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<p>[QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 6641430, member: 27832"]Warning: opinions coming. The worst kind, too: <i>professional</i> opinions. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>When I started working on my PhD in human-computer interaction (usability, "user experience"), Apple was a guiding light in the field. They showed everybody how to design your systems so they were usable:</p><ul> <li>Keep things organized and uncluttered</li> <li>Let users <i>see</i> what they could and couldn't do</li> <li>Provide <i>direct, immediate</i> feedback for each user action</li> <li>Make it possible to <i>undo</i> unwanted actions</li> </ul><p>Then Steve Jobs and the top of the design hierarchy got obsessed with making things <i>beautiful</i> and <i>minimalist</i>. If there was a choice between making a button <i>clearly describe what it does</i> and making it <i>artistic</i>, art won every time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh, and text? <b>U. G. L. Y.</b> People don't want to <i>read</i>, they want to <i>experience</i>. Give them an icon <i>instead</i> of text, not <i>in addition to</i> text. And make it <i>simple</i>, because simple shapes are <i>prettier</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>And, of course, because Apple established themselves as The Design Leader, Microsoft and everyone else followed in their footsteps. Not in all the details, but in the big picture.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, today, pull out a phone or pull up a website, and you'll see... beauty. Soft colors, gentle contrast, wisps of suggestions of things you might be able to tap or click to make something happen. But if what you really <i>want</i> is to "contact Customer Service", well... is that the little mauve square at the bottom of the screen, or the teal oval, or the grey thing that might be a keyhole or a person or a chess piece or a phallic symbol? Don't be afraid; touch it, and see what happens! (And hope that last guess isn't the right one.) If it doesn't do what you wanted, well, it'll surely do something <i>interesting</i>, and keeping you <i>interested</i> is what it's all about. Not, you know, <b>getting things done</b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sigh. I'm old, and out of touch. But there were <i>really good reasons</i> NOT to do things the way they're done today. It's really frustrating that we had good solutions, and we threw them away for something that <i>doesn't work as well</i>. But it sure is nice to look at, I guess...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 6641430, member: 27832"]Warning: opinions coming. The worst kind, too: [I]professional[/I] opinions. :rolleyes: When I started working on my PhD in human-computer interaction (usability, "user experience"), Apple was a guiding light in the field. They showed everybody how to design your systems so they were usable: [LIST] [*]Keep things organized and uncluttered [*]Let users [I]see[/I] what they could and couldn't do [*]Provide [I]direct, immediate[/I] feedback for each user action [*]Make it possible to [I]undo[/I] unwanted actions [/LIST] Then Steve Jobs and the top of the design hierarchy got obsessed with making things [I]beautiful[/I] and [I]minimalist[/I]. If there was a choice between making a button [I]clearly describe what it does[/I] and making it [I]artistic[/I], art won every time. Oh, and text? [B]U. G. L. Y.[/B] People don't want to [I]read[/I], they want to [I]experience[/I]. Give them an icon [I]instead[/I] of text, not [I]in addition to[/I] text. And make it [I]simple[/I], because simple shapes are [I]prettier[/I]. And, of course, because Apple established themselves as The Design Leader, Microsoft and everyone else followed in their footsteps. Not in all the details, but in the big picture. So, today, pull out a phone or pull up a website, and you'll see... beauty. Soft colors, gentle contrast, wisps of suggestions of things you might be able to tap or click to make something happen. But if what you really [I]want[/I] is to "contact Customer Service", well... is that the little mauve square at the bottom of the screen, or the teal oval, or the grey thing that might be a keyhole or a person or a chess piece or a phallic symbol? Don't be afraid; touch it, and see what happens! (And hope that last guess isn't the right one.) If it doesn't do what you wanted, well, it'll surely do something [I]interesting[/I], and keeping you [I]interested[/I] is what it's all about. Not, you know, [B]getting things done[/B]. Sigh. I'm old, and out of touch. But there were [I]really good reasons[/I] NOT to do things the way they're done today. It's really frustrating that we had good solutions, and we threw them away for something that [I]doesn't work as well[/I]. But it sure is nice to look at, I guess...[/QUOTE]
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