Designing for Unfamiliar Interfaces

Daniel SoltisCreative Technologist, Moving Brands

Status: Connected. Blue LED blinks every 200ms.

The tale of the dongle

Status:Network error. Blue LED blinks every 270ms.

The tale of the dongle

from Gestural Interfaces: A Step Backwards In Usability

“There are several important fundamental principles of interaction design that are completely independent of technology:

·       Visibility (also called perceived affordances or signifiers)·       Feedback·       Consistency (also known as standards)·       Non-destructive operations (hence the importance of undo)·       Discoverability: All operations can be discovered by systematic

exploration of menus·       Scalability. The operation should work on all screen sizes, small and large.·       Reliability. Operations should work. Period. And events should not

happen randomly.All these are rapidly disappearing from the toolkit of designers.”

Donald A. Norman and Jakob Nielsenhttp://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/gestural_interfaces_a_step_backwards_in_usability_6.html

What do I mean byan unfamiliar interface?

Novel inputmethods

Novel inputmethods

Screen is limited, unusual, or not present

Novel inputmethods

Screen is limited, unusual, or not present

Distance between input and output

Disruptive, uncover opportunities and

problems, evocative,fun to make...

but low usability interferes with their potential

The tale of the gestural interface

affordance

The tale of the gestural interface

accidental inputs

The tale of the gestural interface

The tale of the gestural interface

dexterity

dexterity and endurance

The tale of the gestural interface

The tale of the intuitive interface

“Pictures Under Glass sacrifice all the tactile richness of working with our hands, offering instead a hokey visual facade.”

-Bret Victor, http://worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/

expression vs convention

The tale of action at a distance

connecting cause and effect

The tale of the multisensory interface

comprehensible, for the right senses

The learning curve challenge

Curve

FUN?

Learnin

g

The learning curve challenge

Curve

FUN?

Learnin

g

familiarity transparencyprogressive disclosuretrust

CauseWhat can I act on and what do my actions mean?

EffectIs there feedback, can I perceive it, and what doesit tell me? What senses am I using?

The minority report problemDo I have the physical or cognitive skill to perform a task?

Learning curveHow much time am I willing to invest in learning this system? Do I trust that the eventual reward is worth it?

Challenges for users

Technical proof of concept

Hobbyist/fun

Technical feasibility

Uncovering new territory

Design concept

User-centred design

Design intention

Hindsight

vs.

Challenges for designers & inventors

Donʼt throw out the familiar. Conventions, metaphor, discoverability, consistency can all be helpful.

Pay particular attention to sensory and physical factors.

Provide feedback at the point of interaction, preferably with the same sense as used for the input.

Design with intention, user test, iterate, etc.

Meeting those challenges?

Thanks!

Daniel Soltisdanielrsoltis@gmail.com

@ds1935