Basic Philosophy Part II: Computers and Technology - Continued
The User
The second rule is that the user is the most important person in your project. Usability issues and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles should always be considered in every step of development. I spend most of my time on the Web and so I am especially sensitive to web usability. While I dont necessarily subscribe to the Flash must die school of thought, there are many examples of really bad web sites done in Flash. I am a fan of Jakob Nielson (http://www.useit.com/).
I have worked closely with graphics designers and most of them are not intrinsically bad people. It is just that many of them have been taught to create something cool and glitzy, rather than something that people can easily use. Many schools still educate designers primarily for print technology, even though most of the jobs are on the web. While some aspects of design transfer from print to the screen, others do not. The standard for most graphics designers is the Apple Macintosh, which is a fine machine. However, they look at their site on their Mac at a certain pixel resolution and then assume that it will look fine on all other systems. Graphics designers like to have absolute control and so they frequently specify absolute text sizes. This means that a primitive browser, such as Microsoft IE, cannot resize the text. So, on a high resolution screen, e.g. my laptop runs 1920 x 1200 on a 15.1 inch screen or about 133 dpi, the text is really tiny. Even my students, with their young eyes, complain about this. Of course the easy solution is to use Firefox or Mozilla. But even with these browsers, a flash site with tiny text or small windows, is very annoying.
Like most people, I also dislike pop up windows (which Mozilla blocks) and flashing graphics. When I go to web sites I want to find certain information, not be entertained by a flash intro or other whiz bang animations. Of course, a site that is designed to be entertaining and not for information delivery would be different.
So, some simple rules: Always have users test your systems. Always view your web sites on different browsers, different platforms, and at different screen resolutions. Remember that MS IE is used by about 95 % of the general public. Even on siggraph.org which has more of a geek audience, it is 80% IE and 20 % everything else.
The second rule is that the user is the most important person in your project. Usability issues and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles should always be considered in every step of development. I spend most of my time on the Web and so I am especially sensitive to web usability. While I dont necessarily subscribe to the Flash must die school of thought, there are many examples of really bad web sites done in Flash. I am a fan of Jakob Nielson (http://www.useit.com/).
I have worked closely with graphics designers and most of them are not intrinsically bad people. It is just that many of them have been taught to create something cool and glitzy, rather than something that people can easily use. Many schools still educate designers primarily for print technology, even though most of the jobs are on the web. While some aspects of design transfer from print to the screen, others do not. The standard for most graphics designers is the Apple Macintosh, which is a fine machine. However, they look at their site on their Mac at a certain pixel resolution and then assume that it will look fine on all other systems. Graphics designers like to have absolute control and so they frequently specify absolute text sizes. This means that a primitive browser, such as Microsoft IE, cannot resize the text. So, on a high resolution screen, e.g. my laptop runs 1920 x 1200 on a 15.1 inch screen or about 133 dpi, the text is really tiny. Even my students, with their young eyes, complain about this. Of course the easy solution is to use Firefox or Mozilla. But even with these browsers, a flash site with tiny text or small windows, is very annoying.
Like most people, I also dislike pop up windows (which Mozilla blocks) and flashing graphics. When I go to web sites I want to find certain information, not be entertained by a flash intro or other whiz bang animations. Of course, a site that is designed to be entertaining and not for information delivery would be different.
So, some simple rules: Always have users test your systems. Always view your web sites on different browsers, different platforms, and at different screen resolutions. Remember that MS IE is used by about 95 % of the general public. Even on siggraph.org which has more of a geek audience, it is 80% IE and 20 % everything else.
posted by G. Scott Owen at 2:00 PM
4 Comments:
Great blog. This is someone who knows about computer personal I read a another blog that is related to this at computer personal
Great article! Thanks.
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