/  What kind of UI?

  • In 2008, Google researchers found that less than 1 in 10 people know what a 'browser' is.

    That's the level normal people are at. It's not right/wrong, good/bad, anything, it's just your market.

    So let's accept it, and design for it.

    ...>>


  • As an industry, we tend to design for an imaginary, less able version of ourselves.

    Oops. User Research, like Google's, shows people are far less capable.

    So what do they want in their UI?...>>


    People Like Me!

  • "Far less On The Screen At Once!"

    You're a bright person, but you won't be flying that plane any time soon.

    An app can look to normal, "non-tech" people like this picture — a mass of unknown buttons and controls.

    They won't be flying that app any time soon either.

    ...>>


    People Like Me!

  • "Bombproof My Data!"

    Even the saintly Apple get it wrong.

    Walking down the road, typing, you suddenly see this, and you're one keypress from losing your message.

    With no apparent way back.

    (You know, I know – but they don't.)

    "Shake to Undo" is just showing off, and ignoring what it might do to normal people in real usage situations.

    ...>>


    Accidental 'shake'...

  • "Bombproof my UI!"

    Apple again! (And everyone else.)

    One day a momentary pause turns a tap into a tap&hold... "Oh what happened there?"

    ...and the next day, the icon that gets them on the web (say) appears to have vanished!

    (You love tap&hold, I love it – they don't know it. They may have to return the phone to the shop.)

    The UX solution is simple, by the way: at the first tap&hold, introduce the feature, and ask if they'd like it.

    ...>>


    Accidental 'move icons'...

  • "Don't Make Me Go Into 'Settings'!"

    To a normal user, who doesn't understand the jargon or how things go together, a Settings page can look like this picture.

    ("I think that's the right setting... but what if it's the wrong one?")


    Is that the right thing? Or the wrong thing?