bigthinker dunn
TRANSCRIPT
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.