Creating Considerate Web Applications

Creating Considerate Web Applications

Bojhan Somers & Jimmy BerryGoogle Summer of Code ProjectJuly 2008

About me

• Student• Usability Consultant at Usendes• Google Summer of Code Co-mentor• Bojhan.nl

Why does most software suck?

“Know thy user, and you are not thy only user” - Arnie Lund

Why does most software suck?

How do you expect to do X?

Don Norman

User-centerd Design

• Manage expectations• Design first, code second• Adding a feature to core is dangerous• Remove features that are not neccesairy

Disclamer : This is not how you do it.

Finding functionality

• Drupal jargon• Optimize for muddeling trough

Finding functionality

Do you really readme.txt?

Finding functionality

Card Sorting

Online Card Sorting

Optimal Sort

• Picture Wordpress Dashboard

Finding functionality

• Visual seperation of functionality• How do users categorize and label

functionality?• Workflow• Embedded functionality? let the user know..

Flexibility

• Interface focused on to many target groups• Inflexible interface

4 diffrent screen states

• Regular• Blank• Error• Flooded

Blank state

Why?• Introduce the concept• Good first impression• Avoid beginners questions

Blank state best practices

• Quick introduction • Give a sample screenshot or screencast to see

how the page would look it it has data.• Explain how to get started• Refer to extra documentation if its available

Flooded State

What happends to your interface if you have 20.000 nodes?

Flooded state best practices

• Don’t let it constraint your design.• Reconize flooded state• Adaptive interface

Copywriting is interface design!

• Instructions is a last resort• Stop writing for everyone• Let someone else do it• Read your interface outloud, does it sound

right?

Killing good ideas

ProblemA participant was confused of the terminology to describe the web site’s main page. The participant expected to see Home Page used instead of Front Page.

SolutionRethink the term front page. Consider using a more conventional term such as home page.

Killing good ideas

+1

Killing good ideas

“I'm not sure why Home page should be more consistent than Front page in anyone's vocabulary.”

“I'm not suprised that people are more familiar with the term home page -- but its a very non specific term used in a wide variety of contexts.”

Killing good ideas

“How are we going to solve opinion wars, so we can improve the usability of Drupal?”

Allowing good ideas

Data!Usability testing

Contact Information

Bojhan Somers bojhan@bojhan.com

Jimmy Berry jimmy@boombatower.com