10ish THINGS
SOMEONE ELSE TOLD ME THAT
YOU MIGHT ALREADY KNOW

1
GETTING TO THE TOP CAN
HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. STAYING
THERE IS HARD WORK.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
INTRODUCTION GROWTH MATURITY DECLINE
+
PRODUCT SALES

2
THE HIGHER THE PERCEIVED
VALUE OF YOUR PRODUCT IS, THE
MORE SUCCESSFUL IT IS.

PRODUCT HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
The Perceived Value Of A Design
Corresponds To Its Place In The
Heirarchy–I.E., Higher Levels In The
Hierarchy Correspond To Higher
Levels Of Perceived Value.
CREATIVITY
PROFIENCY
USABILITY
RELIABILITY
FUNCTIONALITY

3
AN ACTIVITY WILL BE PURSUED
ONLY IF ITS BENEFITS ARE EQUAL
TO OR GREATER THAN THE
COSTS.

COST BENEFIT
AN ACTIVITY WILL BE PURSUED ONLY IF ITS BENEFITS ARE EQUAL TO OR
GREATER THAN THE COSTS.

4
IMPROVING THE DESIGN &
USABILITY OF A PRODUCT CAN
INCREASE IT’S COST BENEFIT.

5
WHEN PEOPLE HAVE A GOOD
EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR
PRODUCT THEY TELL PEOPLE.

5.5
WHEN PEOPLE HAVE A BAD
EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR
PRODUCT THEY TELL PEOPLE.

6
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO
CREATE A GOOD EXPERIENCE.

FLOW
THE MENTAL STATE OF OPERATION IN WHICH THE PERSON IS FULLY
IMMERSED IN WHAT HE OR SHE IS DOING BY A FEELING OF ENERGIZED
FOCUS, FULL INVOLVEMENT, AND SUCCESS IN THE PROCESS OF THE ACTIVITY.

HOW DO WE CREATE FLOW?

PRACTICE CONSISTENCY
SET CONTEXT
SHOW VALUE
GIVE FEEDBACK
PRACTICE FORGIVENESS
CREATE FLOW

7
THE USABILITY OF A SYSTEM IS
IMPROVED WHEN SIMILAR PARTS
ARE EXPRESSED IN SIMILAR
WAYS.

CONSISTENCY
THE USABILITY OF A SYSTEM IS IMPROVED WHEN SIMILAR PARTS ARE
EXPRESSED IN SIMILAR WAYS.

7.5
ELEMENTS THAT ARE
CONNECTED BY UNIFORM VISUAL
PROPERTIES ARE PERCEIVED TO
BE MORE RELATED THAN
ELEMENTS THAT ARE NOT.

UNIFORM CONNECTEDNESS
ELEMENTS THAT ARE CONNECTED BY UNIFORM VISUAL PROPERTIES, SUCH AS
COLOR, ARE PERCEIVED TO BE MORE RELATED THAN ELEMENTS THAT ARE
NOT CONNECTED.

8
CHUNKING MANY UNITS OF
INFORMATION INTO A LIMITED
NUMBER OF UNITS MAKES IT
EASIER TO PROCESS.

CHUNKING
A TECHNIQUE OF COMBINING MANY UNITS OF INFORMATION INTO A LIMITED
NUMBER OF UNITS SO THE INFORMATION IS EASIER TO PROCESS.

9
THE GREATER THE EFFORT TO
ACCOMPLISH A TASK, THE LESS
LIKELY THE TASK WILL BE
ACCOMPLISHED SUCCESSFULLY.

PERFORMANCE LOAD
THE GREATER THE EFFORT TO ACCOMPLISH A TASK, THE LESS LIKELY THE
TASK WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED SUCCESSFULLY.

9.5
PRACTICING FORGIVENESS IN
DESIGN MINIMIZES ERRORS AND
REINFORCES POSITIVE
BEHAVIORS & EXPERIENCE.

FORGIVENESS
DESIGNS SHOULD HELP PEOPLE AVOID ERRORS AND MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS WHEN THEY DO OCCUR.

10
AN ACTIVITY WILL BE PURSUED
ONLY IF ITS BENEFITS ARE EQUAL
TO OR GREATER THAN THE
COSTS. (Yup, said it twice)

PRACTICE CONSISTENCY
SET CONTEXT
SHOW VALUE
GIVE FEEDBACK
PRACTICE FORGIVENESS
CREATE FLOW

REFERENCES
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow – the Psychology of Optimal
Experience. New York: Harper Perennial.
King, Andrew B. “Chapter 2 – Flow in Web Design.” 2003. http://
www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/2/ accessed on March 21/2009.
Lidwell, William. (2003). Universal Principles of Design: a cross-disciplinary
reference / William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jim Butler.
Simon, H. A. (1971), “Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World”,
in Martin Greenberger, Computers, Communication, and the Public Interest,
Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, ISBN 0-8018-1135-X. pp. 40-41.