Posts Tagged ‘User Interface’

10 Principles of UI Masters

Posted by tom.altman on January 27th, 2009
Lego Digital Designer
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I really love UI (User Interface).  Like my buddy Matt T says, “I’m not ’smart’ enough to do UI, but I know a good one when I see it.”

Breathtaking and useful designs happen because the UI has been worked on tirelessly. It takes a real UI Master to understand how to make a terrific user experience on a website.

That is so true – UI is hard, and great UI is even harder.  The post goes on to tell about 10 principcals which great UI people live by.

  1. Don’t Forget About the User – Jason Fried
    Tom: Sometimes we just cannot forget the site is not for “us”, its for the user.  We need to identify that user and make sure we have their interests in mind.
  2. Don’t Overlook Error Pages – Jakob Nielsen
    Tom: This may be one of the biggest mistakes people make – they get the site done, and then take a break…but they forget that the “old” site had pages too.  Where do those go now?   Are they still available?
  3. Always Set a Background Color – Jeffrey Zeldman
  4. Don’t Overdo Accessibility Features – Roger Johansson
  5. Use Epicenter Design – Jason Fried
  6. Watch Your Users – Collis Ta’eed
    Tom: If you have never been humbled by this exercise – you need to be.  It will spin your head.
  7. Give Incentives For Users to Complete Forms – Jim Kukral
  8. Keep the UI Consistent – Jakob Nielsen
    Tom: My first reaction to this is “duh” – but its a good point.
  9. Keep Jargon to a Minimum – Erin Kissane
  10. Make a Prototype Instead of a Wireframe – David Verba

This stuff is lightsout cool.  And when it is “on”, it really can make a site sing.  If you have examples of good design, please post it to the comments.

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Best User Interface/Information Design Article I've read

Posted by tom.altman on December 4th, 2008

Need A Website?

Scanning through the old Google reader last night I came across a post at psdtuts.com called “9 Information Design Tips to Make You a Better Web Designer” – I’m not sure if I have been sheltered, not paying attention – or if this article is just that good…but this is a definite thought changer for me.

It’s probably the least glamorous part of web design, but information design is by no means the least important. Locating and consuming information is the quintessential web task, far surpassing buying, playing and communicating, all of which include a good portion of information design themselves. How users find and then avail themselves of all that information is affected by how it is structured and presented. Thus every web designer should be equipped to make qualified and informed decisions on just how to do this.

TOM: That is a great statement – just nails the point.

He fist point is right on:

1 – Be methodical
1. Understand the Site’s Content, Processes and Purpose
2. Prioritize and Look for User Paths
3. Organize the Information

TOM: Simple – but right on.  You cannot design if you have no concept of the content and then, pay attention to how the user will navigate the site – what things do they need instant access to and what things can be more organically found.

The rest of the article is good – and hopefully you’ll read it, but one more quote:

5 – Design text that wants to be read

I’m not sure if I’m just getting older, or if spending all my time in front of a screen is just making me picky, but lately it really bugs me when I’m presented with text that doesn’t compel me to read it. The aim of a site design is usually to transmit information and most of that is written text, so focusing on displaying it well should be a priority.

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