What Makes an Interface Communicate?

Peter Merholz

Work: http://epinions.com

Play: http://peterme.com/ This talk: http://peterme.com/web00

Is that the right question?

How does an interface communicate?

Wait a minute—does an interface communicate? Communicate what? Is that what it’s for?

Interfaces enable tool use

They allow users to accomplish a goal, usually through a set of tasks

Interface design allows users to manipulate a system to get desired results

“Communication” would get in the way of that, right? A hammer doesn’t tell me anything about itself through its interface, right?

Well, no

Interface communication is important in two primary respects

What you can do with the system

Feedback from the system

1. What you can do with the system

When looking at an interface, it should communicate the tool’s purpose and capabilities

Such communication can be done through explicit instruction, but is most powerful through “affordances”

Affordances – The strongest communication tool

http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances-and-design.html

Coined by JJ Gibson, popularized by Don Norman in Design of Everyday Things

What interactions does the interface seem to afford?

Users seek affordances

Who here hasn’t rolled their cursor over a web page, looking to see what turns the arrow into a hand?

So, isn’t that like metaphor?

Bevels on screen buttons are in order to make them look like ‘real world’ buttons

Metaphors are helpful to a point – provide familiarity with a new experience

Tabs!

But beware of too much metaphor

2. Feedback from the system

Interfaces communicate what’s happening ‘behind the scenes’

Sometimes explicit through messages

Typically implied through form

Wait a minute. Isn’t “interface communication” about branding?

In part

To the degree it helps remind people where they are—a very important quality of interface in the contextless morass that is The Web

Develop a conceptual model

Create a singular, overarching theme that provides the backbone for your design

Ensures unity of design

Unexpected ideas inevitably emerge

How to develop a model?

User research

Data analysis

Brainstorming

Epinions.com Use and Interaction Model

Wait a minute. Isn’t that like a metaphor?

Well, yes.

But don’t express it literally.

Okay. I’ve got a model. Now what?

From Tog on Interface:

“The system image is an illusion designed to convey the design model. Have it communicate the design model clearly and concisely.”

There’s that word!

(For our needs, “system image” can be thought of as “web site”)

How do you communicate the model?

Interfaces communicate with

Text – labels, instructionsPictures – icons, widgetsSounds – feedbackStructure – process

How do you make sure your users ‘get it’

Be explicit and clear

Words are clearer than pictures

Use full phrases

Use icons to support text, not in place of

Get email!

vs.

vs.

A different kind of metaphor

All language is ruled by metaphor

Such conceptual metaphors both determine and illuminate how we think

Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson

The future is AHEAD of us, the past BEHIND us

Time is MONEY

Expressions of conceptual metaphor – Setting volume

Which is most appropriate?

QuicktimeWinamp

MediaPlayer

Control Panel“Crank it up!”“Turn that down!”Volume is up/down

Communicate with appropriate imagery

Not for the *interface* but to create a gestalt

Non geeks beware!

Interfaces can’t NOT communicate

People will react as if communicated with

The Media Equation, Reeves and Nass

Assumed: feelings, politeness, flattery, etc.Watch out for abruptness and rudenessIt seems condescending—but it isn’t

Case Study—Let’s Wander Around…

Amazon

Lycos

Resources

Tog on Interface, Tognazzini

Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson

The Media Equation, Reeves and Nass,

Designing the User Interface, Shneiderman

Interface Culture, Johnson

The Humane Interface, Raskin

The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design, Laurel

Thanks!

Raymond Pirouz’s Original Notes. The following slides are all him

 I.  Interface Design

A.     A term used to describe the act of creating a way for people to easily and seamlessly interact with complex objects or technology.B.     Interface design is NOT decorative button-making.C.     Interface design IS about humanizing the non-human. 

II.  Interface Design : A Matter of Usability

A.     Interfaces have to be visually approachable, comprehensible and navigable.B.     Interfaces are tools that are meant to be USED in order to achieve a specific function. In the case of web design, interfaces communicate the location of specific areas within a web site and are there to LEAD users, not confuse them. 

III.  The Challenge

A.     The challenge in interface design is to enhance usability while maintaining a balance between communication, visual design and technology. 

IV. The Interface Design Discipline : Teams Working to Create BalanceA.     Information Architects : Create Logical

Pathways.

1.      What is the message (marketing message or communication objective)?2.      How can we quickly present the user with that message? How many layers of information need to be created to achieve this goal while maintaining information cohesion and message communication?

V. Top 10 Misconceptions Regarding Web GUI Design

1. All sites need to look like Amazon or Yahoo – FALSE2. An interface “metaphor” MUST exist – FALSE3. Site maps MUST be made available – FALSE4. Hypertext navigation is ALL YOU NEED – FALSE5. People are lame and won’t get it…they need help – FALSE6. DHTML makes for the coolest nav. elements – FALSE7.  Always design with technology in mind – FALSE8.  Stay away from certain colors or ONLY USE certain colors – FALSE9. Use Flash whenever possible – FALSE10.When using Flash, ALWAYS incorporate Techno music – FALSE 

VI. Future Direction of UI

A.     Take the G out of GUI.B.     Focus on information delivery in the age of information.C.     Reduce cosmetics down to functional form.D.     Integrate UI into the content and avoid separation, focusing the user’s attention to experience rather than the experience of use. 

VII.  Pay Attention to the Process - Ask Questions:

A.     Why the UI? B.     Can the information be accessible without the UI?C.     Can the UI be integrated into the content?D.     Can the content be enhanced by the UI? 

VIII. Put the G back into UI

A.     Once the content has been enhanced and the UI minimized, how does it look?B.     How does the UI communicate in conjunction to the look and feel of the page? C.     Is it well integrated?D.     What is the context within which the UI is expected to perform? How many knobs on a washing machine?E.      Turn the UI into a cohesive sub-structure of the overall branding, look, feel and content of the web site. 

IX. Ultimate Global Issues to Address in Interface Design

A.     Accessibility: Bandwidth, Netscape/IE/Opera, file size issues, alt tags for visually impaired, plug-ins.B.     Navigability: How well is the site’s architecture integrated and designed for ease of motion within the site? C.     Continuity: Page to page flow issues.D.     Scalability: Can you add to the structure or modify it? Is it a modular or dead-end design?E.      Context Sensitivity: How does the interface reinforce the content of the web site and positively reinforce the brand?