UPDATE: please download the whole essay here: Four Cornerstones of User-Centered Design by Jiri Jerabek [PDF, 82kB]
Recently I spent many hours continuing my Graphic Design in Context module research and writing an essay about the conclusions of my presentation.
The module quite changed how I perceive the design as an industry and allowed me to dive into the depths of the interaction between the user and the product – whatever it may be.
What I learnt:
- good design is driven by the behaviour and needs of the user, not by features and functions the manufacturer wants to put into the products
- designer should not only give priority to the user’s needs, but to take on account the strategic goals of the manufacturer
- design process is the key
- research, wireframes, prototypes, user-testing
- study of the user’s psychology is very important
- Visibility, Feedback, Affordances, Constraints – important rules of user-centered design
- for the user, the interface is the product
- Metaphors and Direct Manipulation can help the user to create the conceptual model with ease (= to understand, how to use the product and what actions are available0
- visual communication can make or break it
Useful Resources:
- What is user experience design?
- UX Booth
- UX Magazine
- UX Matters
- iPhone Human Interaction
- Foundations of Affordances
- J. J. Gibson
- Signifiers not affordances
- Signifiers not affordances – original article by D. Norman
Recommended Reading:
- Garret, J. J. (2002) The Elements of User Experience. New York, AIGA, New Riders.
- Norman, D. (2002) The Design of Everyday Things. 2nd ed. New York, Basic Books.
- Moggridge, B. (2007) Designing Interactions. Cambridge, Massachussetts, The MIT Press.
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