User Centered

Originally posted by Aza Rask:

It’s ironic (and predicable) that the interfaces SUPPLE comes up with for dexterity/visually impaired people are just better interfaces than the controls. The optimized interfaces almost always display more information in a way that requires less clicking than the original interfaces. No wonder they perform better! It’s just a direct application of Fitts’s law and GOMs analysis.

One interesting thing to call out: The interfaces for SUPPLE are defined by schematic intent, not by layout. The computer translates a user-flow markup into an actual interface. We’ll probably see a lot more of this as we need to design web sites for truly divergent screen-sizes (computer, mobile, wall screens).

The thing I like about Opera is the transfer panel. It keeps track of all your downloaded items and no matter where they are on your file system, they're easily accessible. Staying "on task" (read this information, install this application, etc..) is easy in Opera. I'm engaged and focused on whatever I'm doing at the time.

Of course, the problem is that since it's so easy to "set it and forget it" (as Ron Popeil would say), I often don't know exactly *where* on my local drive I'm storing stuff. It's never a big deal, but it does lead to a mess of a file system if not monitored with diligence.

With that littering in mind, I've found that the desktop is a decent place for me to dump these "temporary" files (that's what the desktop is supposed to be for right?), like images I've downloaded for a blog post that I don't plan to keep around, or installation programs. But saving to the desktop in Internet Explorer (at least version 6- this post comes about as I'm in the process of installing version 7) has always been a headscratcher for me...
...I've never understood this dialog. If it's anywhere else on my computer, I can click this "Open Folder" button and get immediate access to it...it's even highlighted for me. If it's on the "desktop," Windows insists on stopping me dead in my tracks and sending me off on some tangent in search of it. If you must interrupt my task, could you at least provide a mechanism within that dialog to show my desktop? If you know it's on the desktop, why can't you provide the same level of service as you do when it's in a folder? Maybe change the "Open Folder" button to "Show Desktop" and highlight it on the desktop. What's with the "I'm not going to help you in this case" attitude?

And don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the Win-D shortcut, plus I've got the "show desktop" icon on my quick launch but even with those, I still feel like my process has come to a screeching hault. I have to close out the dialogs and get back to my desktop which can sometimes takes a while on slower computers to minimize all the windows that are open. This just seems like strange design decision to treat the desktop target differently than a folder- just let me get at my downloads with ease please.

While struggling through yet another futile attempt to get a home network up and running with my D-Link router (There's not enough my.opera hosting space to hold the number of posts I could write on this horrible user experience), I kept getting confused by this winXP security menu:

..On the surface, the first menu(on the right for those not familiar) seems pretty user centered. You got the obligatory, and easy to undertand stoplight metaphor in conjunction with the checkmarks/"X", and the shields. All the trappings of a decent, easy to learn interface. It's the fact that you can't really do much with that menu that makes this confusing. More importantly, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to.

You have to click on "Windows Firewall" at the bottom there (which throws me every time I see this screen after a long period of time), only to be presented with the dialog on the left. So much visual "weight" is given to the "Security Essentials" section that I assume that's where I need to be to handle my firewall... but all for naught! ("turn around please"*) I have to find the other firewall control on the same screen.

I propose the following, hastily manipulated image instead. You can throw some of the descriptive text in there if you'd like as well...

My "advanced" button I pasted there would lead you to the "Exceptions" and "Advanced" tab from the first screenshot above.. as well as the "Recommendations." Anyway, the key is, the bulk of time, I just want to turn it on or off quickly, and I rarely mess with the "advanced" options, but apart from that, the original interface seems shattered. In the first image above, what's the difference in the average user's mind between "Security Essentials" and "Manage Security Settings for:"? Isn't it essential to manage security?


*Yeah, that's Spaceballs