2005-08-27 Wikis

I’m very interested in EugeneEricKim’s ExtremeUsability stuff. I got there reading his report on the latest FLOSS Usability Sprint that took place in San Francisco.

I should start thinking about extreme usability myself and put it up somethwere. Maybe I should put it up on the site they used for the sprint: flossusability.org. I’ll have to read some more pages on that wiki. I think I’m hooked. 😄

flossusability.org

Stuff I Like

(I would have liked to call it “stuff that works” but then again I don’t think I have enough actual experience to prove it.)

*PaperPrototype**: Draw user interface ideas on paper using just a pencil. I do this all the time, both when designing dialogs and forms and simple flows involving up to three or four dialogs. Excellent for layout of fields, labels, size relations, grouping, placement, screen estate estimates; less suited for dynamic user interfaces (fields appearing and disappearing based on validation of other fields), less suited for complex processes (the ones that need a flow chart to explain).

*UseCase**: A description of a problem situation and how the problem is resolved helps guide detail specifications and implementation. Excellent for focus on the real problem, for specific solutions to specific problems, helps prevent “gilding” (vergolden) of an existing solution; drawback includes the impression of a patch-work solution (lack of overarching design, no systematic approach), does not prevent overall user interface complexity as every usecase may have specific quirks and features that must be remembered.

Stuff I read on the ExtremeUsability page:

ExtremeUsability

*UserStories**: explicit, discussions with users are captured on index cards.

*UserCenteredDesign**: enjoys a whole suite of methods for capturing user stories.

*UsabilityBenchmark**: Hm...

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