bigthinker dunn

Just Stating the ObviousCollective Reflection of “Don’t Make Me Think.”

By Natalie C Dunn

Facts Of Life

Scanning Versus Reading

Choosing the First Reasonable Option

When in Doubt, Users Muddle

Important things you want your user to see:

1. Use Standardized Patterns

2.Create Effective Visual Hierarchies

3. Break Up Pages into Clearly Defined Areas

4. Make it Obvious what’s clickable5. Eliminate Distractions6. Format Content to Support Scanning.

Websites should be:

Usable

InnovativeCreative

Create Effective Visual Hierarchies Second Most important thing

Third Most Important Thing

Break Pages Up into Clearly Defined Areas

Dividing the page into clearly defined areas is important to allow the users quickly which areas of the page to focus on.

Make it obvious to what is clickable

Eliminate Distractions

Format Content to Support Scanning

Use Plenty of HeadingsDrawing the user’s eye to the important stuff on the website.

Keep the paragraphs short.

• Use Bullets

Highlight Key Terms

Adam Sandler was right?

The Rule of Clicks:

3 Mindlessness, Unambiguous, clicks equal the click that requires thought.

Provide Guidance, be brief, timely, and unavoidable.

Omit Needless Words

Get Rid of half of the words on each page then get rid of half on what’s left. (Third Law of Usability)

Remove Half the words equates to reducing half the noise.

Knowing what type of user helps the designer

Search Dominate or Link Dominant?

Answer the 5 Questions & Monty Python

When visiting a website, answer these questions:

• What is it?• What can I do here?• What do they have here?• Why should I be here and not

somewhere else?

Usability tests versus focus groupsUsability Tests: observing one person at a time try to use something to do with your website.

Focus Groups: small group of people sit around and talk about things

Mobile Apps

Mobile Apps should be easy to relearn, made clear, memorable, useable, and delightful.

The Reservoir of GoodwillThings that add goodwill:

Know the main things that people want to do on your site

Tell me what I want to know

Save my steps whenever

Put effort into it

Know what questions I am likely to have and answer them.

Provide creative comforts

Things that diminish goodwill:

Hiding information from you

PUNISHING ME FOR NOT DOING THE RIGHT THINGS

Asking me for information that you don’t need

Designers speak for everyone

Evaluating your design: Don’t Make Me Think and Everyday Things

Don’t Make Me Think

The main goal is building clarity, make sure that your website users can

understand and know what they are looking at.

Usability testing is used at the end of the project observing your potential

audience.

Everyday Things

The hardest part of design is getting the requirements right which ensuring that the right problem is being solved.

Getting the requirements right involves repeated study and testing.

Visual Cues Don’t Make Me think:

Visual Cues in design are your meat and potatoes and need to be noticeable.

Innovate when you know you have a better idea

Whenever you replace something it is either so clear and self-explanatory that it adds value.

Everyday Things:Brilliant design plus support that have consistent activities that will result in visible in the design.

Five Whys – Keep asking why until you have uncovered the true underlying causes.

Good design fits needs so well that the design is invisible.

Brain Rules and Don’t Make Me ThinkDon’t Make Me Think:

Rule of Clicks

Designers provide users with brief, timely, and unavoidable guidance.

Eliminate Question Marks

Link Dominant User or Search Dominant User

Brain Rules:Divide Presentations into 10 minute segments. (Attention)

“Learned Helplessness” (Stress)

Make it effortless (Memory)

Are you a Lark, a Hummingbird, or an Owl?

Designers: You have to impress me, entice me, direct me, and expose me to your deals.

Designers are responsible to make it great for everyone.

ReferencesAll photos found through Flickr and altered by Natalie for this

presentation.