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How to fix a bad user interface

scotthurff.com

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Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#11

Post by pbhjpbhj »

I disagree with his objection to using tags and other tertiary UI for onboarding, I nearly always find that helpful. Indeed he appears to disagree with it himself:

>"Instead, telling your customer the exact button to press and why they should press it is a much more helpful prospect." //

I think I also disagree on the false-feedback he suggests is good. If you give immediate UI change on a like showing that it has been registered and then you can't register it you find that user experience can break trust - next time I go to that page/post/comment I see my "like" is missing yet the UI showed it had been registered. Surely this is a place for an intermediate state?

Similarly with the skeleton screens, it can lead to a situation like the one he has with his videos being missing. The page changes but it's not got content, but there's no loading indicator as there is elsewhere on the site/in the app - so is it loading, did it break? We're left guessing about what is happening.

Petty complaints follow:

>"Awkward UI is a missing a loading indicator." //

Oops. There are always errata!

Surprised to see the segment on loading indicators avoid using the word "feedback".

>"Even if you're creating weather apps (cue Dribbble joke), one state won't cut it." //

Will the targeted readership understand this reference, I don't. I even went to Dribbble.com for illumination but none came.

I see a lot of missing [obj] which appear to be mostly/all "" being used as a section marker. It appears not to exist in the chosen font on my system though? [latest FF on WinXP]

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#12

Post by jordanlev »

will_pseudonym wrote: post #10

Really looking forward to this book! I'm constantly blown away by bad UI, and I'm wondering to see what I can learn, and what I might be able to teach others. Anyone have ideas for additional learning/connecting with others in this area? I am about to start reading "The Design of Everyday Things".

Joel Spolsky's "User Interface Design for Programmers" is phenomenal, and available freely online (!): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html

If you build websites, also check out Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think": http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#13

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #11

I disagree with his objection to using tags and other tertiary UI for onboarding, I nearly always find that helpful. Indeed he appears to disagree with it himself: >"Instead, telling your customer the exact button to press and why they should press it is a much more helpful prospect." // I think I also disagree on the false-feedback he suggests is good. If you give immediate UI change on a like showing that it has be…

Recently relevant, for those who missed it:

https://blog.intercom.io/the-dribbblisation-of-design/

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#14

Post by frik »

eCa wrote: post #9

> For a second, I get scared. [...] Where are my movies? I have a similar situation in Win8.1. I have an external hard drive that sometimes go to sleep. When I wake it up by trying to view its contents in Explorer, Windows shows a friendly "No files in this folder" message while the disk spins up. It should know that it doesn't know that.

Win7 shows a green progress bar in the address bar.

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#16

Post by BatFastard »

jordanlev wrote: post #12
will_pseudonym wrote: post #10

Really looking forward to this book! I'm constantly blown away by bad UI, and I'm wondering to see what I can learn, and what I might be able to teach others. Anyone have ideas for additional learning/connecting with others in this area? I am about to start reading "The Design of Everyday Things".

Joel Spolsky's "User Interface Design for Programmers" is phenomenal, and available freely online (!): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html If you build websites, also check out Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think": http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html

Thanks for the links to great books.

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#18

Post by Coincoin »

eCa wrote: post #9

> For a second, I get scared. [...] Where are my movies? I have a similar situation in Win8.1. I have an external hard drive that sometimes go to sleep. When I wake it up by trying to view its contents in Explorer, Windows shows a friendly "No files in this folder" message while the disk spins up. It should know that it doesn't know that.

Oh yes! The hard drive spin up delay always scares the shit out of me. I always think the drive crashed.

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#19

Post by atom-morgan »

andys627 wrote: post #7

This is stuff that gets left out a lot by hurried programmers (like me). A simple unceremonious Loading... at the top of the page is better than nothing.

At a bare minimum this is all I need. Your loading animation may be aesthetically pleasing but in the end all I really want is feedback.

Re: How to fix a bad user interface

#20

Post by StuffMaster »

eCa wrote: post #9

> For a second, I get scared. [...] Where are my movies? I have a similar situation in Win8.1. I have an external hard drive that sometimes go to sleep. When I wake it up by trying to view its contents in Explorer, Windows shows a friendly "No files in this folder" message while the disk spins up. It should know that it doesn't know that.

Lol, that's probably where in the past explorer would just lock up. They probably just converted a spinlock into "return null".

I remember sometimes XP would do a full, multi-minute lockup (including keyboard) when the C drive was trying to recover a bad block.

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