Neha  Kulkarni  IDD623/DIGD305  Theory  of  Electronic  Communication  II  Instructor:  Philip  Charron  Date:  12/3/2013  

User  centered  Design  

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“Usability Rules the Web” Design is both a product and a process. The product is an artifact designed for a

specific purpose, with the help of required components, resources and constraints

within which a designer has to work. (User Interface Design, 1). In our case, as an interface

designer, our purpose is to satisfy users need(s). The users are not interested in the

process; they are interested in the products usability.

Earlier software engineers would design software that was understood by computers

only and not by people. It was because of limited memory and speed. Due to such

limitations software engineers hardly thought from the users point of view. Their

main aim was simply to get the computer to work correctly. (Designing For Interaction.)

In 1980, Designers and Computer Scientist started a field called “Human Computer

Interaction” where engineers did not have to handle the designing. Later due to

development in computers, with increased memory capacity, processing speed and

colored monitors were launched. Different types of interfaces were designed and the

focus revolved around users. Later, this led to User Centered Design.

The term User Centered Design was first used in Industrial Design and Ergonomics.

Industrial designer, Henry Dryfuss, designer of The 500 Series telephone for Bell

telephone popularized this method in his book “Designing for People”. But there is

difference between usability in Industrial Design and Interface design. In Industrial

design, the customer pays first and then experiences usability. But in Interface design

the customer experiences usability first and then they pay. (Designing Web usability)

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As Jakob Nielson said, “Usability rules the Web.” (9) If a customer can’t find a

product, then he or she will not buy it. The philosophy of User Centered Design is:

The Users know best. The people who will be using a product or service know what

their needs, goals and preference are and its up to the designers to find out those

things and design for them. The main aim of the designer is to facilitate the

achievement of the user goal. It also takes into account the business goals and

objectives of the group managing the project.

(Adapted from Google Images)

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Best Practices for Designing an Interface

Everything stems from knowing your users, including understanding their goals,

skills, preferences, and tendencies. Once you know about your user, make sure to

consider the following when designing your interface:

• Know your user: Your user’s goals are your goals, so learn them. Then, learn

about your user’s skills and experience, and what they need. Find out what

interfaces they like and sit down and watch how they use them. Do not get

carried away trying to keep up with the competition by mimicking trendy design

styles or adding new features. By focusing on your user first, you will be able to

create an interface that lets them achieve their goals.

• Keep the Interface Simple: The best interfaces are almost invisible to the user.

They avoid unnecessary elements and are clear in the language. Whenever you

are thinking about adding a new feature or element to your interface, ask the

question, “Does the user really need this?” or “Why does the user want this?”

Are you adding things because you like or want them? Never let your UI ego

steal the show.

Example: Microsoft word in 2003 had 260 menu items and over 30 toolbars. In

2007 it was redesigned and new UI elements like the Ribbon and Minibar where

launched. (Designing for Interaction, 23)

• Create Consistency and use Common UI elements: By using common

elements in your UI, users feel more comfortable and are able to get things done

more quickly. It is also important to create patterns in language, layout and

design throughout the site to help facilitate efficiency. Once a user learns how to

do something, they should be able to transfer that skill to other parts of the site.

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Example: The use of different universal icons like a floppy disc for save, a file

icon to create a file, scissors for cut, printer icon for print etc. These icons are

designed from things that are familiar to users.

• Use typography to create hierarchy and clarity. People don't read pages, they

scan pages. So carefully consider how you use typeface. Different sizes, fonts,

and arrangement of the text help to increase scanability, legibility and

readability.

Example: The everyday newspapers or even their websites like the NEWYORK

TIMES or weekly magazines have their own specific style, margins, gutters, and

fonts to highlight the important news.

• Use visual hierarchy: Design your interface in a way that allows the user to

focus on what is most important. The size, color, and placement of each element

work together, creating a clear path to understanding your interface. A clear

hierarchy will go great lengths in reducing the appearance of complexity, even

when the actions themselves are complex.

• Speak the users language: Provide clear and concise labels for actions and keep

your messaging simple. Your users will appreciate it, because they won’t hear

you – they will hear themselves and/or their peers. Always inform your users of

location, actions, changes in state, or errors. The use of various User Interface

elements to communicate status and, if necessary, next steps can reduce

frustration for your user. (Usability.gov)

Example: The breadcrumbs, sitemaps, error messages in layman’s terms,

progress bar etc.

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Benefits of User Centered Design

According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

2005 research, roughly $1 trillion a year was spent on IT worldwide, with the U.S.

Government spending more than $60 billion on its roughly 1,200 civilian IT projects

and an additional $16 billion on military IT.

In the Human Factors International (HFI) video, The (ROI) Return on investment of

User Experience, Dr. Susan Weinschenk notes that of those IT investments, up to

15% of IT projects are abandoned and at least 50% of a programmers’ time during

the project is spent doing rework that is avoidable. By putting a larger emphasis on

User Centered Design principles and practices, you can make iterative improvements

and avoid costly large-scale rework that doesn’t fit your users or organizations goals.

(Usability.gov)

Example: Obama HealthCare website is spending millions on redesigning as lot

of features were not working or were giving wrong information, as it was launched

way early before testing.

Conclusion:

The main aim of User Centered Design is to improve the quality of life of firstly the

users and then the developers and designers and not to increase sales or productivity.

If we make our interfaces easy to use, we will increase users quality of life by

reducing a lot of frustration and the feeling of inadequacy that follows the user every

time they are stumped by a computer. So emotions are important in design. Empathy

is the way of thinking. To think about some idea or even a problem, the designers

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have to feel it. They have to go out into the world to see and understand the problems

differently and get different solutions. This is innovation.

References

Larry E Wood. “User interface design.“ Print.

Jakob Nielson. “Designing Web usability.” Print.

Steve Krug. “Don't make me Think.” Print.

Dan Saffer. “Designing for Interaction.” Print.

“Usability.gov.” Web

“Designing For Interaction.” Larry Tesler. Web.