C&S -> designing a complex application to be both learnable and discoverable

Hi -  A few weeks back I posted this message to the people on the list:

 

ORIGINAL QUESTION

Hi - Can anyone suggest complex publically-available applications that are
designed to encourage users to learn through exploration? Many feature-rich
applications use a hierarchical navigation, with a whole universe of
functionality under one menu item. I'm looking for products that are
designed so savvy users can go directly to the function they need, while
providing novice and intermediate users an opportunity to learn the product
(and often the domain). An example that comes to my mind is Turbo Tax. Can
you suggest others?

 

I received two responses, they are:

 

RESPONSE #1

From: Butler, Darrell L. [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 1:40 PM

To: Kay Corry Aubrey

Subject: RE: designing a complex application to be both learnable and
discoverable

 

Unfortunately no large public sites.  The simplest examples are all I have:

see http://wallsmattress.net (the better rest test).

 

Over time, I've developed three strategies for people to find their way:

1. navigation (very good for sites with fewer than 125 "unique" pages) 2.

search (best solution for large sites) 3. rule-based system... (best
application is when one thinks question/answer or intelligence interview is
the right solution, but can be time consuming to build on a large, complex

site)

 

Darrell

RESPONSE #2

 

From: Susan Price [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Price
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 12:31 PM
To: Kay Corry Aubrey; CHI-WEB
Subject: Re: designing a complex application to be both learnable and
discoverable

 

Not sure this is what you're looking for, Kay - but these come to mind as
alternatives to the "wizard on steroids" model of TurboTax:

 

Internet Movie DB  <http://imdb.com> http://imdb.com --> very "discoverable"
and encourages exploration 

 

Prezi Presentation software  <http://prezi.com> http://prezi.com -->
nonstandard pod-style navigation, learned by doing. interested to know what
our group thinks of it.

 

TripAdvisor  <http://tripadvisor.com> http://tripadvisor.com --> Easy from
any entry point to filter a raft of data/opinions and info about properties,
destinations, activities and so forth.

 

Very interesting question, and I look forward to seeing more suggestions.

 

 

Susan Price, CEO & Chief Web Strategist

Firecat Studio  <http://firecatstudio.com> http://firecatstudio.com <
<http://firecatstudio.com/> http://firecatstudio.com/>

210.872.0445 m

 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

 <http://twitter.com/firecatsue> http://twitter.com/firecatsue

 

*******************************

Sorry I am a little late with this C&S and thanks to Darrell & Susan for
their response -

 

Kay

 

Kay Corry Aubrey, user-centered research and design 

Usability Resources Inc |  <http://www.UsabilityResources.net>
www.UsabilityResources.net | [email protected]

Phone: 781-275-3020 | Fax: 1-781-998-0325

 


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