Information architecture, interface design and help strategy
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category.
With rare exception, the interfaces we design rely on graphical output. They use text, colour, layout and motion to communicate messages and respond to user activity. Working with a primarily visual medium, then, it’s vital that we understand the capacities and limitations of human vision. Continue reading ‘Human Vision for UX Design’ »
“UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA!”
I hate self-service checkouts. Well, let me rephrase that. I love the idea of them: being able to move at my own pace, able to bag my items in the order I want, able to enjoy an illusion of privacy as I handle my own groceries. I even like the novelty of using the new technology. What I don’t love, though, is their UX. Slow machines that interrupt me with unexpected queries, failing completely the moment I deviate even slightly from the predefined workflow. Machines that force me to find an assistant the moment I do anything even slightly out of the ordinary, like rearrange my bags – assistants who are typically overstretched and otherwise preoccupied.
Why did it turn out like this? Why is it that, in the second decade of the third millenium, consumers are still facing systems with interfaces lifted straight out of the early 1990s? Continue reading ‘Self-service checkouts and lessons in UX’ »
Character limits are ubiquitous on the web, not least in applications that rely on user-generated content. Yet for something so common, character limits are often poorly implemented. Thankfully, by following six simple guidelines about designing length-limited fields and displaying character counters, you can make writing character-restricted text and smooth and painless as possible
Continue reading ‘Character count design: some guidelines’ »
Lorem ipsum (so called ‘Greeked’ text) is a useful tool when putting together initial mockups, and allows designers to quickly check the feasibility and visual effects of a particular concept. But at the wireframing stage, dummy text poses risks. Here are three reasons to use real (or at least realistic) copy at the PSD stage…
In-context (or ‘in-place’) editors allow users to edit content in the same page or space that they view it, rather than using a separate form or administration area. They establish a strong relationship between content and the tools used to manage it, which makes those tools extremely discoverable, and gives users confidence about the consequences of their activity. However, in-place editors can also pose certain design challenges. I take a look at these issues and offer some ideas on how to ameliorate them. Continue reading ‘Pattern: In-context Editors’ »
Video guides have become enormously popular as a help strategy. They’re attractive to new users, they’re easy to create with today’s tools and they impart a real ‘wow’ factor. But like all tools, video help has its limitations, and needs to be employed carefully – because advanced and long-term users find them tremendously frustrating. Continue reading ‘The problem with video help’ »
If two questions can be confused for one another, put the least ambiguous first
Sometimes, you might have two questions in a form that a user might think pertain to the same information. In those cases, you should put the clearest question first, because users will instinctively assume that the second question more likely refers to something new than repeats the old. Continue reading ‘Can two questions be confused for one another? Put the clearest first’ »
Users can be overwhelmed by the idea of filling in a blank free text field. but if they answer other, relevant questions beforehand, you can make them to think and respond in certain ways, inspiring them to write focused free text.
As I’ve mentioned before, there’s compelling evidence to suggest that free text boxes deter users, likely because without direction, it’s difficult to think how to answer, and this poses a serious barrier to conversion and form success. There are a few ways to resolve this (besides replacing free text fields altogether), but I want to talk about one idea in particular: putting easier, relevant questions first.
The idea is that when the user answers other, easier questions first, he or she is invited to think about the subject matter in particular ways. They gain a sense of the kinds of data the form or website is looking for, and they’re already primed to provide relevant data thanks to the fact they’ve already recalled it for other questions. Continue reading ‘Prime your users to answer freetext fields’ »
When creating a form for an organization or group of users, take a look at how they divide labour and knowledge. You might find you have to separate forms, or let them ‘transfer’ between different users.
If you’re designing an application for a client that has more than one user – for example, a business or social group – then it pays to research how that group is organized, and whether all knowledge and duties relevant to your app are shared amongst the group. It might turn out that your form asks for data that actually belongs to more than one person, or that the duty of completing your form is actually shared by two people. Continue reading ‘Check out your users’ division of labour’ »
As an avid believer that less form fields = better, I was recently surprised to read research that indicated more form fields don’t drastically reduce conversion rate. According to the author, Dan Zarrella:
I found that as the number of form fields increases, conversion rates decrease slightly, but not as steeply as I expected. I then looked at specific types of form fields, starting first with simple, one-line text fields. Again, to my surprise, I found that there is very little decrease in conversion rate as the number of single line text fields increases.
Like him, I was taken aback. Did users really not mind answering more questions? Well, actually, not quite. It turns out they did mind certain questions:
I then turned my attention to more sophisticated fields, first multi-line text entry “textareas”. Here I found that multiple textareas have a powerful depressing effect on conversion rates. Finally I analyzed drop-down select boxes. Again, I found that multiple drop down fields on a landing page tends to be associated with lower conversion rates.
Why would this be? Why would users quite happily accept extra questions of one sort but shy away from another?
The answer, I suspect, is that the textareas and dropdowns that Zarella’s users avoided forced them not to just provide data, but make decisions, choosing from large ranges of data. These questions imposed so much cognitive workload, even one could outweigh several slot-in queries. Continue reading ‘When do extra form fields reduce conversion rates?’ »