the User Experience...

Adding to my earlier thought on User Experience…lets try getting some understanding on User Experience…

Why do we enjoy a good ‘food’??? becoz it has a perfect blend of spices and ingredients. A good cook will tell you that it’s all out ‘just perfect’ mix of ingredients…so its all about knowing and realizing this perfect mix of things for GOOD USER EXPERIENCE in products…

The ingredients involve…

• Usability
• Graphic
• Interaction
• Information
• UI Elements

So as a cook (designer) your main aim is to mix them together to make a good dish (product) out of them…skipping one or not mixing one in proper proportions would spoil the taste (experience).

The complex part of design is that these are all interlinked…

You try changing one and the others get affected. So as a sensitive designer one need to consider every aspect (ingredients) while designing…

So a good UI would have a good composition…where neither of the above factors dominate but work in harmony with each other…

The graphics should not dominate the information, the UI elements should compliment interaction, the graphic changes with change in UI elements or Interaction, and usability results can changes with change in any of the parameters…so it’s all connected and it’s all a SYSTEM…

cont...

guess the idea quoted in the previous posting is not unique…it’s just that I realize a system exists…it will be a huge topic to debate and research…but if I have understood correctly Jesse James Garrett “Elements of User Experience” also in a way states these factors…though he believes its in layers while I believe they are equal and effect each other more strongly…

But someone in the field of UI may (I hope) accept my argument that these are related and I explain this with an example…

Suppose we need to add a new toolbar to the existing ‘MS Word’ software…

Let’s look at various perspectives…

Suppose we start with finding the commands required…and arrange in a logical sequence (information Design)…how many commands are required…which ones are more important >> how many commands we need to add will define the interaction…can all commands be presented to user… >> UI elements are decided by what function each command performs…where it is placed…either all buttons or drop down or mixed >> also the visuals…whether all are in one row or in multiple rows…what icons are required…how many and how to make them different from already existing ones but yet should look like a part of the family…does it starts to dominate the other commands >> Usability consideration would be…are all the icons understood by user…is the terminology of the command correct…are the buttons spaces correct…is the interaction or UI elements fit into the metaphor of existing tools/commands…

So the ‘Experience’ of using that tool bar would come as combined effort of all these factors and not one…if the icon is not properly understood then…even if it is beautifully designed will spoil the experience…or if it is usable but doesn’t look good then also the Experience will suffer…again if the information architecture is not perfect usability will suffer and even a good icon wouldn’t bring the experience…

If we find that there is not enough space for 8 commands, only 5 can be presented…then we have to either think of new interaction model or UI elements or change the information architecture…may be break the tool bar into 2…if they change the visual design would also change and hence the Usability experts again have to evaluate the new design…

This is huge topic to write…but I strongly believe a good design is one which takes care of if not all then MOST parameters…and that’s the key to USER EXPERIENCE…

I would appreciate if readers could mention their names while posting comments…

Thanks & cheers…

© Abhishek Kumar, 2005

What you 'Get' is what you 'See'…

There has been an interesting posting on Ok-Cancel…about the “end of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)??”…also you will find ‘Usability Gurus’ talking about this amazing idea used in ‘Outlook 12’...

“Ok…so?? This is same as ‘Previews’ we used to see…” so what the whole fuss about??? I have been using softwares like ‘Photoshop CS’ and ‘3D Studio Max’ and I’m not excited about this ‘WYGIWYS’ (what you get is what you see) because these software are doing this for quite some time…

It’s not a very substantial leap into the future…its just ‘intelligently’ using an existing style…I believe the hype is created by ‘some’ to scare engineers and management so that they would get a reason to ‘pay’ for courses conducted by ‘some’ on this so called ‘emerging new UI paradigm’…

The question is how far can this paradigm go…its easy to show commands like “Bold”, “italics” or (filters as in Photoshop)…what about “Save”, how about “Send Message”, how about “Inserting an Image”…command like “Break”…how to show a process??? It can show the end result??? How to use it when VISUALLY nothing changes – Export, Save, Print, Zoom…how will we show DELETE in preview??? So can we say WYSIWYG is OUT???? I don’t think so…

But a mix of BOTH…well I must admit…‘very interesting’… TO put it metaphorically design is like a game of ‘Quake’…there are lots of ‘guns’…where every gun has its own specialty…so when an enemy comes…one has to decide what gun is effective to tackle that enemy…it’s the same in UI…every design issue has a gun…you have to decide the right gun and shoot the problem…but saying a ‘Rocket launcher’ is better than a ‘Shot gun’ is not fair…as both solve different issues… :)

To add the great “Ribbon” tool bar…why can I have commands on my work space??? Why do I have to go on top header to click a tool…why can’t I have the tool bar a Right Click (right next to the place in am typing or working???)

