If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
blog.maxrudberg.com
If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#2The very first iPhone commercials featured usage walkthroughs[1]... seems they've done OK to me.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#3I enjoy Clear as an interface which I find productive and rewarding.
I see the need to 'learn' Clear is more akin to the desire to learn keyboard and terminal shortcuts. The desire for increased ongoing productivity offsets the additional onboarding burden.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#4The very first iPhone commercials featured usage walkthroughs[1]... seems they've done OK to me. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4
None of tbe apps featured in that commercial have walkthroughs.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#5The very first iPhone commercials featured usage walkthroughs[1]... seems they've done OK to me. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4
Technically the thing in the video isn't a walkthrough as much as it is a demo, but in either case they didn't use it as a substitute for proper affordance in the final product design.
Like a matryoshka doll, it's best to educate your user at every level of interaction, whether explicitly (FAQs, copy, instructions, walkthroughs, etc.) or implicitly (affordance, appropriate skeuomorphism, etc.).
Apple is generally good at both. For example, when you ask for help, an app will both show and tell. Most apps are just "tell," instructing you where to go and what to click.
Apple: http://cl.ly/image/0f161f1f1L1s Google: http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answe...
Oh, what, sorry? The GMail filter UI doesn't look like that any more? http://cl.ly/image/2x1A2J1Y0U1a
Too bad!
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#6This is utter nonsense. Spend even a small amount of time with someone who works outside of the computer hardware/software industry and observe how and why they use a smart phone or computer. UI walkthroughs are not only necessary, but desired. They act as the equivalent of standing next to someone and "showing" them how something works. As the OP correctly notes there is a very heavy reliance on mimicry for most learning.
Visual cues are nice, and even desired, but gentle introductions outlining how to get started are as well.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#7I enjoy Clear as an interface which I find productive and rewarding. I see the need to 'learn' Clear is more akin to the desire to learn keyboard and terminal shortcuts. The desire for increased ongoing productivity offsets the additional onboarding burden.
You're right - people get confused between a UI's learnability vs it's usability. Just because you need to ramp up on something initially doesn't mean it's hard to use over time.
Plus a new feature can get lost or ignored by people already familiar with an existing interface, so it needs it's own little mini walkthrough just so it'll get noticed. Here's an example of Facebook's mini popups focused on a single new feature:
http://cl.ly/image/3a3c1z2f0j21
I've built wizards of various kinds over the years and I call them "training wheels". The trick is to make it so they can start pedaling on their own relatively quickly, rather than using it as a catch-all where you dump every possible use case.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#8If you have to be taught how to drive a car, they blew it.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#9What a load of broad sweeping nonsense. UI walkthroughs are perfectly valid for many apps. A lot of interesting software these days (read: disruptive) is introducing new concepts for accomplishing old tasks. Walkthroughs accomplish a lot more than just making up for bad design.
Re: If you see a UI walkthrough, they blew it
#10This is utter nonsense. Spend even a small amount of time with someone who works outside of the computer hardware/software industry and observe how and why they use a smart phone or computer. UI walkthroughs are not only necessary, but desired. They act as the equivalent of standing next to someone and "showing" them how something works. As the OP correctly notes there is a very heavy reliance on mimicry for most lea…
One of irks I have with "slight visual cues and subtle animations" is that they assume all users will give the same amount of attention and have the same reasoning process as the designer does. They then call the design "obvious", as if that is an objective quality---but even a short conversation (or usability study) with a sample of their users will tell them it's anything but.