The can and should way of resolving problems (HCI – Part 2)

The ‘can’ way

Let’s start by explaining the wrong way… User-centered design is obviously made around testing with the user. However, there comes a point where the user feedback may hinder the design. This is because we’re affected by our environment on a daily basis and our belief in the truth (the right way to do something) lays within these social molds. These molds will alter our perception and may not always be a good way of how to comfortably solve a task.

Good example of this:

adobe-air-installer

We’ll say our user base is American people, aged between 18 to 35 years and typically read from left to right.

Adobe Air installer window. You notice that the buttons are on the left hand side. In my opinion, they are not positioned in the order. Most countries in the world read left to right and a person’s left side of the brain is the analytical part, where logical decisions are made. Therefore it would it make sense to have the buttons positioned on the left side since the user is mostly going to want to read the next line from the left. Which is done in the above example. Furthermore, an application or system would want a user left part of their brain handling the logical decisions. However, the ‘Update’ button is situated on the right of the Cancel button – questioning the importance of each button.

The ’should’ way

Its our task as the designer to find the middle ground; making sure we think ahead for the user, trying to find every possibility of how to easily resolve problems, as well as the future mutation of that problem.

adobe-air-installer-modified

Taking the Adobe Air installer window and modifying it so that the main action “Update” in this example is aligned with the text makes for a better design as we’ve thought about how the user will process the information and actions. For consistency all positive actions should be aligned left of the text (depending on the country). This way we’re sure that the user will over time understand and feel comfortable with the design and functionality.