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Like
Driving a Car
If
you’ve ever rented a car or borrowed one from a friend,
you probably felt unfamiliar on entering it the first time.
You start by trying to find the ignition, then the location
of the seat adjustments. Finally, after you pull out, it
begins
to rain and you must quickly locate the wiper switch. When
it's time to return the vehicle, you do a courtesy stop to
top off
the gas. With nozzle in hand, you begin to search for the gas
door hatch release. The human factors impact on the design
of
that automobile is similar to any design for a book, website,
magazine, kiosk, etc. For this reason, like automobiles,
each
medium tries to maintain certain constants. However, prevailing
state-of-mind is also a factor and there's a difference between
driving a car and a web browser. When in an automobile, you
attempt to drive safely (lives depends on it), taking in
road
details to maintain a course of navigation. This isn't necessarily
the case when navigating the web.
Also,
the web can be a bit less supportive. There, when you get
lost or reach a dead-end, you can’t roll down a window
and ask for directions. Ironically, people don’t drive
carefully or even absorb details when maneuvering the web.
One could even say that most drive too fast. User studies
have shown that most of the time, people aren't even paying
attention. After all, it is called "browsing".
Luckily,
web development moves rapidly and we are constantly learning
more about users and their reactions to navigation paradigms.
On the following pages I put forward some of my findings.
Designers and those without formal training with a flair for
design should find them helpful. Again, there are human factors
at work for all the mediums so I will try to draw comparisons,
where possible.
Impact
of UCD
Think back to the early days of the web with its slow modems
and multiple browsers and compare that to today. The difference
is fairly striking. I suspect that in another 8 or 10 years,
there will be similar contrasts caused by an increasing awareness
of UCD and associated technologies forcing better, more usable
designs. Things like client-side executables, events-driven
navigation, and advancements in subject-managed content with
increased personalization are likely over the next few years.
With so
many web companies falling by the wayside over the past year
or so, we are learning that design and technology must be
carefully woven into balanced, thoughtful solutions. This
area of the website will attempt to describe why User Centric
Design is important and why it must be based on more than
just the user's considerations to be part of a practical business
solution. Also, the "Discovery" portion of this
site will demonstrate why it would be difficult to reach a
point where you have too much user information. Even subjective
feedback from one person is valid if there is any likelihood
of it being viewed the same way by anyone else. Focus on presenting
to the user with what they need as well as what they don’t
know they need to make them successful.
Seeing
Clearly
Ever have one of those days when the air smelled cleaner and
the sky seemed bluer? Application of UCD considerations and
practices is like that. It’s little more than an expanded,
user transparent set of communication practices. And like
corrective lenses, UCD will improve less than perfect vision.
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Continue:
Like Driving a Car, Users
& Approaches, Achieving UCD,
Centric Not Exclusive, Discovery,
Do's and Don'ts, Sites
Seeing |
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UCD, Design,
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