Quotes About Interaction

We must design our technologies for the way people actually behave, not the way we would like them to behave. Moreover, the automobile does

Usable designs are not necessarily enjoyable to use.

So we must design our machines on the assumption that people will make errors.

complex system: good design requires consideration of the

The designer shouldn't think of a simple dichotomy between errors and correct behavior; rather, the entire interaction should be treated as a cooperative endeavor between person and machine, one in which misconceptions can arise on either side.

Machines that give too much feedback are like backseat drivers.

Knowledge in the world includes perceived affordances and signifiers, the mappings between the parts that appear to be controls or places to manipulate and the resulting actions, and the physical constraints that limit what can be done. Knowledge

Affordances determine what actions are possible. Signifiers communicate where the action should take place. We

Affordances determine what actions are possible. Signifiers communicate where the action should take place.

Perceived affordances help people figure out what actions are possible without the need for labels or instructions.

Design is concerned with how things work, how they are controlled, and the nature of the interaction between people and technology. When done well, the results are brilliant, pleasurable products. When done badly, the products are unusable, leading to great frustration and irritation. Or they might be usable, but force us to behave the way the product wishes rather than as we wish.

the proper natural mapping requires no diagrams, no labels, and no instructions.

You build up expectations of behavior based upon prior experience, and if the items with which you interact fail to live up to expectations, that is a violation of trust, for which you assign blame, which can soon lead to anger.

Two of the most important characteristics of good design are discoverability and understanding. Discoverability: Is it possible to even figure out what actions are possible and where and how to perform them? Understanding: What does it all mean? How is the product supposed to be used? What do all the different controls and settings mean?

Affordances, signifiers, mappings, and constraints can simplify our encounters with everyday objects. Failure to properly deploy these cues leads to problems.

when a device as simple as a door has to have a sign telling you whether to pull, push, or slide, then it is a failure, poorly designed.

It is the duty of machines and those who design them to understand people.

The major areas of design relevant to this book are industrial design, interaction design, and experience design. None of the fields is well defined, but the focus of the efforts does vary, with industrial designers emphasizing form and material, interactive designers emphasizing understandability and usability, and experience designers emphasizing the emotional impact.

What are the design implications? Don't count on much being retained in STM. Computer systems often enhance people's frustration when things go wrong by presenting critical information in a message that then disappears from the display just when the person wishes to make use of the information. So how can people remember the critical information? I am not surprised when people hit, kick, or otherwise attack their computers.

Good design starts with an understanding of psychology and technology. Good design requires good communication, especially from machine to person, indicating what actions are possible, what is happening, and what is about to happen.

An affordance is a relationship between the properties of an object and the capabilities of the agent that determine just how the object could possibly be used.

The presence of an affordance is jointly determined by the qualities of the object and the abilities of the agent that is interacting. This relational definition of affordance gives considerable difficulty to many people. We are used to thinking that properties are associated with objects. But affordance is not a property. An affordance is a relationship. Whether an affordance exists depends upon the properties of both the object and the agent.

Violation of cultural conventions can completely disrupt an interaction.

Have you noticed the weather? asked Thomas. All turned to look for the weather.