Basic talk on the fundamentals of interaction design I gave to introduce the subject to (mostly) hardcore AI techies at True Knowledge.

1. Interaction Design

2. “The intractability of the software construction process – particularly the high cost of programming and
the low quality of interaction – is simply not a technical problem”
Alan Cooper

3. software
• Why is most software bad? Frustrating to use, buggy.
• Not programmers fault – they are often the agents of bad software
but not the cause
• They are not given sufficient time, clear enough direction or adequate
designs to succeed

4. software
• Providing these should be the job of the Executive and Product teams
• But they aren’t delivering – why?
• Not (just) stupidity
• They don’t have the right tools

5. old methods
• Businesses are structured & measured by a system born in
mercantilism and refined in industry
• It measures the wrong thing in the information age

6. old methods
• In the industrial age products were manufactured from solid materials
• The money it took to create them were dominated by variable costs
• Costs that varied with the amount of stuff made.

7. old methods
• Software production is not like this
• It does not consume raw materials – no manufacturing costs
• The variable costs that dominated manufacturing are non-existent in
software production
• Software production is not a fixed cost or a variable cost – and it is
not R & D...

8. square peg, round hole
• ...but in practice it is treated like a manufacturing process (a variable
cost)
• Businesses grow profits by increasing revenue or decreasing costs
• Decreasing costs was quickest and easiest in the manufacturing age

9. square peg, round hole
• But software production does not behave like a variable cost – trying
to ‘reduce’ it doesn’t work
• Worse, it cuts off the only other course of action – increasing revenue
by increasing quality means increasing production effort.
• Interaction design is the tool used to intelligently increase production
effort
• Make sure all production effort contributes to quality and revenue

10. misdirected effort
• IxD is the bridge between engineering and business
• Without adequate communication they tend to talk past each other
Features
expert beginner
Engineers choose features Sales & marketing choose features Utilised features
• How do we ensure that effort has real impact on the customer?

11. principles
Good software promotes “flow”
A psychological state in which people can concentrate fully with out peripheral distraction
• Reflects user’s mental model
• It does not converse
• Keeps tools close at hand
• Provides modeless feedback
How do we design such software?

12. orchestration
Good software should be invisible
• Orchestration is the process of ensuring all elements work
harmoniously
• Less is more
• Don’t design for corner cases
• Reflect status – but don’t report normalcy
• Don’t interrogate

13. navigation
Navigation is a chore even if it is in-line with the user’s flow
• Keep the number of pages to a minimum – preferably one.
• Keep the number of panes within a page to a minimum – no more than
three.
• Provide sign-posts: fixed persistent elements.
• Provide overviews: thumbnails, bread-crumbs

14. exercise
Exercise is interaction that does not contribute to a user’s goal – eliminate it.
• Don’t force the user to go to a different page – especially to do
something that effects his current one
• Don’t force the user to remember things
• Try to allow input where you have output

15. inflection
Organise the interface to minimise the most common navigation path
• Organise layout according to three attributes
• Frequency of use
• Degree of dislocation
• Degree of risk

16. visuals
Beautiful things work better!
• Masaaki Kurosu & Kaori Kashimuru
• ATM study
• Replicated by Noam Tractinsky
• Usability and aesthetics strongly correlate
• Emotion and cognition are interlinked – Norman ’04
• Happy people are more effective in finding alternate solutions & are
therefore tolerant of minor difficulties – Alice Isen

17. conclusion
No more management by dead-line.
Know what you are building, who for, and know when you are finished

18. questions