Category — Website Wireframe

Another aspect of the UI design that users were attached to was the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons. According to TNW’s Alex Wilhelm the new up/down arrows are simply not endearing enough. Worse still, Digg’s less popular competitor Reddit uses arrows, which gives Digg even less reason to incorporate such icons into its new user interface design. Another complaint was the lack of the ‘Upcoming’ news section which lowers “the ability of Digg users to craft the editorial line of the website, in effect neutering the people who tend Digg and give it its character”.

Although the navigation is easier, the default homepage has been changed from ‘Top News’ to ‘My News’. As of writing there is still no way to change that setting. Perhaps with a little time users will come to love the new ‘My News’ page. From a usability perspective, the switch to the Cassandra database management system has been fraught with bugs following massive uptime and reliability problems.  Despite all the protestations Digg’s future, it would seem, is still intact. They have had a number of revolts in the past already. When version 3 of Digg’s user interface design was released they also received a number of complaints from users but over time a lot of the issues were resolved. It will be interesting to see how Digg will react to appease users.

These apps are a quick and efficient communication method, and definitely lend themselves well to the objectives of social networking, not least due to their intuitive user interface designs, but naturally they engender questions about user privacy.  Making your location available to people seems intrusive and it is for this reason that these apps – a few notable exceptions aside – have seen more difficulties attracting conservative users than developers have hoped.  However, the fact that these apps have smartly coupled location information with other social desires—friendship, dating, discourse etc—makes them enticing and will likely lead to greater popularity.  Questions about security and intrusion should diminish given that users have a considerable amount of autonomy over the apps.  Users can choose who they disclose their information to and can control when they do it.  As long as users maintain a sense of jurisdiction over their information, then check-in apps are a harmless way for people to socialize and connect.

Taking a page out of Greek mythology

Many users have complained about the iPad’s dearth of calling power.  Of course, phone calls CAN be made via the iPad’s user interface (Skype etc.) but the iPad does not provide the same VoIP services as the Galaxy.  So users may be right to complain.  It seems only logical to expect tablets to provide the combined services of computers and mobile phones. Otherwise, tablets may seem like oversized smartphones or awkward, undersized laptops. What is the point of buying a tablet that doesn’t truly do it all?  The Galaxy claims it CAN do it all, and thus is a technological Chimera sent to serve all of our daily needs in one very small package.  Of course don’t get too excited—a chimera is also synonymous with impossible or foolish fantasies, the Galaxy very well could be too good to be true.

•    Natural Colors: Natural colors can provide comfort and familiarity for users.  They can also be used to underscore the theme of your user interface.  For example, if you are designing a travel website that has pages that profile different destinations, you can use natural colors that users will associate with each place: Greens for Ireland, browns for Arizona or the Grand Canyon, etc.  Using these color palettes in tandem with images and written content will engage your users and leave your website more memorable.

•    Unnatural Colors: Using bold and bright colors is also a good strategy for distinguishing your user interface from the rest, but be judicious about it.  Too much bold can turn users off or detract their attention from important content.  Bold colors are best used when you are trying to shock users or grab their attention.  For example, if you are designing a new website you may want to have the “breaking news” section in a neon color. Or you may be creating an avant garde art website that uses all vibrant colors because you know that your users will generally be people who are interested in being challenged aesthetically.  But be careful. Unlike natural colors, unnatural colors can affect your user interface as dramatically as their hues—for good and bad.  So tread the unnatural color spectrum carefully.

Understanding how and why to use natural or unnatural colors is an important part of designing a successful user interface.   Colors enable you to craft a pleasant experience and envelope users in your interface’s ambrosial essence—design is, after all, an art form.

This is part two of my blog post on the new iTunes’ Ping service.

After having taken a look at the pros and cons of Ping and how it may fare in the music market, let’s see what the application itself is like.

Setting up Ping, for those with an account already, is a pretty straightforward process. A click on the Ping button in the sidebar to the left of the interface design invites users to activate their account. For a service that aims to be about music I was surprised to be limited to a choice of maximum three genres. As more and more artists take to Ping the service should become more worthwhile. One of the biggest usability gripes I have with Ping is that the only way to change the language used is to change to an iTunes store from a country that speaks the desired language. This entails creating a new account, which incidentally is a breach of the fine print in Apple’s legal terms. Considering that the most popular social networks allow users to change language at will and in one step (usually via a drop-down menu) Ping appears a bit too rigid and, dare I say, a tad patronizing.

