Re:Good design for Humans
by GuB-42 on Tuesday May 29, 2018 @02:29PM
(#17181776)
I think the important idea that is often overlooked these days is discoverability.
Your UI doesn't have to be simple, but the user needs to know where to start. That's the idea behind the original Windows 95 "Start" menu. Even though there is plenty of things on screen, the starting point is marked in the most obvious way possible.
Now the idea seems to be: hide everything but the starting point, which is certainly a good way to show where to start, but it doesn't help the user getting beyond that, if it is possible at all.
Interestingly, that learning curve is well studied in video games, and often well implemented. General UI seems to be focused on aesthetics more than anything else.
Your UI doesn't have to be simple, but the user needs to know where to start. That's the idea behind the original Windows 95 "Start" menu. Even though there is plenty of things on screen, the starting point is marked in the most obvious way possible.
Now the idea seems to be: hide everything but the starting point, which is certainly a good way to show where to start, but it doesn't help the user getting beyond that, if it is possible at all.
Interestingly, that learning curve is well studied in video games, and often well implemented. General UI seems to be focused on aesthetics more than anything else.