I connected with this chapter the best because I found it the most interesting. Sometimes I am a very clumsy person, and I'm glad that the developers who worked on OS X kept human error in mind when designing their OS. The chapter talks about how some people need feedback to prevent errors, such as "Are you sure you want to close without saving?" and "Are you sure you want to empty the trash? This cannot be undone". This kind of feedback helps to not only prevent slips, but also helps protect the people who might not be as "tech-savy" as the average person. Another piece of good design advice this chapter discusses is to have an option for users to undo actions. I could not agree with this more, I find that my fingers instinctively know to go right to "apple/command+z" anytime I screw something up. I've even found myself doing it while doing homework in a completely analog environment! Another piece of good interface design discussed is the idea of preventing users from putting themselves in a dangerous situation that could potentially severely damage the interface. For example, OS X hides important folders, and Windows warns you when you are about to tamper with sensitive files, and won't even let you access some of the more sensitive areas.
Leia Mais…Tuesday, September 29, 2009
At Least MTA is Doing SOMETHING Right...
I think we can all agree that New York City's Metro Transit Authority could definitely use some reform, but whoever they hired to do their station and subway car design did (for the most part) a fine job. I was born 20 minutes outside of New York, and spent most of my life in northern New Jersey, so it's inevitable that I've spent a lot of time in the nation's largest city, and using it's infrastructure. Many may find the NYC subway system a little bit intimidating because of how large and complex it is, but because of it's smart design, I find that it is actually quite easy to find your way around. You'll begin your journey by spotting a Subway station, marked by a green and white (or sometimes solid green) ball-shaped light. Then, all you have to do is check if the entrance you're about to go in is for service uptown, downtown, or can be used for either. Assuming you don't already have a Metrocard, you'll then have to use the extremely easy to use Metrocard vending machine. After purchasing a Metrocard, you'll have to deal with one of the lower points of the subway system, the turnstyles, but thats a whole other topic for discussion, and most people end up surviving and getting through to make their train. Once you've crossed over to the other side, you'll be bombarded with signs directing you where to go, marked by your trains own personal logo, number or letter inside of a colored circle. These marks are another very smart innovation, the train number/letter marks specific route, and the color of the circle represents what "family" that set of trains is (i.e. - the 4, 5, and 6 trains are all marked by a blue circle, and follow a similar route, but their routes are all slightly different). When you get on the train, the newer models have a large sign in each car that has the route posted, with lights that turn off after each stop (example below), and under each stop, it has which trains can be transfered to
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Knowledge in the Head and in the World
I go about completing my daily tasks without really thinking about them too much. Thats because of the four reasons precise behavior is possible discussed in this chapter; information is in the world, great precision is not required, natural constraints are present, and cultural constraints are present. These factors reduce possible alternatives, and lead us to completing our actions properly. These four ideas are something I am going to keep in mind when it comes to interface design, as to expedite the user's experience as much as possible. However, the parts about memory seemed much longer than they had to be, I took away a few main points from that section. First off, memory is made up of knowledge in the head, and knowledge in the world. Knowledge in the head is personal memory, whereas knowledge in the head is interpersonal memory that we are reminded of in our everyday world (i.e. - mappings such as the stove controls shown in the book). The thing in this chapter I found most helpful was the table at the end. The table made me realize that when designing, it is important to keep both types of memory in mind, and design the interface as well as possible to cater to them, but working with "Knowledge in the World" is the most difficult.
Leia Mais…Monday, September 21, 2009
MIA Hates Epileptics
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Reflection on The Psychology of Everyday Actions
This week's reading once again seemed to be primarily common sense, however, it points out that many important things designers should consider. One important thing to keep in mind when designing something is that nobody is perfect and "the designer must assume that all possible errors will occur and design so as to minimize the chance of the error in the first place, or its effects once it gets made." This principle makes a lot of sense, and I am noticing it a lot in digital interface design, take the "undo" action for example, as soon as I make an error, my fingers almost instinctively drawn to "command+z". I also look back and analyze decisions I've made according to the flow of the psychology of how people do things. There are seven steps, but I understand it best when thinking about it flowing in this pattern: evaluate the situation, make a goal for what we want to happen, take action. I'm realizing that some problems do not come from a lack of understanding or knowledge, rather, it may come from a lack of understanding the relationship between the function of the interface and the mechanisms of the interface. The part of this chapter I found most helpful to my skills as a designer was towards the end, when it discussed the keys for good design: visibility, a good conceptual model, good mappings, and feedback.
Leia Mais…Sunday, September 13, 2009
iPhone Interface
Terribly Designed Pot
Alright, so this may not look like the typical thing you think of when you hear the word "interface". No, it's not an OS, it's not a high-end copy machine or cash register, but a simple pot to cook and boil water in. Either Satan himself thought up this twisted design, or it was just thought up by somebody with absolutely no common sense. Generally, a set of handles on a pot afford the action of easy lifting. In the case of this pot, these handles are most likely just going to afford pain. The idiot who designed this pot gave it thin metal handles that are perfect for conducting heat. The first time I used it earlier last week, I didn't think before trying to drain my pasta, and I ended up hurting myself. Then when I tried to pick it up with two dish towels, I nearly set them on fire. This pot is plain stupid, and should probably be recalled.
Leia Mais…Reflecting on Affordances: Clarifying and Evolving a Concept
After reading Affordances: Clarifying and Evolving a Concept, I feel a slightly heightened sense of design and visual communication in regards to affordances and functionality. I am not claiming to have become an expert in the field of interface design after this reading, but I have noticed myself looking more closely at interfaces I encounter on a daily basis, and question whether the affordance is a successful design in that it achieves the fundamental properties of an affordance. However, I will admit that this article seemed a little confusing at first, as I've never had any experience with interface design; then I came across the sentence in this article that caught my attention most that stated "Although complex things may require supporting information, simple things should not. If they do, then design has failed." This may just sound like common sense, it really helped me put the reading into perspective. While I found the entire passage very helpful, I have to say that I agree with Norman's views on affordances over Gibson's, as Gibson's do not consider the grey areas that sometimes need to be considered.