To help me on my way I have searched online, read papers and found two great books-Designing Interfaces by Jennifer Tidwell and The Inmates are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper.
Designing Interfaces gave me a great step in getting to know the user. The book does not go in to great detail on how to do this, but why. Getting to know the user, the user goals, a task analysis and design models like scenarios and prototypes are highlighted within the book. The designer should know how and why the user might use the software.
Gaining an understanding of the user is an important part of interface design. It is necessary to know what they are like, why they might use the software and how they might interact with it.
Each user will have a different level of knowledge about the software, so it is necessary to find a level that could be applicable to most users. Skills at similar software, language usage and attitudes toward the software should be investigated.
The book then goes in to patterns of interface design, which I will discuss more when I am prototyping.
The Inmates are Running the Asylum puts huge emphasis on the persona. Personas and their goals are the most effective tools for the designer. A persona should be constructed from the initial research and the interface should be designed for them. The goals of the persona should be laid out. The more specific a persona the more effective a design tool it is.
The scenario leads on from the persona and their goals. The scenario is how a person thinks and acts out their goals. These should be detailed from beginning to end.
Regarding the persona's skill level, 'perpetual intermediates' most users are neither beginners or expert but they are perpetual intermediates. For many interactive systems there are beginners and experts. Many people move out of the beginner phase and into intermediate, some of these may move on to an expert level, but for the most part when a person finds a level of adequacy they generally stay there.
Using the information gathered from these books I have developed my own personas of users. The scenarios are a byproduct of the information I gathered from my initial work in Bunratty Folk Park. For these scenarios I am focusing on the navigation aspect. I will be moving on to more advanced features by the weekend. Below are five scenarios of use for the application purely as a navigational tool. Sketches will be developed with these scenarios in mind.
0 comments:
Post a Comment