User interface design--use good design instead of bad

Original: User Interface design–taking The good with the bad

The key to a successful marriage is compromise. When things go the way you don't want them to, in the end, the resulting controversy can be of great benefit to you. This theorem also applies to user interface design. After all, what if marriage is not a formality or a ritual?

The process of designing a user interface is fundamentally a compromise exercise. This training does not mean a trade-off between the designer and the project bookmaker (usability has never been used by the office politics), but rather the tradeoff between the regression of the design plan and the advance. Every decision about the user interface, from a pixel to the exact location of the entire site's information architecture needs to be considered. The trade-off between the benefits to users and the cost of each design is essential. It is often overlooked that sometimes a small price, but the cost of each user interface design. The tradeoffs that have been considered are actually all through the user interface design, but in the design of the best user interface, ironically, it also requires you to avoid designing compromised interfaces.

You can't eat the cake and you want it.

When authoring the user interface, you have to deal with two major and conflicting limitations: conveying a huge amount of information on only one display, and users receiving a huge amount of information over time. Display too much content on a display, users have to "Trek" from chaos, display too little information, users in order to find their goals, they have to rely on speculation. Good design should find a balance between the program and the user, not only use the screen effectively, but also consider the user's ability to understand the information.

Your stage (monitor) is limited-after all, it has a height of X-pixel width and y-pixel. This means that resources are important, and every pixel you use can be considered a price. Maintaining the balance of information density is a challenge when you are trying to create a user interface. Every design has to be thought through, because each additional piece of content on the screen increases the density of information, which is a challenge to the user's limited energy and cognitive processes, making it harder for users to figure out.

A good design replaces a bad

It is also possible to adopt a compromise principle whenever it comes to the benefits of spending. Theoretically, you can maximize the benefits and minimize the downside, but the essential question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Not just over, can it bring maximum profit in all of the optional design options? If so, it is the best solution.

The cost/benefit tradeoff is across all levels of user interface development, from navigation design to font size. The more important the design, the more it reflects the huge and potential impact of the user interface. Small designs don't seem to matter, but add up to a potential impact on the user interface. Regardless of size, each design should be decided after usability assessment and consideration of the benefits of the network user interface.

Some of the contrasting design schemes

Design	Benefits	cost
Reduce the level of information architecture	Reduced click when finding information	More confusing
Deep Information architecture	Clarity, reduce confusion	Click More when looking for information
Small font	Display more information on one screen	Some users are too hard to read
Large font	Easy to read.	Less information per screen
Drop down box	More options in a limited space	Hidden options
Single selection box	See more options at the same time	Need more space, easy to confuse
Icon	It's easy to recognize when you remember; visual pleasure	M to learn to recognize
Text link	It's always understandable.	Once you do not understand, you may have to read more information
Abbreviation	Save space	Need to learn and identify
Non abbreviation	Understand	Extra Space required
Keyboard shortcuts	Data High Speed input	Need to learn
Mouse pointing and clicking	of intuition	Interaction adds extra time and requires more experience

The pattern behind the madness

In fact, you can't deliberately evaluate the pros and cons of each design. This process is like nature, you can intuitively determine where to use the Drop-down menu or radio button, or this design is more than the other slightly. But intuition is based on relevant experience and effort. The compromise assessment of design can still occur, and it is formed subconsciously. This subconscious behavior may make you unaware of why you chose this option, not another one. But if you open up the process, its core is based on the usability principle of judgment.

It may not be necessary to describe this potential rule in the design process, but it happens naturally, but you must be aware and logically aware of your design. If you work with others, their advice may reduce usability, and it's important that you realize how your decisions are made. By turning subconscious behavior into language in user interface design, you can add weight to your decision to stick to it. But if you ask everyone to make an opinion about the design of the interface (like a scary meeting discussion), the interface could be as ugly as it used to be.

Good – bad = Network availability

Have you noticed that you can immediately point out the disadvantages of various interface designs? This is because the compromise principle in the interface design dictates. Even the best design solutions may be a bit backwards, and some members may try to change the design. But any design has its drawbacks, and so does every one. Such deficiencies are not detrimental to design. One design that is better than another is that it takes care of network availability all the while. So, good-bad = network availability. The final measure is the availability value of the network.

The criticism started flying. The font is too small, the icon meaning is not clear, abbreviated meaning unknown. Maybe it was just a blush, and then it went red to the ears, as if the criticisms were right. In fact, such declarations are correct in their own right, but they are too correct and should be challenged. To decide whether it's worth it or not, consider both the cost and the benefits. Backstage designers can immediately identify the cost of a particular design, but they do not see the benefits. You need to objectively assess the impact of each proposal on usability and decide which is the most desirable.

In addition to understanding the trade-offs of interface design, you should also encourage flawed design advice. To effectively assess the costs and benefits of interacting with the interface design, you need to dabble in a variety of areas: from cognitive learning to human learning to graphic design. You can evaluate user interface design more effectively only if you create a huge knowledge store for how people interact with the application. This is not just a matter of right and wrong, because spending is always related to the benefits that are brought.

For example, your page font may be small, which is quite difficult for some older people to read. That's the cost. But this provides more information on one screen, and less scrolling, reducing scrolling reduces physical manipulation and cognitive input. Now assume that your user age is 90% between 21-30 years old, so comparing other solutions, the smaller fonts will be better, and the network availability will be higher.

The chosen scenario is not perfect, but it provides better usability. You can also raise objections with good alternatives to bad design, but for your particular application, choosing this option is the smartest. You must measure it in the full application to select the most appropriate solution.

Understand the eclectic principles that are ubiquitous in the design of the interface and should be instilled in the entire project team, even by every ordinary employee. The debate over the user interface should be encouraged. By understanding, evaluating, and interpreting eclectic principles in each design, you can design a more usable and persuasive interface.

The assessment of Success

When evaluating whether a design is better or not, you need a user interface guideline to evaluate, and here are some elements of the quality of the user interface:

• Easy to learn and easy to remember
• Validity of Use
• Error rate, scalability, and recoverability
• Personal Satisfaction Degree

Each factor is likely to be important in evaluating the application's final use effect. For example, the effectiveness of the use may be useful for high-end user programs, and the market for brochures is not necessarily as effective. While this shift may increase personal satisfaction. But every design decision should be tested by the above four factors.

Broad compromise principle

Compromise should not end with screen design. In the user interface design occupies a lot of components include: Network information statistics (such as what browser, platform, display size, etc.), thin/fat/rich client system, development time and cost resources. Usability takes up a lot of weight in evaluating tradeoffs, but some problems in real-world use environments are becoming increasingly important. For example, if a design is much better than the other, is it worth 10,000 dollars to develop it? Is this part of the enhancement worthwhile? In turn, do you think that saving this money has weakened usability? Such discussions are so realistic that they need to be carefully evaluated.

As long as you realize that user interface design is based on compromise, it will help us to clearly understand why we are so designed. This reduces the risk of a good interface design cheating, especially for those who see only one aspect of things. By clearly listing the implications of spending, benefits, and interactive design, you can better illustrate others and get more support. In short, if we can follow the principle of compromise, we can look at the pros and cons correctly. Just hope not to bring us ugly things. Finish