Chapter 8: Software Posture

Overview

Most people have a predominant behavioral stance that fits their working role on the job: The soldier is wary and alert; the toll-collector is bored and disinterested; the actor is flamboyant and bigger than life; the service representative is upbeat and helpful. Programs, too, have a predominant manner of presenting themselves to the user.

A program may be bold or timid, colorful or drab, but it should be so for a specific, goal-directed reason. Its manner shouldn't result from the personal preference of its designer or programmer. The presentation of the program affects the way the user relates to it, and this relationship strongly influences the usability of the product. Programs whose appearance and behavior conflict with their purposes will seem jarring and inappropriate, like fur in a teacup or a clown at a wedding.

The look and behavior of your program should reflect how it is used, rather than an arbitrary standard. A program's behavioral stance—the way it presents itself to the user—is its posture. The look and feel of your program from the perspective of posture is not an aesthetic choice: It is a behavioral choice. Your program's posture is its behavioral foundation, and whatever aesthetic choices you make should be in harmony with this posture.

The posture of your interface tells you much about its behavioral stance, which, in turn, dictates many of the important guidelines for the rest of the design. As an interaction designer, one of your first design concerns should be ensuring that your interface presents the posture that is most appropriate for its behavior and that of your users. This chapter explores the different postures for applications on the desktop, the Web, and devices.




About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 263

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