GUI Bloopers 2.0 (eBook)

Front Cover 1
GUI Bloopers 2.0 6
Copyright Page 7
Contents 8
Acknowledgments 14
Introduction 15
Chapter 1: First Principles 21
Introduction 22
Basic Principle 1: Focus on the users and their tasks, not on the technology 22
Basic Principle 2: Consider function first, presentation later 32
Basic Principle 3: Conform to the users’ view of the task 40
Basic Principle 4: Design for the common case 46
Basic Principle 5: Don’t distract users from their goals 49
Basic Principle 6: Facilitate learning 51
Basic Principle 7: Deliver information, not just data 55
Basic Principle 8: Design for responsiveness 59
Basic Principle 9: Try it out on users, then fix it! 62
Chapter 2: GUI Control Bloopers 65
Introduction 66
Using the wrong control 67
Blooper 1: Confusing checkboxes and radio buttons 67
Blooper 2: Using a checkbox for a non-ON/OFF setting 76
Blooper 3: Using command buttons as toggles 79
Blooper 4: Using tabs as radio buttons 81
Blooper 5: Too many tabs 84
Blooper 6: Using input controls for display-only data 91
Blooper 7: Overusing text fi elds for constrained input 98
Using controls wrongly 102
Blooper 8: Dynamic menus 103
Blooper 9: Intolerant data fi elds 108
Blooper 10: Input fields and controls with no default 110
Blooper 11: Poor defaults 117
Blooper 12: Negative checkboxes 119
Chapter 3: Navigation Bloopers 121
Introduction 122
Not showing users where they are 122
Blooper 13: Window or page not identified 122
Blooper 14: Same title on different windows 126
Blooper 15: Window title doesn’t match command or link 131
Leading users astray and not showing the way 136
Blooper 16: Distracting off-path buttons and links 136
Blooper 17: Self-links 140
Blooper 18: Too many levels of dialog boxes 145
Poor search navigation 152
Blooper 19: Competing search boxes 153
Blooper 20: Poor search results browsing 157
Blooper 21: Noisy search results 159
Chapter 4: Textual Bloopers 165
Introduction 166
Uncommunicative text 166
Blooper 22: Inconsistent terminology 167
Blooper 23: Unclear terminology 175
Blooper 24: Bad writing 179
Blooper 25: Too much text 183
Developer-centric text 187
Blooper 26: Speaking Geek 187
Blooper 27: Calling users “user” to their face 195
Blooper 28: Vague error messages 198
Misleading text 203
Blooper 29: Erroneous messages 203
Blooper 30: Text makes sense in isolation but is misleading in the GUI 207
Blooper 31: Misuse (or nonuse) of “…” on command labels 207
Chapter 5: Graphic Design and Layout Bloopers 211
Introduction 212
Bad layout and window placement 212
Blooper 32: Easily missed information 212
Blooper 33: Mixing dialog box control buttons with content control buttons 222
Blooper 34: Misusing group boxes 226
Blooper 35: Radio buttons too far apart 231
Blooper 36: Labels too far from data fi elds 234
Blooper 37: Inconsistent label alignment 240
Blooper 38: Bad initial window location 242
Troublesome typography 246
Blooper 39: Tiny fonts 246
Chapter 6: Interaction Bloopers 253
Introduction 254
Deviating from task focus 255
Blooper 40: Exposing the implementation to users 255
Blooper 41: Needless restrictions 256
Blooper 42: Confusable concepts 260
Requiring unnecessary steps 264
Blooper 43: Asking users for unneeded data 264
Blooper 44: Asking users for random seeds 270
Blooper 45: Pointless choice 272
Burdening users’ memory 278
Blooper 46: Hard to remember ID 278
Blooper 47: Long instructions that go away too soon 281
Blooper 48: Unnecessary or poorly marked modes 283
Taking control away from users 291
Blooper 49: Automatic rearrangement of display 291
Blooper 50: Dialog boxes that trap users 295
Blooper 51: “Cancel” doesn’t cancel 302
Chapter 7: Responsiveness Bloopers 307
Introduction 308
Common responsiveness bloopers 308
Reasons for poor responsiveness 312
Reason 1: The facts about responsiveness are not widely known 312
Reason 2: UI designers rarely consider responsiveness during design 313
Reason 3: Programmers equate responsiveness with performance 314
Reason 4: Programmers treat user input like machine input 315
Reason 5: Developers use simple implementations 315
Reason 6: GUI software tools, components, and platforms are inadequate 316
Reason 7: Managers hire GUI programmers who lack the required skill 317
Avoiding responsiveness bloopers: Design principles 317
Responsiveness Principle 1: Responsiveness is not the same as performance 317
Responsiveness Principle 2: Processing resources are always limited 318
Responsiveness Principle 3: The user interface is a real-time interface 318
Responsiveness Principle 4: All delays are not equal: software need not do everything immediately 320
Responsiveness Principle 5: Software need not do tasks in the order in which they were requested 321
Responsiveness Principle 6: Software need not do everything it was asked to do 321
Responsiveness Principle 7: Human users are not computer programs 323
Avoiding responsiveness bloopers: Techniques 323
Timely feedback 324
Parallel problem solution 331
Queue optimization 333
Dynamic time management 334
Summary of responsiveness techniques 340
Conclusion 340
Chapter 8: Management Bloopers 343
Introduction 344
Counterproductive attitude 345
Blooper 64: Treating UI as low priority 345
Blooper 65: Misunderstanding what user interface professionals do 351
Blooper 66: Discounting the value of testing and iterative design 355
Counterproductive process 362
Blooper 67: Anarchic development 362
Blooper 68: No task expertise on the team 371
Blooper 69: Using poor tools and building blocks 379
Blooper 70: Giving programmers the fastest computers 384
Appendices 387
Appendix A: Glossary 387
Appendix B: How this book was usability tested 390
Appendix C: Task analysis of creating slide presentations—questions 393
Appendix D: Illustrating simplicity—the object/action matrix 395
Appendix E: Usability tests for every time and purpose 397
Bibliography 403
Index 411
About the Author 421
Web Appendix: Color Bloopers 423
Blooper 71: Text hard to read on background 423
Blooper 72: Relying on subtle color differences 429
References 433