Intelligent handheld device product design "eight precepts"

"Editor's note" the author of this article @ the butterfly, the text of the mobile phone application function of the design mentioned 8 principles, which refer to the principle of guiding the user, but also for the user group's designer principles.

Perhaps each designer in the design of the problems encountered are different, but in the design of the user's point of view is the same way, and the article mentioned in the Eight commandments can help us solve some of the often entangled in the design of the situation.

1, a page to do only one thing

When a user completes a task, if they need to do three things in order, then these three parts need to be decomposed into three pages. Guide the user step-by-step through the task. And you need to tell the user how many steps or how long it takes to complete the task, giving the user a psychological expectation.

When a user completes a task, if the three things that need to be done are not in the necessary order, and the three things give the user more freedom in the implementation model, the user rarely makes mistakes (interacts with the implementation model), then it needs to be done in one page. For example, users write a partial diary includes "title", "Content", "date" three functions, and three features together to form a diary. Then these three features are not necessarily broken down into three steps and can be implemented on a single page. And then through the good interaction to make three functions perfectly together.

Here, I can think of an interactive way like this:

1. Three functional orderly existence in one page;

2. When the user chooses one of the functions, then the program will focus on the user's attention to this function;

3. End a function and then provide the path that the user returns to 1. In fact, this idea was followed by principle 1.

2. Avoid designing for extreme users

Extreme users refer to some users who violate normal behavior and thinking. It's not wrong to design for an extreme user, but if it affects the experience of most users, it would be recommended that you discard 20% of extreme users. Moreover, your good intentions do not necessarily bring extreme users praise, since the extreme, they are enough to make you can not imagine the extreme.

I've had contact with some of the big white users, the extreme users here. There will be no use QQ dropout girl, there is the first contact Win7 to its not understand the company clerks, there is no use PS engineer; there are children who can not play Angry Birds ... The most I hear is "I won't use it!" Can you teach me a little bit? "But never heard them complain about products, they just try their best to learn how to use this product."

Pea pod Team once shared a little bit about "user inclusiveness". In addition, please have enough confidence in your design. Users can be booted. I have been using PS for 6 years, in addition to cracking a new version of some of the small trouble, most of the time, I still with PS or peaceful.

Designed for the old user, to provide expert users with advanced features, in the use of Help and novice navigation to take into account the studious and very large inclusion of novice users.

3, avoid the stack of functions

Product managers in the process of gathering requirements, you can list a bunch of functionality to be implemented. But when designing a product, you need to think about it from the point of view of the user's goal and the user's task. Otherwise, your product is just "a spoon to hold soup", not the user "like to use it to drink soup spoon".

Look at the point of view, directly determine the visual product.

Keep in mind that the era of functional success is over.

In the present, you not only have to rack your brains to dig the needs, more importantly, turn the requirements into a user-model, user-useful products. Here I think of another example: Weibo! Simply put, the microblogging products are divided into home list and details page (all microblogging content + Comment Content + Comment function + forwarding function) (most of the app is this idea).

Do you find that when you read a list of interesting content, most of the things you want to comment on or read the comments, but you go to the "Details page", see the main information just browsed.

OK, here, the message is repetitive. It is not good to repeat the same message to the user unless your purpose is to enhance the user's memory, but here, obviously, is unnecessary. Some microblogging app has improved, is in the list page, added "comments, forwarding" function, QQ space is to do so. In addition, Weibo itself has a limit of 140 words, so the existence of the details page is superfluous. That's a good path. But it's perfect to make the switch between the list page and the details page more natural.

If you just want to get the job done, you'll be on your forehead, sitting in front of the computer, and continuing the hard work of your function. You can never enjoy the wonderful feeling and surprise of completing a beautiful product.

4, refused to be absolutely conservative

Absolutely conservative people, always dare not bold to try, often others do what I do. Once in a while there are some new ideas that will eventually be lost.

This is often the disease of large companies. Follow is a sound development method, but not a suitable for designers to play the soil. Generally speaking, young people are the main users of smart phones, this part of the majority of people are 80, a generation, their character relatively open, receptive strong, like challenges, so absolutely conservative things absolutely do not meet their taste.

5. Do not tangle the flow problem excessively

"Graphics and text switching, flow reminders, do not show pictures, offline downloads, network switching reminders ..." is something very intimate and functional. According to Baidu Mobile Internet Development Trend Report-2012 q2,73.7% Android and iOS users via 3G and Wi-Fi access to mobile internet. When the "Save traffic" and "Quality user experience" is inconsistent, as long as it is not too scary traffic consumption, or priority to consider the user experience.

6 Grasp the product character

In the face of design trends, is blindly follow the trend, or to maintain corporate identity? This is a relatively difficult choice, perhaps the site style is very stereo, but the current mobile phone design popular flat and light design. So what do you do?

I like an iOS application flava, I often use it to write a diary. Its design style is similar to the real notebook texture, pu imitation leather cover, paper inside pages. Because of its unique design, I am very impressed with it.

But suddenly one day, I feel it can not find, at first did not care, and then one day found himself an ipod kind of seems to have a strange icon, opened to find that the original is flava. The new way of interacting, the design style also becomes very flat. Although the new version is also perfect, but I am still very frustrated, the flava that impresses me is gone, and my mind still appears in the past.

Products should have their own character, like Apple, attaches great importance to this point.

If you completely deny yourself in a certain version of yourself, how do you let users fully recognize you?

7, break the format of the design idea

I'm the victim of a format mentality. Because of my familiarity with iOS device controls, I was stuck in a format dilemma for a long time. So I can think of the app is "title bar + content +tab" pattern.

There is no mistake in doing so, and it fits the iOS design code, but it just doesn't taste. Just like the same meal, eat and eat, tasteless. The most direct way to break the format design idea is to look at some of the best flash websites on the web and learn how they broke the formatting.

8, to ensure that the visual area

Text and icons do a little, giving people more exquisite and feel, but on the mobile device, this is the wrong design. Some people will retort: My click area is big enough! If you go to a friend's birthday party with a gift, a gift box with a palm size, and a 14-inch computer box, the hero's feeling is definitely different.

Divergent back, the user's eyes to see the visual size, looks particularly small control, will make users very nervous, careful to click, lest a point is not allowed. It's not a good experience for users to click on a button each time they are nervous.

Author blog: On the Philippines butterflies