I found a very good post on Laurie Gray’s blog on Catalyze
.I also got some Forrester Research reports on Customer Experience and the beginning I was very curious about how they were approaching User Experience in their reports. And – I have to say – I was very disappointed by their slapdash take on the subject.
For example, their report How Rich Interfaces Fix Task Flow Problems, says :
“Multiple minor problems can add up to major user experience headaches on Web sites. But one of the most common Web design problems – inefficient task flow – can be rectified by enhancements such as page overlays that put content and function in context […] Firms can improve user task flow with rich interface features like: Two for the Money psp
- Overlays that
offer content and function in context.
- Guided interfaces that progressively disclose key details.
- Inline input validation.
In principle, nothing wrong. But – features and patterns should never be the primary focus of a User-centred Experience Design process. We should rather research on user most frequent tasks before jumping into designing RIAs (Rich-Internet Applications). In a nutshell, before looking at your patterns library, get to know users and tasks!
As Laurie effectively says:
On the surface, this all looks ok. However, without careful thinking from skilled UX designers, this runs the risk of not delivering what is expected […] This article would be a lot more valuable if it went about this discussion differently and said something to the effect of “you can employ rich interface conventions to fix task flow problems, and here is how:
- study the problems your users are really having
- analyze those problems for similarities and differences across users download Club Dread movie download Clash of the Titans movie Children of Dune hd
- create patterns or consistent approaches to solve these problems across all interfaces, including the use of overlays, guided interfaces, and inline input validation. If this is beyond your skill set or doesn’t interest you, hire a skilled professional who can all make it come together for you.”
Well said!
Further reading: