About Usability – Usability + User Research + Human Factors

Everyday Usability 16 – Design of error messages continued

August 27, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

Errors messages are a tricky part of the HMI design. An error message means that the user cannot reach the goal of an interaction and it therewith carries a negative emotion (negative user experience). However, the adherence of simple principles can improve the design of an error message and consequently brighten the user’s mood (increase user experience). An error message should be simple, easy to understand, easy to locate, and, in the best case, instructive. Simplicity means that the message…

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Everyday Usability 15 – Design of error messages

August 27, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

The screenshot shows an error message from a computer in the library. The error message says: “Could not perform this operation because the default mail client is not properly installed.”. There appears to be a of technical error. Errors are a an unfortunate part of the human-machine interaction. As they interfere with the intended task by their nature, error messages can degrade user experience, particularly if the message does not follow basic principles. The message should communicate be clear and…

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Everyday Usability 14 – Learning to use chop sticks

August 27, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

Learning how to use chopsticks is not an easy task. The fingers need to be in the correct position and it requires fine motor skills to successfully aim at small pieces. After struggling to acquire that skill myself, I wondered how little kids learn to eat with chopsticks. It appears that one option is to follow a guide such as this wiki instruction page. Another option is to invest in special chopsticks for children, also called learning chopsticks. A colleague…

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Everyday Usability 13 – Carpal tunnel syndrome: explanation and improvement

August 27, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

What is it? The carpal tunnel is a tunnel out of connective tissue between the bony forearm and hand. The tunnel is a passage for nerves such as for movement of the fingers and haptic feedback of the hand. While using the computer and interacting with a mouse the wrist is strongly bent. This causes a contraction of this nerve tunnel and over longer time the nerves passing through will be damaged. Consequential effects are pain during and after mouse…

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Driving simulator studies, adding workload with a secondary task (RSVP, RSAP and a tactile task RSTP)

August 27, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

Whenever a new interface or warning for the driver is implemented, it needs to be ensured that the driver can still keep attention on road. The new interface / warning (further on just called new design) will be tested in a driving simulator at some point. The driver will drive the vehicle and conduct a task with the new interface or react to the warning, in parallel they will also conduct a secondary task to challenge the driver. In extensive…

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Everday Usability 12 – History of the 10 button keypad of the telephone

August 22, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

You come across it everyday but you hardly spent any thought about it: the telephone’s 10 button keypad. It appears natural in its 3×3 arrangement, the numbers ascending from left to right and from top to bottom. The same layout is used on e.g. smart phones, ATMs, cell phones, pin entry devices and card payment terminals. However, the number layout is different on a calculator or numeric part of the keyboard (3×3 as well, but ascending numbers from left to…

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Data analysis with python – pandas basics summary

August 11, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

While I did research at university I worked mostly with quantitative data and did all analysis either in SPSS (a very small part) and R. R is a powerful tool yet comparable easy to learn (with basic knowledge about programming). But I found its limiting in the ability to create interfaces. One could, rightfully, argue its not its purpose. This limitation in mind brought my interest to python. Python offers many ways to create interfaces, such as via Django or…

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A designer’s role in emerging AI change

June 11, 2024 cloudy Comments 0 Comment

The video is a conversation with Don Norman, Sarah Gibbons moderated by Samhita Tankala. A brief summary of the main points: What is the role of a designer as AI and other technologies expand? Current capabilities and limitations of AI AI currently is a system of pattern-recognition with a bad user experience. AI is lacking world intelligence, empathy, curiosity, moral, and ethics. However, it can be used to automate tedious tasks and free disciplines to return to their basic skills….

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Everyday Usability 11 – unusable shower

July 30, 2020 cloudy

This article is about the contrary of usability, how to make something not usable. Designers can design something usable, but they can also employ the same knowledge to design something unusable. I recognized such an unusable product in a hotel. I got the impression that the shower design was made intentionally difficult to use in order to save water. Below is a funny guide on how to design an unusable shower. Use a fixed shower head instead of a hose…

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Design thinking and focus groups to drive product innovation

July 29, 2020 cloudy

I want to introduce you into a design for focus groups that integrates methods from design thinking. If you do not know what a focus group is go to my previous article. In brief, a focus group is a method of user centred design. It can be conducted to discuss ideas, concepts, routines with people. Additionally, it could also be a discussion about experiences with a product or opinions about a future product. An advantage, e.g., to a questionnaire, is…

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