[ID Discuss] Convention versus innovation

[Andrei Herasimchuk]

On Apr 23, 2004, at 1:58 PM, Leigh Allen-Arredondo wrote:

> 3) Do you have any evidence that your users want something 
> 'innovative'?

Why is this important? Users are the last people to ask about 
innovation, just as they are the last to ask about good design. They 
more often than not have little to no understanding of what 
"innovation" would mean without actually using or seeing the product. 
It's a chicken and egg problem.

> 4) What are the generally accepted 'UI standards' around the 
> functionality you're designing? Are those standards changing, or 
> becoming more ingrained? Are they different in different countries? 
> Are they dependant on technology? All of those questions could help 
> you determine whether or not straying from the 'microsoft' way might 
> be either helpful or a hinderance.

To play devil's advocate... in the past 20 years, what "ui standards" 
exist? Most of the momentum surrounding standards built to a point in 
1994, then the web browser killed everything. Now... you have to argue 
with people over how something like a pop-up menu is *supposed* to 
function.

Andrei Herasimchuk
andrei at adobe.com

work: http://www.adobe.com
personal: http://www.designbyfire.com