[IxDA Discuss] Common design mistakes?

[Barbara Ballard]

I recently got a bit snarky on the topic, but targeted at mobile. The
full text is at [1]

Once the user exits the application, if you don't want her to use the
application again, do some of the following:

Have an unnecessarily large application footprint. That way, the
application will take a long time to load, so the cost of restarting
the app is high.
Phone home with every launch. This technique lengthens the time until
the user can start using the application again, prohibits her from
using it without coverage, and can run up her data charges. You
wouldn't want to set a time stamp for end of license and only phone
home when the license has expired - no, that would let people back
into the application too quickly!
Don't save user data. If the user has to re-enter data, she is less
likely to use the application again. If she gets interrupted in the
middle of searching for an airplane ticket, by all means erase all the
search parameters.
If you have to save user data, save it for a long time. Our fearless
user will definitely want to search for a ticket for August 12 the
next time she uses the application - on August 15.
Be oblivious about user context. You know that your user is on that
trip to Tokyo … offer her information about events happening in New
York! Especially if she lives in London.
Destroy user state. A more advanced version of "don't save user data",
this will require users to start at the home page or main screen every
time she starts the application. You wouldn't want to return her to
the news item or video clip she was viewing two hours ago - make her
find it again!
Force a single user interface onto all devices. Especially fun is
requiring touch screen users to use virtual hardware buttons, but
using one of the softkeys as "Back" on a device that has its own Back
button is particularly popular. Couple this with making the hardware
back button inert! After all, the user knows how to use her own
device's user interface paradigm: you wouldn't want to support that.
Use a tiny font and subtle colors. This technique increases users' eye strain.
Don't remember the user. Requiring the user to type a user name and
password each time adds to the experience. Advanced: require mixed
case, numbers, and symbols in your passwords.
Expire passwords and sessions after a couple minutes. Those of you in
the financial sector know all about this one, but some of the rest of
you haven't tried this trick yet. Because somebody might walk away
from a computer and expose secure data to prying eyes, keep the
session timeout for a mobile device very short, because people walk
away from their phones all the time, letting strangers use their
connection and services.



[1] http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/blog/2006/07/11/how-to-reduce-use-of-your-mobile-application/

On 8/14/06, Robert Hoekman, Jr. <rhoekmanjr at gmail.com> wrote:
> [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted material.]
>
> Great thread!
>
> Jennifer: The only thing I would really add is that you should be careful to
> limit the scope of what you mean by "design". Your original list was mainly
> focused on UI specific stuff and some of the replies have broadened that to
> include higher-level issues like focus groups and design-by-committee. I
> agree that all of these things affect a novice designer, but a more focused
> definition of design might help your purpose a bit more. Just a thought ...
>
> -r-
>
>
>
> On 8/14/06, LukeW <luke at lukew.com> wrote:
> >
> > [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> > material.]
> >
> > Hi Jenifer, Here's some of the common issues I encounter:
> >
> > 1. Too often, everything on a Web page looks the same and users don't
> > know where to start. Conversely, everything looks very different and
> > users end up bouncing between elements that are competing for their
> > attention. An effective hierarchy employs just enough meaningful
> > differentiation to walk users through the unique content and actions
> > on a page in a purposeful order. Personally, when I design a site, my
> > first iteration is often quite heavy graphically. As I put together
> > the visual hierarchy, I end up with more unique visual treatments
> > than the design actually needs. At that point, it's a good idea to
> > work through the elements on the page again and bring more visual
> > consistency to related elements.
> > 2. It's also very valuable to look at the visual design from the
> > perspective of what is absolutely necessary to communicate. Do you
> > really need a different background, font size, font color, and drop
> > shadow to distinguish that content? Would just a background color
> > suffice? A common tendency I see is over designing, such as employing
> > too many different colors and too many different graphic elements,
> > which ultimately result in visual noise or just design-for-design's
> > sake.
> >
> > 3. Junior designers rarely frame their solutions in the context of
> > the problem they are trying to solve and instead just jump right into
> > presenting mock-ups. By first outlining the problem definition,
> > designers can focus stakeholder feedback on how well the design
> > addresses their goals. If the proper high-level definition is not
> > present to provide context, feedback can quickly turn into a critique
> > of the mockup not the solution. After all, it's much easier to have
> > an opinion on font sizes and color choices than on the right
> > strategic positioning of an important product.
> >
> > 4. Junior designers often come overloaded with mock-ups. Whenever a
> > designer (be it an interaction designer, an information designer, or
> > a visual designer) presents a client with too many options instead of
> > a clear recommendation, they risk undermining their value and opening
> > themselves up to "design by committee". The message is "I don't know
> > enough about your users or goals so you pick what works best." Now
> > the design is in a non-designer's hands (who may very well be
> > wondering why he hired a designer in the first place).
> >
> >
> >
> > On Aug 14, 2006, at 8:05 AM, Jenifer Tidwell wrote:
> >
> > > I'm thinking of mistakes like these:
> > >
> > > * Inability to use visual hierarchy to properly structure a page.
> > > * Poor use of alignment, grouping, and whitespace, leading to a page
> > > that's easy to misread.
> > > * Content-thin pages, requiring too many clicks to get something done.
> > > * Not anticipating user goofs, thus requiring users to reenter
> > > information or otherwise repeat themselves.
> > > * Thoroughly gratuitous -- and irritating -- use of animation.
> >
> >
> > ::
> > ::    Luke Wroblewski -[ www.lukew.com ]
> > ::    Principal, LukeW Interface Designs
> > ::    luke at lukew.com  |  408.879.9826
> > ::
> >
> >
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-- 
Barbara Ballard
barbara at littlespringsdesign.com 1-785-550-3650