- Field Studies: The Best Tool to Discover User Needs
United States, Massachusetts, Andover
Jared M. Spool
2007-03-13
User Interface Engineering
The most valuable asset of a successful design team is the information they have about
their users. When teams have the right information, the job of designing a powerful,
intuitive, easy-to-use interface becomes tremendously easier. When they don't, every little
design decision becomes a struggle.
While techniques, such as focus groups, usability tests, and surveys, can lead to valuable
insights, the most powerful tool in the toolbox is the 'field study'. Field studies get the
team immersed in the environment of their users and allow them to observe critical details
for which there is no other way of discovering.
- Simplicity Is Highly Overrated
Donald A. Norman
2007
Yes, we want simplicity, but we don't want to give up any of those cool features. Simplicity is highly overrated.
- Simplicity Is Highly Overrated
Donald A. Norman
2007
The invisible, ubiquitous computer has arrived, ensnaring almost any conceivable activity within its grasp. This raises wonderful opportunities and challenges to the field of human-computer interaction, for if the computer is everywhere, then everything is within our domain of study.
It is time to consider where the next application areas might be. As I look to the future, I see numerous domains of concern, but with three large, overriding issues:
* The ever-increasing complexity of everyday things
* The ever-increasing burden of security, authentication, and identification
* The ever-increasing use of automation
- UI Breakthrough -- Command Line Interfaces
Donald A. Norman
2007
Want to know what I think the next UI breakthroughs will be? Here is one:
Command line languages. Did you think they were dead? Forever vanguished by
graphical user interfaces? Think again. Search engines have added command
structures, and now these have migrated to the desktop. The new command line
interfaces still have a way to go. They have appeared serendipitously, as
system developers slowly expanded the capabilities of search tools. But now it
is time to recognize them for what they are -- and for how much better they
could become. Command line interfaces. Once that was all we had. Then they
disappeared, replaced by what we thought was a great advance: GUIs. GUIs were
-- and still are -- valuable, but they fail to scale to the demands of
today's systems. So now command line interfaces are back again, hiding under
the name of search. Now you see them, now you don't. Now you see them again.
And they will get better and better with time: mark my words, that is my
prediction for the future of interfaces.