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Philosophy:
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On Design: Less is more. This concept has been around for ages, and it holds up even stronger when designing for a User Interface. Too many designers strive to make an interface look cool or flashy or double embossed with a fading dropshadow. Enough! As far as interfaces go, the only thought that should consciously come into the users head is- "this looks nice", or "seems simple enough". That's it. An interface should be invisible to the user. They should never even have to think about it, let alone try to figure it out. So the bottom line is this: don't let design interfere with what the user is trying to do. |
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On Usability: It's a tricky beast to tame. Even the most seasoned Usability Engineer can be foiled by the very nature of it if they are not careful. The reason is this: Users will invariably behave in a manner that was not foreseen. There are three main tools to use to be able to overcome this problem. 1) A basic understanding of Cognitive Psychology (what the user will likely do based on the choices presented to him). 2) Thorough user testing and review. 3) Taking advantage of "learned behaviors" wherever possible. With proper application of these tools a product's usability will increase significantly. |
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