Message Design and Content Creation: Info Design

Message Design and Content Creation:

Info Design

6 February 2007

Kathy E. Gill

Kathy E. Gill, uwdigitalmedia.org

Agenda

Lecture – Information Architecture Discussion Leaders Lab Team/Project


Recap: Our goal is flow

The process of an optimal experience The activity feels seamless It is intrinsically enjoyable Individual loses self-consciousness


Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design (1/3)

Strive for consistency (the most frequently violated rule): Terminology Prompts Menus Help screens Color Layout Capitalization Fonts



Let frequent users use shortcuts Abbreviations Special keys Hidden commands Macro facilities

Offer informative feedback Design dialogs to yield closure

Sequences of actions should be organized into groups Beginning, middle, and an end



Offer error prevention and simple error handling

Permit easy reversal of actions Support internal locus of control Reduce short-term memory load


Effective navigation

Clearly communicates Where am I? Where have I been? Where can I go?


Navigation icons

Should not require explanation Must represent the correct concept Must be visually distinct Are appropriately sized Text (label) is often the best visual cue


Menus (1/2)

TypesStatic, pull down, fly-out, pop-upRecognition, not recall (memory)

Menu organization AlphabeticalChronologicalCategorical


Menus (2/2)

Provide real-estate savingsBut have invisible info

Pull-down, fly-outHorizontal or vertical

Pop up menusAppear at various places on the screen


Object-Action Model of Interaction

Understand tasks Evaluate real-world objects and the actions

applied to those objects Create interface representations

Objects and actions Make interface actions visible to users


Task Hierarchies

Computer system designers must generate a hierarchy of objects and actions (the interaction) that successfully models user tasks:

Representations in pixels on a screen Representations in physical devices Representations in voice or other audio cue


Semantic Understanding

Understand how the process works, the meaning of an actionA mouse clickA submit button


Syntactic Understanding

Understand the specific rules of behavior that achieve an action In Windows, double-click on a file to launch

(open) the application and load fileOn the Web, single-click an underlined word

to go to a new Web page


When Syntax Vanishes (1/2)

We are forced to maintain a profusion of device-dependent details in our memory. Which action erases a character?Which abbreviations are permissible? Which of the numbered function keys

produces the previous screen?


When Syntax Vanishes (2/2)

Learning, use and knowledge retention is hampered when details vary across systems unpredictably

Syntactic knowledge is learned through repeated usage

Syntactic knowledge is system dependent -- and note: our visitors perceive “the Web” as a system, violate only after careful deliberation


Our Job

To minimize syntactic/memory burdensFamiliar objects and actions represent their

task objects and actionsStandard (or de facto standard) widgets

Why did the mailbox not work as early e-mail icon?


Five Tests of Effectiveness (1/2)

Time to learn How long does it take for typical members of the community to learn how to complete task?

Speed of performance How long does it take to perform relevant benchmarks?

Rate of errors by users How many and what kinds of errors are commonly made during typical applications?


Five Tests of Effectiveness (2/2)

Retention over time Frequency of use and ease of learning help make for better user retention

Subjective satisfaction Allow for user feedback – interviews (focus groups), online surveys (both free-form comments and satisfaction scales).


Design for Diversity

Personality differences Cultural and international diversity Users with disabilities Elderly users Anything else?


Raskin’s Rules

The user should set the pace of the interaction

Error avoidance, facilitated with “undo/redo”

Accessible to the naïve, efficient for the expert


Errors are not mistakes!

Mistakes are the result of conscious deliberation

Slips result from automatic behaviorNorman’s Types: capture, description, data-

driven, associative activation, loss-of-activation and mode errors


Good Error Messages

Polite Illuminating Treat the user with respect


Design for Error

Minimize occurrence by understanding the causes of errors

Make detection and recovery easier Change the attitude toward error from

“stupid user” to “stupid design”


One small problem:

When you design an error-tolerant system, people come to rely on that system (it had best be reliable!)Anti-lock brakes (ABS)Blade guard on circular sawAnything else?


To increase errors, add a little:

Social pressure Time pressure Economic pressure

In other words, real life!


Resultant design philosophy:

Put knowledge in the world (iow, make options visible)

Remember the three questions:Where am I, where can I go, where have I

been? Design for errors


Next Week:

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Message Design and Content Creation: Info Design

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