ENG 204-001 - instructor blog

Instructor Blog: Usability

jtirrell — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:51:20 +0000

At its heart, usability is such a commonsense notion that it is amazing how long it took to break into the corporate mainstream. The basic concept of usability is that documents and products should be usable in the real world environments where they function. Ensuring this can be more difficult than it sounds, however, as we all know from bonehead products that defy our basic needs as users. Some things don't work the way they're intended, don't account for our needs, don't work the way we expect, or are simply more difficult than they need to be.

Instructor Blog: Design

jtirrell — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:07:43 +0000

Design is much more crucial than many people realize. It is not merely something that dresses up information; design is how users interact with data. In professional and technical fields, we sometimes make the mistake of thinking that we can get something to work and then just make it pretty and useable later. This is a major conceptual flaw, and it is a significant reason why whether you love or hate Apple, you have to admit that they are financially successful and culturally significant.

Instructor Blog: Instructions

jtirrell — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:29:13 +0000

The prevailing notion about instructions is that they are superfluous, and only for those who are unable to understand a particular item or process. Often, users won't read instructions at all. For example, Jim Gee argues in his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy that successful video games teach people how to play as they are playing. After all, few people crack open their copy of Halo III or Shadow of the Colossus and read the instruction manual first thing.