Primary question of users when meeting UI-s: How do I do what I want to do ?
The Gulf of Evaluation
Second question: What happened.
Can the user do what they would like to?
What representations are used for communication?
Solution what many UIs come across : Direct manipulation user interfaces
- Immediate feedback on actions
- Continuous representation of objects
- Leverage metaphor - we are more and more familiar with digital environment and we don´t need so many real world metaphors to understand an user interface.
Good design reduces gulfs.
How easily can we:
- Determine a function of the device?
- Tell what actions are possible
- Determine mapping from intention to physical movement
- Perform an action?
- Tell if system is in desired state?
- Determine mapping from system state to interpretation?
- Tell what state the system is in?
One strategy is really effective - Mental models.
Mental model in users head does not do what real life is really like.
There are many kinds of mental models:
- My own behavior
- Someone else´s behavior
- A software application
- .. or any information process that´s mediated
Metaphores: Learning Mental Models
"A text processor is a typewriter"
Mental models are inconsistent in time
Users and designers communicate through their mental model
Designer´s model = mental / conceptual model of the system.
User´s model = mental model developed through interaction with the system
Designer expects user´s model to be the same as the designer´s model. But often it isn´t!
Conceptual Model Mismatch
Mismatch between designer´s and user´s conceptual models lead to: slow performance, errors, frustration. You see this by walking around and noticing notes on devices etc where people write what to do or how to do smth.
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