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INTERACTION DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR INTERACTIVE ...

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Thissen outlines the characteristics of suitable metaphors (2004):<br />

The metaphor should fit the topic and the content of the product<br />

The metaphor should be simple but, at the same time, not have a boring or trivial<br />

effect<br />

The metaphor should be familiar to the users. They should not have to put forth a<br />

lot of effort to work the metaphor initially<br />

The more realistic the representation of the metaphor, the greater the acceptance<br />

by the user<br />

The visual representation of the metaphor should not dominate the actual<br />

contents; rather, it should transport them<br />

The metaphor should be multifaceted enough to be used in various situations<br />

The metaphor should be used uniformly and consistently in the product. Mixing<br />

of several metaphors causes confusion and destroys their effect<br />

An effective metaphor can serve to orient the user and script the interaction, to a<br />

great degree. Metaphors that are either too literal or too abstract, however, can actually be<br />

detrimental to the usability of the application and detract from the depth and meaning of<br />

the interactive experience.<br />

5.5 CONCLUSIONS<br />

The interaction design principles I have presented here suggest directions but do<br />

not provide hard-and-fast recipes. Technological opportunities continue to evolve, and<br />

the set of options available to designers continue to evolve as well. Design principles<br />

should provide more stable guidelines than platform-specific design practice (see chapter<br />

two). Of course, the respective genre and content of each individual program is also of<br />

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