If You Build It, Will They Use It?
May 15, 2000 —
(Page 1 of 3)
Have you ever tried to use a piece of software that has all the right features but is simply too annoying, frustrating or inconsistent to use? Been turned off by typos on an online vendor's Web site? Been angered when you've read error messages that say, "Your application has crashed, and all work has been lost," and been forced to press "OK"? I sure have, and so has Jeff Johnson, author of "GUI Bloopers." I often give such software or Web sites negative reviews-but Johnson has done something more: He has developed a very informative book that should help you and your team avoid these and other common user-interface design and implementation errors.
Johnson's approach is a good one: He has abstracted his vast collection of user-interface gaffes into a series of design principles, many of which are presented with either real illustrations from shipping software products or live Web sites, or from fabricated examples that make his points clearly.
The primary audience for the "GUI Bloopers," says Johnson, is the working developer creating applications without the assistance of a professional UI designer; the secondary audience is the software development manager. I would recommend managers as the primary audience; very few developers are competent enough to create compelling user interfaces without management oversight. After all, interface design is not a technology issue: Even when software tools include GUI builders and wizards, that's no guarantee that the results will be optimal.
The book divides the bloopers into eight broad categories. Some are extremely basic: In the section called "First Principles," Johnson urges developers to focus on the function of the application first and determine its interface presentation later, and to remember that old-time adage that the screen belongs to the users (i.e., the application should not move the cursor or its windows) and the like. There's no excuse for forgetting the basics.
More concrete guidance is given to coders in the next few sections, which cover the design of components such as menus, check boxes and radio buttons, as well as the layout of windows and dialog boxes. Blooper 1, found on page 62, urges developers to avoid dynamic menus. The functions under "File," "Edit" and "View" should never change within an application; an inappropriate command should be grayed out, not removed from the display. Forgetting to put in keyboard shortcuts, or using nonstandard shortcuts (Ctrl-S is a de facto standard for saving a file, Ctrl-P for printing), is another no-no.
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