30
Jun
2008
you need a friendly (inter)face
We've all heard that term "web 2.0" recently, meaning the new wave of development, design and progress that has been made on the web in the last few years. It's a term that has ended up encompassing a number of trends, from the technological to the commercial.
One of those trends has been the acknowledgement of the importance of interfaces - if it is a web 2.0 application you can bet its got a clean, simple control panel. If its a 1.0 application, odds on you need an IT degree to work out how it all works.
This week has been a week for demonstrating how important this sort of thing is.
Example 1: Things
Or, only show me what I need to know.
I've always struggled to keep my tasks and activities organised and managed. When I realised that I couldn't rely on keeping them all in my head I turned to other techniques.
Post it notes had a habit of getting lost, so computer programs seemed like a good option.
I thought I had found a solution when I started using iGTD, a task manager based on Getting Things Done. However it didn't take too long before I just stopped opening it. It was only recently that I realised why.
Angus told me about Things, which is my new task manager, also based on GTD principles. It looks a bit cleaner and simpler than iGTD, but it took me a while to realise why I fell in love with it and not iGTD.
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The reason I stopped using iGTD was that it showed me too much information. As soon as I opened it it would show me that I had some 60 odd tasks to do across 10 domains. Where to start? I would just freeze and then shut it down.
Things only shows me the tasks that I have chosen to accomplish today. Everything else is hidden until I choose to look for it.
Example 2. Designer Legs
Or, don't make me think.
We have just updated the website for Designer Legs. It had been built by another developer who wasn't doing a very good job of answering the phone or understanding interfaces.
The original layout lacked any sensible typography - that meant that the user had to work out for themselves what was important and what was not. When it came to the shopping cart things were even worse - all the information was there, but the language used was all wrong and nothing was sorted into a sensible order. Once again it was up to the user to make sense of what was presented to them.
In a shopping experience this is a capital crime - because the user usually has enough sense to take their credit card and shop elsewhere. You don't trust someone who can't speak sense to you.
In a short time we had things sorted - you can see the difference below.
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The new screens
- Don't paint the buttons in warning colours
- Highlight key section headings more strongly
- Are easier to read with more contrast
- Organise information into an order that is clearer and more closely aligned with customer expectations
- Helps to avoid FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt)
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