Weâre designing interfaces, sure, but to design a good interface, we need to understand both the users goals and the tasks theyâre trying to accomplish.
if we focus on task at hand rather than interface, we can come with some revolutionary designs just like Nest.
Tips for identifying user task
watch real users - instead of speculating or brainstorming watch the users perform the task
talk to them - ask some users to perform task, talk to them, try understanding their goals, motives
start small - start looking at small interactions , instead of having a wide view
abstract up - abstract up to a level you understand the task, keep asking until then
you are not your user - designing for others so leave your own previous experiences, perceived notions behind
Usefulness and usability
Useful - interface allows user to achieve the task, usefulness is pretty low bar
For ex - map helps us navigate, but we constantly need to keep track of where we are, our coordinates , plot our own route.
Usability - navigation apps
we should focus on task at hand which is navigating .
this helps us design better like navigation apps offloading cognitive load while driving
cognitive load - the total mental effort being used in working memory
Exploring HCI : HCI Principles
Bottom-Up
Top-Down
building up from low-level interactions to high-level effects ?
starting from the top with the desired outcome and making your way down to individual operations ?
Approach differs based on the situation and the outcome you want to achieve
Different viewpoints
data visualizations - high level aggregation view â granular view
designing for elderly, specially abled users - identifying the pain points, observing how they use , then using predictor model, processor model
having end vision of a result - gradually developing making changes along the way
end result as starting point - do research. brainstorming , clear up gaps - cycle of designing,testing,developing
Top - down for research and bottom up for development
Views of the User : Processor
Important to understand role of the human in overall system
Three ways it is possible
Processor â take input in and spit the output just like computer
Interface within human limits : what humans can sense, store in memory , physically do in the world. user can see colours, touch buttons etc.
evaluated by quantitative experiments : numeric measurements of how quickly users react, complete task.
