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is delight the only focus?

by g00n (Hermit)
on Dec 07, 2003 at 02:14 UTC ( [id://312837]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Re: Re: web-based application or desktop application?
in thread web-based application or desktop application?

Really, I think the abberation is the slew of programs that adhere to the (usually drab) defaults ... sit down to eat our dinners at gray card tables ...

I dont care what the application is, design requires proportionate attention to competing and complementary criteria. For instance if usability is ignored at expense of performance, users are not going to succeed. Consider that in a study done by Nielsen, users failed in achieving successful outcomes for 35% of web sites out of 139 web sites. Trade-offs are required.

Firmess, commodity and delight, (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, 90-20 BC) is an often repeated phrase in design literature. Applied to software, the correct balence between this trinity of ideals is critical.

For in-house built applications as the user suggests, the workmanship required for extra polish (delight) is not warrented ... at least until version 3 - 4 when all the other issues (firmness, comodity) have been addressed.

I never forget the day pickles bagged his first hippy - mr. burns

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Re: is delight the only focus?
by sauoq (Abbot) on Dec 07, 2003 at 06:35 UTC
    I dont care what the application is, design requires proportionate attention to competing and complementary criteria.

    Did I say otherwise?

    I'm not even sure how to reply to your post because it seems, well... axiomatic.

    I can say this: usability is as much a function (if not more) of the user as it is of the application. More sophisticated users tend to have less trouble, even with non-inuitive interfaces, than less sophisticated users. We all learn how to adapt ourselves to various interfaces, and adapting to new ones is itself a skill. Part of the point I was making in the node to which you replied was that, as computing becomes more and more a natural part of daily existence and users become more and more sophisticated simply by virtue of exposure, the focus will naturally shift toward 'delight' because usability will be second nature. As usability becomes less of a focus with the growing sophistication of users (as well as that of designers) aesthetics will play an increasing role in interface design.

    Note that I also think aesthetics currently plays a larger role in web-based interface development because the medium makes it easier to separate presentation and "content" than, for instance, most GUI toolkits.

    -sauoq
    "My two cents aren't worth a dime.";
    

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