Terri Timely’s Synesthesia
Category : Interface Research
Category : Interface Research
Terri Timely’s Synesthesia
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Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. – Steve Krug
Steve Krug explains how we can create better Websites if we just stop wasting time on useless debates within teams and engage in 'usability testing' early on in the development process. His book provides the antidote.
He distinguishes between designers and developers in what they consider to be a 'good' website design. Designers prefer pleasant layouts, whereas developers enjoy a good amount of features. This is also compared to the duality between commercial culture and craft culture. Which is a question of aesthetics versus usability. Ideally, we would want to have both.
“An Interview with Don Norman.” – Howard Rheingold
Norman stressed the importance of understanding the logic behind the act of designing, which includes considerations for the human factor. In this interview he sets ground rules for 'good design' and focuses on the idea that design should be inherently 'humane'; which is to say that technological tools need to be thought of with a user-centered approach. "Cultivate Sensitivity to Design" explains how experimenting (observing, testing, etc.) helps designers reach a place of "empathy" for the user and simplifies complex products or systems in accordance to audience feedback.
An Introduction to Usability – Patrick Jordan
Based on the International Standards Organisation's categories of "effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction," the author determines ways in which usability can be quantified. 'Effectiveness' is the capacity for a product to generate (or enable) output; 'Efficiency' is measured as the level of effort invested in completing an action or task (for example, the author categorizes usability errors as distinguished between a 'slip' and a 'mistake' in user performance and experience. For him, a slip is when a user accidentally performs the wrong action which is readily corrected by the user, whereas a mistake is when a user thinks he is doing the right thing (intuitive action), but is unable to perform his task.