Jul
12
2008
Three main attributes of Multimodal User Interfaces
Posted by: eolvera, in Usability, Dialog Design, Multimodality
While doing some research on Multimodal Usability and User Interfaces, I ran across a list of Three Main Attributes of Multimodal User Interfaces, which on careful thought, can definitively be applied to ANY User Interface. It was a nice refresher which reminded me of why good design is so difficult to achieve, but very rewarding.
Good User Interfaces can be judged based on their:
- Effectiveness: Whether a user can achieve a desired goal or a certain task with a predefined degree of perceived accuracy. This one has to do directly with our users and their environment. Good questions to ask ourselves: What level of accuracy are you designing for? What completion rates can you expect from certain design strategies? How satisfied will your users be after completing a task?
- Efficiency: How much effort (fatigue, frustration, cognitive demand, stress, discomfort, number of tries) and resources (time) will those users need to complete a task. Good questions to ask ourselves: How long is it going to take for an average user to achieve a certain goal? How many error corrections can we expect from certain design strategies? Will users obtain something of a higher value than the one they are putting into the interaction?
- Learnability:Whether a user can easily discover the functionality contained in a system and quickly learn how to use it. Good questions to ask ourselves: How intuitive is my design? Based on the context on the interaction, does the funtionality offered by the system match the user’s expectations? How easy is it for users to explore and discover new functionality and advanced features?
Based on these attributes, where do your design stand? Come on, don’t be shy…
