Chapter 8 -- Users Aren t Designers
As you make user interface design decisions, you need to understand that the ultimate goal of most software is to help users get their work done. The connection between a program and a user is called a user interface and not a program interface for a reason. Users are what user interfaces are all about. Given the importance of users, it only makes sense to have users involved in the user interface design process in some way. After all, if you incorporate users directly into the design process, you are certain to satisfy the user's goals and have a successful product, right? Well, maybe. While user satisfaction is the ultimate measure of a good user interface, the fact is that users are not designers, so they don't necessarily have the knowledge or ability to give you all the information required to create a good user interface design. So, although users can play an important role in the design process, I believe that it's up to you in your role as a software designer to design the user interface.
Directly involving users in the user interface design process is referred to as user-centered design. A typical user-centered design process involves talking to users, creating a prototype interface, having users test the prototype, and iterating through the process until everyone is satisfied with the results. While I agree that the goals of any user interface design should be user centered, it is less clear that the design process itself needs to be user centered. This chapter will describe user-centered design and its various alternatives. It will also describe the alternative that I prefer to use, which I call vision-centered design.
One alternative to user-centered design that I won't be discussing is programmer-centered design. Naturally, this is the approach typically preferred by programmers, but it has a poor track record. The problem is that programmers are not users. Programmers and users typically have different needs and goals, as well as different knowledge and preferences. I'll discuss the specific differences between programmers and users in detail in the next chapter.
TIP
Users are not you. You need to be an advocate for the user by putting the user's goals ahead of your goals.
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 334