User Interface Design and Ergonomics - National Open University of ...

Figure 1:- Showing that alignment of fields is critical
3.2 UNDERSTANDING USERS
You must understand the user to be able to put a happy face on your application. You
should understand the user’s job, how the software fits in with that job and how the user
goes about getting the job done. You need to approach the design of software from the
user’s viewpoint not from an abstract requirements document. Specifically, you should
understand what the user will be doing with the application. If you can think like a user,
you can create a much better user interface.
Here are some basic principles to remember about users:
a. Your software is like a hammer - the user doesn’t really care how well crafted it
is, the user just wants nails put in the wall. Users just want to do their job (or play their
game). They don’t care about you or your software. Your software is just an expedient
tool to take the user where the user wants to go.
b. Given a selection of hammers to buy at the hardware store, the user will select the
one which will be most fun to use. Of course, this varies by user - some will want the
plastic handle, some the wood, some the green, etc. When evaluating your software, users
are often swayed by looks, not function. Thus, steps taken to make the product look good
(nice icons, pictures, good colour scheme, fields aligned, etc.) will often favourably
enhance evaluations of your software.
c. It had better drive nails. The user will not really know if your software is adequate
to the job until the user has used the software to do actual work. From an interface
perspective, the software should not look like it can do more than it can.
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