Visually Ping is not much to look at. The interface design comes across as a bit bland. It looks like a medium-fidelity wireframe that still awaits a paint job. I feel as though Apple is reaching an impasse with how far they can keep a walled garden. Finding friends on Ping is a nightmare. The use of APIs to source contacts for friends from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail etc. would go a long way in rectifying that. What is the point of a social network if you can’t network with those you wish to? At least the security settings are very simple, occurring in one step offering from three levels. Exporting is also impossible so one can’t, for example, share a recommendation over Twitter! Personally I believe Ping is more potential than finished product and I can see the social aspect spreading to the rest of the iTunes Store.

However considering that there were a million signups in two days and the inclination of users to spend using the iTunes, Ping will certainly be profitable for Apple. I fear that a lot of people will find other services more convenient to use. With Ping Apple is clearly going against the convention of opening up social networks more.

The Goldilocks Principle and usability testing

The “just right” idea lends itself very well to usability tests as a tool for iterating your interface designs.  Sorflaten asserts that the “just right” mindset frees designers from fear and judgments that can be hang-ups during the user interface design process.  “Abandon hope for a linear, premeditated path of reasoning to solutions” (humanfactors.com) during usability testing.  Instead, designers should let go of their unyielding, pre-conceived notions about how a design should look as an end product or what a problem solution set should be (in other words finality based on  the polar extremes), and just trust in the present process that unfolds during the usability test.  This mindset will enable designers to “test, iterate, and test until it’s just right” (humanfactors.com).

Balancing the present and the future

Staying in the present moment can often be a scary thing for designers—so much of a user interface design’s success hinges upon organization and good preparation, in other words, constantly looking towards and planning for the future.  Applying the Goldilocks principle will not  force designers to abandon planning and structure; when used properly, it can allow them to operate within a space of freedom and flexibility during the usability testing phase, fostering intuitive and free iterations that work in tandem with hypothesized problems and solutions .  Being mindful of both planning and the present process creates the sort of balance that defines the Goldilocks principle. It is what will ultimately make the user interface “just right.”

Desirability and usability as a design team

According to John Soellner’s article “Design, Usability, Desirability, What’s The Difference?” desirability design is “about expanding on the idea of what human factors are” in order to better understand what drives users to employ interfaces based on their interest level and personal satisfaction.  It can be functional and emotional.  Functional desirability is almost interchangeable with usability in that it means users desire to use a site because it is usable and well organized.  Emotional desirability, although related to the subjective satisfaction which is a part of usability, breaks away from usability because it seeks to understand a user’s emotional reaction to the aesthetics of a user interface: the look, feel, and even the content.  Emotional desirability concerns itself with the intangibles and emotional human factors that Soellner refers to above.

Desirability works well in tandem with usability because it measures the intangible aspects of user experience such as fun and enjoyment, aspects that usability itself usually cannot address.  Desirability helps designers discern whether or not their user interface design is enticing enough for users to want to employ, reaching beyond whether or not it is easy and functional enough for users to want to use.  “Desirability design techniques supply the X Factor which motivates users to make usability matter” says Soellner.

This is the continuation of my blog post on the interface design of social networks. In this part I shall focus on layout and navigation.

The layout of the User Interface Design

A successful user Interface design should be as clean and contain as little “noise” as possible. This is not to say that an interface design of a social network should be featureless but it should be in a layout that doesn’t overwhelm users, in turn making them go elsewhere. Out of the social networks I decided to look at I found MySpace to have the noisiest interface design once logged in. The colors used (bright pink and baby blue flourishes) and the flashing colorful adverts were not just a slight distraction from my purposes compared to, say, Facebook’s more discreet advertisement offerings that fit and blend with the site’s interface design. I found the consistent color scheme of meinVZ’s interface design to be refreshing with the orange color being used in the design elements of the interface design as well as in the color of the fonts. I found Twitter’s interface design to be the most compact but that is understandable considering that, out of all the networks I am looking at, it has fewer features (i.e. pictures, videos etc.) to incorporate into it. Following interface design conventions allows a website to tap into “familiarity” benefits. This is why meinVZ modeled itself after Facebook and it shows how crucial interface design is in gaining and retaining customers.

