variable cost)
• Businesses grow profits by increasing revenue or decreasing costs
• Decreasing costs was quickest and easiest in the manufacturing age
square peg, round hole
• But software production does not behave like a variable cost – trying to ‘reduce’ it doesn’t work
• Worse, it cuts off the only other course of action – increasing revenue by increasing quality means increasing production effort.
• Interaction design is the tool used to intelligently increase production effort
• Make sure all production effort contributes to quality and revenue
misdirected effort• IxD is the bridge between engineering and business
• Without adequate communication they tend to talk past each other
Feat
ures
Engineers choose features Sales & marketing choose features Utilised featuresexpert beginner
• How do we ensure that effort has real impact on the customer?
principlesGood software promotes “flow”
A psychological state in which people can concentrate fully with out peripheral distraction
• Reflects user’s mental model
• It does not converse
• Keeps tools close at hand
• Provides modeless feedback
How do we design such software?
orchestrationGood software should be invisible
• Orchestration is the process of ensuring all elements work harmoniously
• Less is more
• Don’t design for corner cases
• Reflect status – but don’t report normalcy
• Don’t interrogate
navigationNavigation is a chore even if it is in-line with the user’s flow
• Keep the number of pages to a minimum – preferably one.
• Keep the number of panes within a page to a minimum – no more than three.
• Provide sign-posts: fixed persistent elements.
• Provide overviews: thumbnails, bread-crumbs
exercise
• Don’t force the user to go to a different page – especially to do something that effects his current one
• Don’t force the user to remember things
• Try to allow input where you have output
Exercise is interaction that does not contribute to a user’s goal – eliminate it.
inflection
• Organise layout according to three attributes
• Frequency of use
• Degree of dislocation
• Degree of risk
Organise the interface to minimise the most common navigation path
visuals
• Masaaki Kurosu & Kaori Kashimuru
• ATM study
• Replicated by Noam Tractinsky
• Usability and aesthetics strongly correlate
• Emotion and cognition are interlinked – Norman ’04
• Happy people are more effective in finding alternate solutions & are therefore tolerant of minor difficulties – Alice Isen
Beautiful things work better!
conclusion
No more management by dead-line.
Know what you are building, who for, and know when you are finished
questions