Re: UI design [was Owen Taylor's paper]

Chris Harrington wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Sep 2002 11:21:05, Thomas Dodd wrote:
>>Same for "training" on an applications "use".
>>I've been forced to go to few of those (like
>>using Word or Excel). And all they ever teach
>>is stuff I already knew, and any half brained
>>person could figure out.

> The reason for training is so that people do not have
> to "figure out" what things do. "Figuring out" costs
> time and causes lost productivity which equals lost
> $$$. 

I'm talking about the basics of an app. There are
share between apps. Most of the entries in the File
and Edit menus. The Window and Help menus often fit
too.

> 1. How long would it take a user to complete a task /
> job by fumbling around?

Depends on the task. The classes cover basic tasks,
that would take less time to "figure out" on you own
than the time to setup and attend the class.

Anyone that has used a word processor with a GUI, can
use any other, with no "training". At least the basics.
If they need the more advanced features, they get trained
on one app. If they later move to a new app, they shouldn't
need re-training. Just a good thesarus and the documentation.

I'm not a graphics guy. But I can edit bitmap and vector
images. I started with PhotoShop. I tryed PhotoPAINT and
the GiMP. I had no trouble finding functions I wanted. Some
functions had different names, but I could still tell what
it did from the name. Then I tried CorelDRAW. It's vector
images, so there were some new concept, but most of the
drawing/editing functions were the same as before. I'd
wager I could pick up Illustrator.

So what are you refering to as "training"?
The basic level stuff, or the advanced uses
that most don't need?

> 2. If they had to fumble aroud, what would the quality
> of finished job / task be?

Again for the majority of tasks, you'd not notice a difference.
Can you tell if an email came from a new user of a tool or
someone that had used the tool for years?
I'm not talking about the subject of the message, but the
message creation and the tool used to create it.

> Everbody can read dialogs....knowing what the buttons
> do, however, is not always intuitive.

Then the dialogs, button labels, and other visual clues
need work. There is an "Interface Hall of Shame" that
discuss many of those issues. Like don't as negative
questions, don't put too much information in a dialog,
or don't put too little.

	-Thomas