When I first heard that this presentation was going to be about web apps, I must admit I was a little worried. Design involving the web is definitely not my favorite and I thought I might feel the same about the lecture as I do about web design. I was definitely wrong, Robert Hoeckman Jr. actually made web design seem fun, and he had a lot of good ideas about universal design. The main portion of his presentation was about the Essential Elements of Web App Design, which I will list here.
1. Understand users, then ignore them
Listen to what the consumer says with a grain of salt. Figure out what they actually need, not what they say they need.
2. Build only what’s absolutely necessary
Every feature that is added gets in the way of something else.
3. Support the user’s mental model
Putting an item to the trashcan makes sense. Green letters on a black screen don’t.
4. Turn beginners into intermediates immediately
Add features that help advance users of products.
5. Handle errors
People blame themselves for usability problems, usually it’s not their fault.
6. Design for uniformity, consistency and meaning
Make designs uniform, consistent and give them meaning.
7. Reduce and refine
Instead of adding more stuff, make what you have better.
These are the basic principles, which he uses to design web apps, and these principles can be applied to all types of design. The three examples he used were Myspace, Facebook and Amazon. Myspace could learn a thing or two by using the principles from this list. And I guess they will since Mr. Hoekman mentioned he’s working on a project for them. I don’t participate in Myspace or Facebook, but from the lecture and discussion it sounds like Myspace contradicts most of these principles. They need to start ignoring their users, they ask what the users want and give it to them. They start adding all the stuff the customers want, and it’s cluttered. They build way more than what is absolutely necessary. There designs are not uniform and consistent. Since everyone can change his or her own layout, the design is not at all consistent. It sounds like Facebook followed these principles better. Their design is more uniform and consistent, but it also sounded like they may have a few too many features. They should probably start reducing and refining a bit. Amazon.com was another example. According to the lecture, this was a good example of what not to do. I don’t know if I entirely agree with this. I will admit that it is somewhat overloaded with buttons and dropdowns, but for how much information they have to present, I think they are doing it in the best way possible.
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