cristo said:
Almost bedtime, since there's no way NZ is only 5 hours ahead of you!
As someone who spent several years doing usability R&D, I am used to managers and execs thinking that anyone (i.e. themselves) are
so easily able to accomplish some task. They think this because
they assume ideal conditions for themslves and for the task (as you and many others are doing).
It is not until I show them videotaped sesssions of
real users trying to accomplish
real tasks in
real environments that they realize just how fractured a real person's life is, and how much attention anyone task can be afforded. More importantly, how
thoughtless some tasks
need to be made in order for the task to actually help them, rather than tie up brain cycles better spent on other things.
Open and close buttons on elevators are the same size and look very similar. If I showed you both buttons and asked you to open the doors, you would easily identify the right button and press it. Easy-peasy.
But in real-life, you're not expecting to have to act, you're busy reading your paper, and suddenly an old lady gets her arm caught in the door.
You should not have to
think about which button to press. You should not have to
read the symbol on the button. Even if only for a second, this can require the full faculties of your brain (i.e. your visual acuity, pattern recognition (to tell the difference between two very similar buttons), and then your language intrepretion to determine what symbol results in the preferred action.)
No. It should be
automatic.
It should require no brain cycles to interpret.
How?
One example: The OPEN button should be MUCH larger than the close button, like the size of your palm. Almost zero brain cycles to turn need into action. (Not to mention that a bigger button utilizes large muscle groups and no coordination, rather than fine motor control and delicate finger-pointing aim.)
