A presentation I gave in 2007 to Business School students at the University of Auckland - focusing mostly on the value of sketching, prototyping and iterating in software design & development.
2. Today
1. You are not the user
2. Design for the user model
3. Involve users – not just
stakeholders
4. Prototype
5. Learn about good design principles
6. Know your Usability Heuristics
7. Read some books
8. Remember these axioms
13. Create Personas
• Archetypal
representation of your
target audience
• Based on user research
(ideally)
• Aggregation of your
users’ goals, attitudes,
and behaviours
• Presented as a vivid,
narrative description
of a single “person” who
represents a user
segment
19. Never be satisfied with the first idea
Most developers tend to adopt a "satisficing" strategy that
focuses on initial, satisfactory, but less than optimal, solutions.
Never be satisfied with a single opinion or the first idea. It is
best to "saturate the
design space" with ideas
before making decisions
and to consider
alternatives (i.e., better
design solutions,
throughout the design
process).
Ball, L.J., Evans, J.B.T. And Dennis, I. (1994), Cognitive processes in engineering design: A longitudinal study,
Ergonomics, 37(11), 1753-1786.
21. 1. ‘Bits’ for an account page
2. Company info
3. Insurance info for company
4. My (current user) info
5. Other users on this account
6. My sales rep contact info
7. Current account plan
8. Link to change search preferences
9. Date account was created
10.People rarely view or change insurance info
11.Any user can edit anything except other users' info
12.Changing password is the most likely action
13.People might come here to change search preferences
(which are on a separate page)
http://37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/
22. 2. Group related bits together
A
1. Company info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
2. Insurance info for company
B 9. People rarely view or change insurance info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
3. My (current user) info
C 11. Changing password is the most likely action
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
4. Other users on this account
D
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
E 5. My sales rep contact info
6. Current account plan
F 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
23. 3. Prioritize
Most important:
3. My (current user) info
C 11. Changing password is the most likely action
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
A
1. Company info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
G 8. Date account was created
E 5. My sales rep contact info
Necessary:
2. Insurance info for company
B 9. People rarely view or change insurance info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
4. Other users on this account
D
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
6. Current account plan
F 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
Nice to have:
H
7. Link to change search preferences
12. People might come here to change search preferences (which are on a separate page)
28. Prototype with Powerpoint
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36. Jacob Nielsen’s Heuristics
1. Visibility of system status
2. Match between system and the real world
3. User control and freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover
from errors
10. Help and documentation
48. Other Guidelines
• Bruce Tognazzini’s First Principles of
Interaction Design
http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html
• A good introductory summary from a
fellow student
http://www.charlieguo.com/web_design_readings.php
55. Axioms
• Interaction Design is not guesswork
• Imagine users as very intelligent but very busy
• No matter how cool your interface is, less
would be better
• Software should behave like a considerate
human