CS 4634

HEURISTIC

USES

LECTURE

NOTES

APHORISMS:

"The best is the enemy of the good" (sometimes: "Perfection is the enemy of good enough".)

arguing for "good enough"

6.A

Voltaire

"Seven, plus or minus one"

the ideal number of things in a list to choose from

useful misapplication of cognitive psychology study of memorization

"One, two, three, many"

the way people characterize scale in collections of things

"Methods are like toothbrushes: everybody has one, but nobody wants to use anybody else's."

Design method selection

3.B

John Zimmerman - CMU

"The internet is where people who have a life take advantage of those who don't"

reason to expect that anything can be found on the internet

10.B

Harrison's Theory of the Internet

"Problems are narrow, solutions are wide"

Reminder that most problem-solving results in more problems.

9.B

Rich Gold

CLIENT RELATIONS :

The client pays you. If you cannot abide that, find a different client.

design is the hand-maiden of capital.

9.B

You are only as good as your next client -- and your current client is your most likely source of your next client.

try to keep the clients you have happy in order to generate future business

9.B

"Never show a client an idea that you are not willing to carry out."

coming up with acceptable alternatives

10.B

Have single point of contact between client and company.

Limit client contact to reduce confusion

80% of success is just showing up

getting/keeping a project

10.A

Woody Allen

CRITIQUES:

"When you look at any reasonably complex human artifact, you are looking at the organizational structure that created it."

analyzing structure

Lynn Conway, UofMich

"When you find sub-systems that do not fit well together and disorderly fixes in products, you see the poor communication among and between organizational elements. "

analyzing structure (corollary to above)

Lynn Conway, UofMich

"Looks like the art director designed it."

describes dazzling design that has little to do with audience or subject [negative criticism]

often associated with advertising

"Looks like the client designed it."

describes design that is peculiar to client. (e.g. "Chock-Full-O'Nuts Coffee sung by wife of client) [negative criticism]

often associated with advertising

Good design balances "commodity, firmness and delight"

Design must serve its intended function, be well engineered (and look it), and delight the senses.

1.B

Vitruvius, IA's interpretation

PLANNING WORK:

The first 20% of effort yields 80% of the result.

estimating work, selecting design and implementation strategies

10.A, 12.B

Pareto's Law

Implementation is at least 50% of the project labor.

Estimating amount of time to deliver working code.

6.A

Jim Vogt/NCM

When working with more introverted team members, arrange in advance to talk about issues rather than out-of-the-blue questions.

Dealing with different work styles.

Jim Vogt/NCM

80% of success is just showing up

being part of a team

10.A

Woody Allen

LEARNING:

"Take chances! Make mistakes!"

Learn through risk-taking

10.B

Ms. Frizzle, Magic School Bus books and videos

"Product engineers are like Vulcans -- they cannot tell a lie."

Finding out about a tool or system's capabilities

7.A

Dilbert via the IA Book: 367

INFORMATION ACHITECTURE:

"What would 100 people say is the correct label?"

Harrison's "Family Feud" labelling heuristic

3.A

Narrow scope whenever possible

Designing labels

3.A

IA Book: 99

Use contextual labels when context clearly sets expectation.

Labelling

3.A

IA Book: 99

Use contextual labels when structure clearly sets expectation.

Labelling

3.A

IA Book: 99

Use contextual labels when regularity and repitition clearly sets expectation.

Labelling

3.A

IA Book: 99

In search results, show user: how many; small number on one screen; if 0 or lots, provide refinement, browsing and tips.

Search tool

4.A

IA Book: 163, niso.og

When diagramming:
1. provide mulitple views
2. develop views for specific audiences

diagramming

5.A

IA Book: 292

SEMANTIC ANALYSIS:

Affect precedes cogntion

The effect of emotion on understanding

3.B

Familiarity breeds fondness

The associative effects of emotion on on-going understanding

3.B

CONTENT RESEARCH:

Brand, Content, Function

What will people remember? What do people want to know? What do people want to do?

6.A

Dan Roam's Back of The Napkin

Some of the best sources are people who answer questions all day, like receptionists.

Establishing primary info requirements

10.A

Jim Vogt, NCM

GRAPHIC CONVENTIONS:

Orient maps with north at the top, unless the audience is Japanese (in which case any direction is OK).

Map convention

1.B

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map

Information si stacked in time (and space.)

Conceptual layout of quantitative data

3.B

Ed Tufte

Always enforce data comparisons

layout of quantitative data

3.B

Ed Tufte

Use small multiples

Use particulars of quantitative phenomena to highlight global behavior

3.B

Ed Tufte

Search boxes should be: one only, clearly placed, hide features, integrated

Searching tools

4.A, 8.A, 10.B

IA Book: 163, niso.og

Put most important information in upper left corner

bibliographic ("book reading") layout starting point

8.A, 10.B

Put most important information in center

epigraphic ("wall reading") layout starting point

8.A, 10.B

Establish limited number of colors and fonts for consistency

basic graphic design

8.A, 10.B

Establish consistent layout throughout

establish expectation of placement and meaning

8.A, 10.B

IA Book: 99

PERSUASIVE DESIGN:

Put hot triggers in the path of motivated users.

Behavior change

11.A

BJ Fogg's Captology Lab

EXPERIENCE DESIGN:

Design activities, not objects.

Design approach

8.B