Historical Parallels in Usability
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DBENWOODS.COM Usability: Not my problem? Historical Parallels in Usability (it's always been the designer's problem)
description
So many people talk about usability as if it were a byproduct of the web. Others frame it as an outgrowth of industrialization and modern product design. This presentation discusses the centuries old relationship between usability and visual designers.
Transcript of Historical Parallels in Usability
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Usability: Not my problem?
Historical Parallels in Usability(it's always been the designer's problem)
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Good Design = Usability
In traditional design:
usability = legibility
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The revolutionary technical discoveries... have been only slowly followed by man’s ability to make use of his new opportunities and develop them into a new pattern of life. “Civilization” and the too-rapid penetration of all classes by these new technical discoveries have led to complete cultural chaos, caused by the failure of of the affected generation to draw the right conclusions for a new way of life from the new facts.
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The revolutionary technical discoveries... have been only slowly followed by man’s ability to make use of his new opportunities and develop them into a new pattern of life. “Civilization” and the too-rapid penetration of all classes by these new technical discoveries have led to complete cultural chaos, caused by the failure of of the affected generation to draw the right conclusions for a new way of life from the new facts.
Jan Tschichold,The New Typography, 1928
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Typography is shaped by functional requirements
The aim of typographic layout is communication (for which it is the graphic medium). Communication must appear in the shortest, simplest, most penetrating form
Jan Tschichold,Elementary Typography, 1925
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The history of design has been the history of understanding how people read symbols, enhancing legibility and message.
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Selected innovations in legibility – 100BCE
http://jontangerine.com/log/2008/06/the-paragraph-in-web-typography-and-design
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Selected innovations in legibility – 1482
A History of Graphic Design, Philip B Meggs - P92
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Selected innovations in legibility – 1757
A History of Graphic Design, Philip B Meggs - P121
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Increasing literacy, increasing access to technology – 19th, early 20th Century
1854 1907http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/beresiner18.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designbyok/378432295/sizes/o/
A History of Graphic Design, Philip B Meggs - P138
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Increasing web literacy, increasing access to technology – 21st Century
www.fabricland.co.uk
http://lowlowtireprices.com/lowlowtireprices_006.htm
http://www.elegantwebstudio.com/Myspace page – user information obscured
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Polyglot Bible (1569-72); multilingual website (last week)
bbc.co.uk
A History of Graphic Design, Philip B Meggs - P89
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Design and usability have a long co-history
But, the web has changed what usability means for designers Traditional design is geared towards one mode of
interaction – linear Interaction design is multidirectional, customizable,
portable Designers must not only be concerned with
legibility, or communication – but also task completion Task completion leads to provable and increasing value The web is no longer brochure-ware, but an environment
for interaction
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Designing for usability adds value
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Artists make themselves happy
Artist
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Traditional designers focus on making Clients happy
DesignerClient(s)
Value add
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For usable design, you need to focus on making the end-user happy!
Designer
Client(s)
Users
Value add
Value add
Value add
Value addValue addValue add
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Discussing Value
Designers must achieve increased value for their clients
Discussions of taste, aesthetic are highly subjective Discussions about usability, user research,
and testing are less subjective and can be directly related to an organization's bottom line.
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Good Design leads to Good Usability
Limit font choices: no more than 2 or 3; use complimentary fonts
Use conventions to your advantage Links: Blue and underlined Navigation: Top or left Icons: Use standardized icons, coupled with
text Indicate when opening native files Deliver on expectations; users should know
what to expect
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Design Patterns; Style guides for interaction design
Punctuation, leading, point size, folios, layouts, etc
welie.com
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Typical Book Pattern
Cover Table of Contents Forward Chapters
Header Copy Block Folio
Appendix Index Colophon
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There is plenty of room for creativity within existing conventions
Multiple images from amazon.com
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There is a strong parallel in the growth and maturation of traditional design, and the growth and maturation of interactive design.
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Resources
Typography and Design The New Typogaphy, Jan Tschichold A History of Graphic Design, Philip Meggs
Design Patterns Welie.com developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/
