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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
The research topic HCI is also known as Human-System Interaction and has a lot of studies all having good conclusions that should be combined by the usability designer into a good usable application.
Several points must be fulfilled before a piece of software may be termed "user friendly" (note that even today, 80 to 90% of software doesn't fulfill every point).
To be user friendly, software must be:
- task-suitable: Don't offer so much functionality that it confuses the user or harms functionality.
- understandable: When the user uses the application for the first time, the user should be able to see quickly what it does and how to use it.
- navigable: The user should always be able to tell where he/she/it is. Don't restrict navigation too much.
- conformable to expectations: The application should be consistent throughout!
- tolerant of mistakes: Users are human - they make mistakes. The application should allow them to Undo (without crashing, in particular).
- feedback-rich: The application should always give immediate feedback to the user regarding which actions(s) are being taken.
Many people find that copying that what the user allready knows is good for usability; and most times those people are right. There are somethings that, however, don't mix and therefor you need to know the basics to judge a design. To summorize it into one sentence Only the nipple is intuitive, all the rest has been learned.
Web sites
There are various good websites with concrete information online
Books
- The Design of Everyday Things (0385267746) -- any designer needs to have read this book!
- External list
The only point I would like to make on this page is this: there is no substitute for user-testing
Written by Thomas Zander
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