Navigation of the User Interface design

Navigation is another crucial aspect of an interface design. Many social networks encourage people to upload and share a lot of information as well as use various apps. This naturally increases the complexity of a network, requiring interface designers to work even harder to ensure it is easy for users to navigate the matrix structure of social networks. The search bar is a crucial part of a social network. Users must be able to search and find their friends easily. The most common interface design convention is to have it right at the very top, usually in the middle or the right. meinVZ had it on the left below the logo but this is in keeping with their navigation which can all be found on the left of the page.  I was surprised that the Twitter search bar is not at the very top of the interface design as there is lots of space in between the logo on the left and the utilities on the right. As it is the search bar is on the right and further down but considering that users almost inevitably have to scroll down this might not be such a bad thing. As far as the layout of the interface design goes it is worth noting that users of MySpace can and nearly always change the default interface design which can make navigation problematic for some users. Of all the social networks I looked at, with the exception of meinVZ, the navigation took place at the very top along with utilities which are found at the very right. Facebook proved to be the most sparse with MySpace being the most busy. MySpace’s layout was also the most confusing without clear demarcations of the homepage. Everything was one giant hodgepodge unlike meinVZ which had thin but clear lines to keep sections separate. Another seeming interface design convention in social networks is the use of the left side of the layout for the navigation and other important links, the middle for activity streams and notification etc., and the right for less important notifications and adverts.

User Interface Design is crucial to get right in order for a website to succeed. The best way to ensure you get it right is to conduct usability testing to ensure the practicality, familiarity and ease of use before adding cosmetic flourishes. I speculate all the aforementioned social networks made use of wireframing tools, to create prototypes that were tested on average users to determine what works. Interestingly, they must have arrived at very different conclusions, since the interface designs of these social networks do differ quite a bit.

Common usability illnesses that weaken your user interface

There are hundreds of ailments that can attack your interface design and paralyze its usability.  Below are a few common pitfalls to watch out for as you attempt to keep your user interface healthy and usable:

•    Content difficulty:  Websites that require users to read about products and services must have content that is not only easy to read but also easy to scan since users often scan websites for the information that they need.  If your user interface has convoluted or complex information, users are likely to get frustrated and abandon it.  So even if you think your user interface has a lot to say and all of it is worth reading, your users may not agree. And that is why you need to infuse your site with information that is simple, easy to scan, and to the point.  If you feel like there is a breadth of information that users need to read, then provide links to detailed information—but don’t make that the focal point of your user interface design.
•    Contact difficulty:  A great site layout is nullified when users don’t have an easy method of engaging with it.   One example of this is contact information.  Maybe your users want to get in touch with you for more information about site services or they want to sign up for something you offer.  Either way, if you do not make this process explicit and easy on your website, chances are that users will never reach their original goal and leave your site in desperation.
•    Link difficulty: Linking is a crucial function of every website but if your links are difficult to locate or are too small (thus requiring too much effort to click on) then you need to make changes because users aren’t going to stick around if you aren’t able to take them anywhere.
•    Search difficulty:  Search boxes are one of the main features of a modern user interface design. Users look for them when they open a page.  Searches provide users with an avenue of finding exactly what they want in the quickest possible way.  Some user interfaces provide no search option or provide search options that are difficult to use or find.  If you want your users to get where they need to get to sign up, make a purchase or find the information they require, then you had better focus on functioning search boxes.

If you are developing a user interface make sure you are fighting usability related illnesses with usability tests, a type of computer science medicine that allows you to eradicate usability problems and invigorate your website’s popularity and success.  There is no perfect interface design—all user interfaces can be continually improved and changed.  If you keep fighting usability pitfalls at the forefront of your development process then you will find it easier to build a healthy site that will contribute to overall success and satisfaction.

One of the major problems that social networking sites have come up against relative to their interface designs is that of privacy and security. The Facebook hegemon recently took a brutal hit when users began complaining en masse that the security feartures user interface design was not only ambiguous, but also deceiving. If Google is developing a social networking website of their own, it would behoove them to make privacy and security the vanguard of their user interface design. In a cutthroat world, preying on the weaknesses of your competitors is often a good strategy, and Google can continue to assert their internet dominance by designing their site to be the antithesis to Facebook’s equivocal and complex privacy user interface. While many have criticized Google for not being able to crack the social networking egg, their late entrance to the party may just allow them to become the belle of the ball.