You may find my ideas foolish or childish….but that’s ok… :)

Have a good day…

Understanding Infographics

I was attending a Workshop on Information Graphics. While I was watching some path braking Info graphics I was...wondering what makes them so great...
Let see some great examples here...these graphics didn't just represented data but helped in understanding a problem...the representation lead to a solution which would have been impossible to achieve without them...

The 1854 London Cholera Epidemic by Dr. John Snow

This graphic maps the Epidemic data on a Location Map. The map marks the location of patients in London. This graph leads Dr. Snow to pin point the source of the epidemic – a Water Pump on Broad Street which had contaminated water.

The Periodic Table

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev studies the properties of elements and came up with a periodic table (the one above is a modern version). Table started making sense and gave way to discovery of new elements…

I kept thinking what is it which made them so powerful....

The Golden Question

How could they solve a complex problem of data structuring??? What I mean to say is that there are so many ways of arranging the same data for example…Dr Snow could have arranged the same data as per DATE, or by AGE or may be by Demographics or by Financial Status of patients…which would not have let him to the conclusion which he was looking for…

Just because he chose the ‘Locational’ facet of the data that he could arrive at the ‘result’. It could be a matter of debate as to whether he accidentally took this facet or he thought about it. But for now lets leave alone this for historians to figure out…

Let’s take the other example…of periodic table…had Mendelev taken some other facet of the data…he wouldn’t have arrived to such a perfect solution…though it may be unfaire to say it was accidental…but still getting the right facet to organize a data made the this thing a ‘HIT’…

So the conclusion is that for making an information graphics it’s VERY IMPORTANT to choose the right facet or axis to organize the data which eventually could give the PERFECT RESULT…

So, how to figure out that RIGHT facet????....hmmm good question…hope to find some solutions in future...

if you want to know more about History of Info-graphics you should visit the site
http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/

Have a Nice Day…

Thoughts on 'CUSTOMIZATION'

While working for a project during my internship I came across this difficult aspect of softwares...called the 'Customizability'...

So when we allow users to customize the UI...then...the design moves in difficult waters...'How to control the UI consistency?' ; nobody asks the user 'How much customization you need?' or 'Are you not lost in customizing the UI?' or the golden question 'Is it making your life simple???'

Some thoughts on customization...

The major problem in customization is that the designer looses control over UI. But still it’s a designers responsibility to ensure that user do not make their page un-user-friendly. Again just because it is customizable does not mean that the product (default design) should be badly designed. The default design should be a benchmark for user in usability readability and design. They should customize their page with reference from the default design.

Introduction to Design

Hmmm…such ‘Information Rich’ title… “Introduction to Design”
“Introduction to Design” as in ‘Introducing…iPOD’
“Introduction to Design” as in “London to New York”…

What I meant was the latter… ‘Introduction’ to ‘Design’…

Are you wondering what is ‘Information Rich’…well by ‘Information Theory by Shanon’…A statement which has ambiguity is information rich…means it may have multiple interpretations…hence Information Rich.

So first we start by introduction…one of my friends gave me this great idea…that I should ‘Introduce’ my self… (wooow why didn’t I think of it…)

I’m Abhishek, wanting to be an architect but turned into a New Media designer then struggles to understand New Media so drifted to Usability, Interaction Design and Information Architecture… = complete MESS (Hence proved)...I hope people now would have sympathy with me…

With all due respect to design gurus I’m unnecessarily trying to redefine DESIGN.
Design is not about drawing skills, graphics, color, interesting forms or aesthetics. It a was of life and way of looking at things…its as close to logic and reasoning as it is to aesthetics and a pleasing experience…

Design has always been popularly associated with creativity and innovation… but then creativity and innovation are as much a part of other fields as in design. Isn’t a person who designs an efficient motor engine a designer? Or person who designs a rocket is a designer? Or a person who designs an innovative way of serving coffee a designer??? They are all designers to me…Then isn’t design a very broad term to use??? Or are their layers or facets or levels of design??? And then what are we taught in design schools??? Which facet?? Which layer?? Or which level?? What is a role of a designer????? I don't have answers to most...but I hope i'll be able to answer them in future...

With all the little understand that I have…I believe…
DESIGN not only integrates elements needed to achieve a solution to a problem but also creates an ‘interface’ with its Human Consumers/Users…
And its success lies in its capacity to both solving a problem and the solution be correctly understood by users/consumers (and create need, interest or a lasting impression to survive)…and that is ‘CREATIVITY or INNOVATION’ in Design…

I’m leaving you with these thoughts…