In application design, there’s a tension between power and simplicity : Users want the ability to get a lot done, but they don’t want to take the time to learn lots of complicated features.
One way to address this dilemma is to use progressive disclosure — that is, to show users only the most important options until they ask for the advanced features.
Another good approach is to use generic commands , which remain the same across many different contexts and thus reduce complexity.
Cut, Copy, Paste
The cut-copy-paste triad offers the most famous example of generic commands. These 3 basic commands suffice to let users do everything from move...
When it comes to modal dialog boxes, our winners have very distinct ideologies. At one extreme is Seating Management. As a real-time application monitoring a physical environment, Seating Management didn't set out to interrupt hostess work in any way. If a hostess wants to seat 5 guests at a table
It used to be that you would buy two or three nice outfits to have in your wardrobe and would rotate them for special events. But in today’s era, with social media like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, all your friends will see what you wear, whether they go to the same event or not. And even
Don’t make users scan through a long list of disorganized commands. To help users focus on the most relevant options, place the ones used most often at the top. Because people scan lists from top to bottom, place seldomly used commands low down in the menu. Let users decide which option best
Crypto Micropayments: An Exciting Future of Blockchain Transactions
The very notion of a vending machine being so intuitive that it’s positively cutting edge is a quirky one. Vending machines have been disappearing from locations – 134,000 of them between 2007 and 2010 to be precise, across the USA. The machines have been slow to adapt to paperless money
Navigating Big Data’s Fake News Problem
If big data is to be trusted for decision making, a solution must be found to deal with the fake news menace conclusively. Following the exposure of the part social media played in alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, Facebook and Twitter have introduced a mechanism that enables
9 Blockchains Transforming the Way We Pay, Play, and Work
Look past digital currencies’ nosebleed pricing volatility, and you’ll discover a robust, decentralized, secure database. Brands and technologists are quickly figuring out how to put this powerful ledger to good use. Here are several real-world examples that demonstrate cryptos’
The Science of Silence: Intentional Silence as a Moderation Technique
When conversing with participants during qualitative usability testing, employ intentional silence to allow participants time to read, make judgements and generally reflect on their experience. Filling in periods of silence by barraging the user with questions or making inappropriate commentary
generic commands
10 Heuristics for User Interface Design: Article by Jakob Nielsen
Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. (Read full article on visibility of system status.) Match between system and the real world The system should speak the users' language, with words
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Pre Uber we were all plagued with standing on the corner, possibly in the rain, belongings in hand while attempting to wave down one of the few free taxis. (The worse the rain, the fewer the taxis — that’s a law of nature.) An abundance of unknowns adding further anxiety: how much is it going
Seamlessness in the Omnichannel User Experience
With the rise of mobility and the proliferation of new devices and interaction channels, customers expect an experience that’s efficient, accessible, and that moves along with them as they change devices and context. It’s no longer enough for organizations to provide workable solutions on
The User Experience of Customer-Service Chat: 20 Guidelines
Some hid chat under vague labels. On Walmart.com, the Help page contained a lot of information, but none of the links clearly pointed to chat. Our participant scrolled down and selected the Contact Us link in the page footer, only to stay on the same page. She eventually clicked on the
The Anatomy of a List Entry
Together, the placement and visual treatment of information create a visual path that leads the eye through the collection of attributes in the order of their importance, making it efficient and easy to scan each list entry. Many users may only need to do a shallow scan of the most important and
StudioPress Theme Spotlight: New Breakthrough Pro
As we continue to showcase a sample of the amazing StudioPress themes now available to WP Engine customers, we’re extra excited to bring you this new StudioPress Theme: Breakthrough Pro, which is the first new theme to be launched since our acquisition of StudioPress in June. Breakthrough Pro
generic commands
StudioPress Theme Spotlight: Altitude Pro .
What is a child theme? A child theme works in combination with the parent theme. With regards to Genesis, child themes serve as a sort of skin that can change the way a theme looks, while relying on the functionality of its parent theme (in this case, Genesis). Child themes offer users the added
Gutenberg—Believe in the Beauty of Your Dreams
Beyond just being “compatible,” Genesis will play a big role in being Gutenberg-First. That means not only supporting the software and ideals of Gutenberg, but using them for new features. In doing so, it’s our intention to light the way for the countless agencies and developers who use
Why Zen Mode Isn’t the Answer to Everything
While the lack of visual clutter might be aesthetically pleasing and create a more emotional response with the user (such as the feeling of control over the potentially harrowing task of writing a novel), the deeper usability issues might detract from the façade of a beautiful product. Clean and
User Intent Affects Filter Design
Net-a-porter.com: The moment between when a facet is selected (in this case, Black) and the new results are displayed minimizes visual distractions; the entire results area dims and an animated spinner shows progress. Even with a fast system, designs should avoid visual changes that happen too
Flat-Design Best Practices
Google’s Material Design, which has been around since 2014, took an admirable stab at this concept. The best thing about Material Design was that it defined a carefully considered framework with specific rules, behaviors, and visual properties. Unfortunately, it’s not always implemented
What Does Your Credit Card Company Know About You?
Some credit card companies may also take note of the purchases you make related to your home, and living a responsible lifestyle. For example, if you make frequent trips to the home improvement store and invest in things like carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers, it shows that you’re
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
generic commands
Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Miserable Entrepreneur?
Apple booted Jobs in 1985. Papa John’s founder John Schnatter is carrying on like a spurned lover after his company cut ties with him. Groupon ejected founder Andrew Mason. Yahoo cut Jerry Yang loose. Uber showed Travis Kalanick the curb. Such is the paradox of entrepreneurship: you need to love
The Role of IT or an IT Consultant Provider for Business Growth
A business that continually has network problems or connectivity problems will lose business. An employee can’t work effectively when they don’t have the correct tools or appropriate access to the online information is lowered prices. If all of the work is managed by one IT person or
Generic Commands | Usability Testing of Advanced Homepage Concepts (by Jakob Nielsen)
Usability Testing of Advanced Homepage Concepts (by Jakob Nielsen)
Almost all users disliked the scrolling tickers (marquees) in some of the prototypes. Users complained that they were hard to read and time-consuming to interpret. One user kept missing the beginning of the text and thus had difficulty understanding what the message was about. One user said that he
Beware Horizontal Scrolling and Mimicking Swipe on Desktop
Don’t force users to “swipe” through your content: some will, many won’t. Allow for alternative ways of navigation: give users the option to navigate with menus, too. Menus tell users what’s on your site and help them find the information that they need. Users rely on them to go deeper
Aspects of Design Quality
Because voting laws differ between states, the sites are not literally identical. However, they are similar enough that it's fair to compare them. For example, states have different deadlines for requesting absentee ballots, but all states must inform their residents about absentee ballot rules —
