StackOverflow2013

Note that there are some explanatory texts on larger screens.

plurals

PO
text
Body
copied!<p>Go over to Slashdot, and read the comments on any article dealing with Apple. You'll find a large number of people talking about how Apple products are nothing special, and ascribing the success of the iPod and iPhone to people trying to be trendy or hip. They will typically go through feature lists, and point out that they do nothing earlier MP3 players or smart phones didn't do.</p> <p>Then there are people who like the iPod and iPhone because they do what the users want simply and easily, without reference to manuals. The interfaces are about as intuitive as interfaces get, memorable, and discoverable. I'm not as fond of the UI on MacOSX as I was on earlier versions, I think they've given up some usefulness in favor of glitz, but the iPod and iPhone are examples of superb design.</p> <p>If you are in the first camp, you don't think the way the average person does, and therefore you are likely to make bad user interfaces because you can't tell them from good ones. This doesn't mean you're hopeless, but rather that you have to explicitly learn good interface design principles, and how to recognize a good UI (much as somebody with Asperger's might need to learn social skills explicitly). Obviously, just having a sense of a good UI doesn't mean you can make one; my appreciation for literature, for example, doesn't seem to extend to the ability (currently) to write publishable stories. </p> <p>So, try to develop a sense for good UI design. This extends to more than just software. Don Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things" is a classic, and there's other books out there. Get examples of successful UI designs, and play with them enough to get a feel for the difference. Recognize that you may be having to learn a new way of thinking abou things, and enjoy it.</p>

Querying!

Guidance

An individual column

Larger individual text columns get their own page to allow for proper reading.

SQuiL has stopped working due to an internal error.

If you are curious you may find further information in the browser console, which is accessible through the devtools (F12).

Reload