How to comment on interface design

Original topic: How to Critique an interface author: Aza Raskin

Translator: Shaoju

Release date: May 31, 2010

we often need to call an amateur designer to judge the quality of the interface design. Maybe you are the boss, you want to evaluate your new website design, or you are the project manager, you want to see your designer to make the website model. What should you find in the website interface design? Who would say "This looks good" or "this doesn't seem to be easy", but how do you give meaningful feedback?

A thorough understanding of design is not a generalization of an article. This article provides some guiding principles that will help you.

Before you start, give you an example. This is my recently made an interface review article for the unpublished Firefox Add-On builder interface. This add-on builder is part of Jetpack project, and you can use this medium-complexity Web application to easily develop Firefox and thunderbirdhttp://www.aliyun.com/zixun/online aggregation/35077.html > extension, and then publish the plugin you developed to the Internet for download by internet users worldwide.

I made a huge screenshot of the interface and the comments were written in it.

Reminder: Mouse wheel Zoom picture, double-click to enlarge, you can drag.

Click: Open large picture in new tab

When did

let you comment on the interface? "When to make an interface comment" is the first consideration in how to do it. If the product or website is about to be available, then you can only give small suggestions, because there is not much time to make a big impact on your feedback. The sooner you comment on the related work, the more influential your words will be.

It's important not to interrupt the user's mind. Find a way to interrupt a user's mind in the interface: any time a user has to stop to think about how to use your product, it means that your interface confuses them. Anything that allows them to think of more than one thing at the same time, such as modal dialogs, unnecessary confirmations, on-screen settings, and the non-essential forms that are forced to fill in before entering the site, and so on. All of these things are a stumbling block when users use your product.

Example: Windows users have long been accustomed to, Microsoft is always asking you: Are you sure?

the highest level of interactive interface design is to let users forget the interface, ignoring the existence of the interface. While the rich interactive interface looks gorgeous, it can reduce usability problems only if users have the fewest steps needed to use your product.

There are some news sites like the article divided into many pieces, and then pagination to display, so users have to continue to click on the "next page" to wait so many ads after downloading the page to display. Most people hate it, so they can't read an article. This is the performance of the interaction overload.

(Translator note: Domestic portals are like this, mainly traffic considerations)

Think about it, is it necessary for a user to use every small step you make when using your product? If you're in trouble, simplify.

Example: the perfect design for learning bubble

visual position ensures that your buttons, links, and interactive actions are logically grouped. You can often see the "Save" button next to the Close button, which means that a small error from the user can have disastrous consequences.

Example 1-gmail send and Discard buttons are far apart

Example 2-the sending and canceling of letters within a person's website can be distinguished by color (in fact, better)

don't use icon icons too often it looks beautiful, but it's not easy to understand. Each time they want to use the icon, they will put the mouse up to see what this icon means. Try to use words to express what you mean, not just an icon that your wife can easily identify.

Example: Taobao Mall icon production is very good, with the use of text just right.

provides a good starting point and maintains consistency the best interface should be gradually learned. To do a basic task before still need to study 15 minutes of affirmation, should make it easy for users to learn to use, and then continue their task. Is your product a good illustration of where to start and how to start? What has just been learned to help guide the user to understand the next thing? Please keep simple mechanisms and consistent metaphors.

Example: Watercress's 3 core channels, a good starting point and a model of consistency.

Fewer options means less worry and more choices for a single action (such as registration) will bring an intangible burden to the user, as far as possible to avoid. Giving users a lot of options seems like a good idea, but not really. This easily expands the interface, allowing users to make too many unnecessary decisions.

If you see more than one way to do something, let your designer take the time to simplify it and make a unified plan. Don't let users be hesitant. The less relevant options in the user's brain, the clearer they will know how to do their own thing.

Example: Look at Apple's minimalist design.

Example: Take a look at Acer's relatively complex design.

interface is important, the interaction is more important than the use of the product experience, its appearance is more likely to attract attention. Avoid the pitfalls of spending most of your time on the product's appearance. The appearance is easy to change and improve, and the related flaws are easy to find. But the interaction is the core of the product, most of the time spent dealing with product interaction issues, and finally the appearance of doing well!

Example: see this date reminder, the interaction is more important.

more information read the following books and blogs For more information:

the humane Interface by JFE Raskinfirst Principles of Consortium-by-Bruce tognazzini*10 Heuristics by Jakob nielsen* (10 usability inspired) The design of everyday things by Don normanunderstanding Comics by Scott Mccloudthe resonant By the 820.html ">steven Heimdon ' t make Me" with Steve Krug (Midas Touch)

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