User Experience Design: Reduce repetitive actions in user execution tasks

Article Description: Toggle causes Duplicate action

Often in the mobile phone input, I subconsciously will first input I want the Chinese characters, snapping snapped only to find that the current English input method, so I have to delete these letters--switch back to Chinese input--re-enter.

This is a typical example of "switching leads to duplicate operations."

The concept of switching to the Internet product area can be understood as: You can continue to operate from one page to another, usually by switching to different methods for the same purpose. Taking an input method as an example, the user usually uses the default settings directly and tries to switch when they find that they cannot achieve the goal, which often results in repetitive operations.

With different needs, switching is born in different usage scenarios. This article tries to find out some solutions that help users reduce repetitive actions by explaining some of the switching cases that are generated by the user in the process of performing tasks, including before, during, and after the task begins.

1 , before the task begins

QQ Mailbox switch For example, when the speed is not fast, the mailbox will be prompted to switch to the basic version before entering.

But when the net speed is normal, this switch is very "low-key" in the interface, and only appears in the mailbox homepage. I have been very fond of this process, the basic version is basically text, load relatively fast, when the speed of instability in the user to switch to the basic version, so as to achieve faster reading and processing mail. The network under normal circumstances, users see the mail is very fluent, there is no need to switch.

This approach can be referenced to the beginning of the task, the need to terminate the scene, like taking a taxi, no matter how many options before, once you get on the bus directly to the destination, of course, if the car broke down had to change midway is another matter ...

It is very unlikely that the user would repeat the operation until the task has been switched.

2 , tasks in progress

This scenario has the most requirements for switching, such as game selection, information arrangement, view switching, and so on. In fact, for users to consider one more step, you can avoid a lot of repetitive operation. To a game of the selection of the interface as an example, it is in accordance with the order of the customs display, which means that every time users need to page down to the latest level.

If the level is more, you can imagine that users need to repeat the paging operation every time.

Here are two ways to avoid repetitive operations in a task:

( 1 ) Lock the user's space memory node

When users find documents or things, they always find them again through where they are, which is the spatial memory pattern that the user builds. While maintaining space memory, locking nodes enables users to accomplish tasks more quickly. For example, browser back, forward generally by default in the upper left corner, so that users can more easily return to familiar with the environment.

And the back pop-up history site is the equivalent of a node that helps users get back to their destinations more quickly.

Then take the game election as an example, in accordance with the order of customs clearance to maintain the user's space memory, but if the latest completion of the checkpoint as a node, users do not need to repeat the next turn.

Thunderbolt Look at HD video display interface is very good, the poster form to the list form of mutual switching can remember the location of the user browsing. For example, as shown in the following picture, I see the "Big guy loves Beautiful" line in the list view, and when I switch to the poster view, I still start with the big guy love Beautiful.

( 2 ) reduces switching operations and eliminates elements that cause duplicate operations
Once upon a time, I was so depressed that I always popped this hint for word, JPEG, and other files to be renamed. Must not accidentally to avoid the suffix re-enter, well, maybe you will laugh said in fact, the control panel can "hide the extension of known files", but so hidden features, you do not tell me, I will never know.

Win7 system, the suffix no longer defaults to appear in the file name, renaming time will not be used again, thus eliminating the element that causes the user to repeat the operation.

3 , after the task is complete

After the task is done, there are usually two ways to do it, one is to stay on the current page and refresh the content, which is the most common, and is usually suitable for the user to complete a task on the current page and optionally continue. For example, the user will continue to browse after the broadcast of a micro-blog. Second, the interface of the jump, more suitable for the completion of the task after the relevant operation terminated or directly must be another operation.

Take the process of sending SMS to the user as an example:

When you select a contact, it is the first case, select a contact will continue to choose after the choice is the second, the choice of action to terminate, you need to consider the priority of automatic jump; After the send, the individual prefers the smartphone processing, jump to the Message Mass dialog box, can intuitively see the message sent success failure.

Perhaps this time, you will cite an example: "Apple App Store after installation after application to jump back to the desktop, I also want to continue to find other applications."

I initially also criticized this mandatory jump, but to change the point of view, if not such a mandatory result of what? Maybe we'll spend more time trying to find out where the app is now? In addition, the entrance to the resident App store at the bottom of the screen relieves the unfriendly feeling of repetitive operation. Fish and bear cake can not have both, after the task is completed, how to switch key or to see the user's next operation behavior, thus providing the most universal operation.

Conclusion

Perhaps some people say: "QQ mailbox use, even if the speed is poor, wait, the same can go in well, the game election is more press a few times, anyway, to find a checkpoint; the Thunder to look at the resources of the time, the location is not the same, big deal will not switch to the poster view Bai, anyway can read" ... I very much agree that switching does not play a decisive role in achieving the final goal of the user.

However, if not all the features and design can be timely, then do the icing on the cake.