LESSON 5 Flashcards
is the work of some designers is regarded as more important the designer has a prescriptive rather than descriptive job
Design
is in everyday use and yet given quite specific and different meanings by particular groups of people
Design
first problem we must confront
Design
– futurologist to some extent the better essence of their job is to create the future or at least some pictures of it
Designers
Everyone at some time or other gets frustrated when using a computer. The effect ranges from feeling mildly amused to extremely angry.
User Frustration
Reasons Why User Frustration Occur 1-4
- when an application doesn’t work properly or crashes
- when a system doesn’t do what the user wants it to do
- when a user’s expectations are not met
- when a system does not provide sufficient information to let the user know what to do
Reasons Why User Frustration Occur 5-7
- when error messages pop-up that are vague, obtuse, or condemning
- when the appearance of an interface is too noisy, garish, gimmicky, or patronizing
- when a system requires users to carry out many steps to perform a task, only to discover a mistake was made somewhere along the line and they need to start all over again
A well-known approach to designing affective interfaces is to use expressive icons and other graphical elements to convey emotional states. These are typically used to indicate the current state of a computer.
Expressive interfaces
Some ways of conveying the status of a system are through the use of:
- dynamic icons (recycle bin expanding when a file is placed into it)
- animations (a bee flying across the screen indicating that the computer is doing something, like checking files)
- spoken messages (using various kinds of voices, telling the user what needs to be done)
- various sounds indicating actions and events (window closing, files being dragged, new email arriving)
Good human-computer interaction (HCI) design is generally difficult, mainly because it is a multi-objective task that involves simultaneous consideration of many things, such as:
- the types of users
- characteristics of the tasks
- capabilities and cost of the devices
- lack of objective or exact quantitative evaluation measures
- changing technologies
Principles of Effective Design
- Know thy User
- Understand the Task
- Reduce Memory Load
- Strive for Consistency
- Remind Users and Refresh their Memory
- Prevent Errors / Reversal of Action
- Naturalness
This principle simply states that the interaction and interface should cater to the needs and capabilities of the target user of the system in design.
Know thy User
It is closely related to the interaction modeling and user analysis. It really boils down
to identifying the sequence and structure of subtasks at an abstraction level appropriate for the typical user within the larger application context.
Understand the Task
Designing interaction with as little memory load as possible is a principle that also has a theoretical basis.
Reduce Memory Load
Humans are certainly more efficient in carrying out tasks that require less memory burden, long or short term. Keeping the user’s short-term memory load light is of particular importance with regard to the interface’s role as a quick and easy guidance to the completion of the task.
Reduce Memory Load
