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TwitterMissing buttons and assumptions
I came across this interesting post the other day and it made me think about some usability issues which had seemed like common sense but that I had never really thought of.
I have recently switched to a mac and though I hadn’t actively thought about it the issue of wording on buttons has made things easier for me. After reading that post and going back to my Windows laptop to check something out I realise that there have been many times in the past where I have had to really concentrate on action boxes in Windows to ensure I was clicking the right option.
I do not wish to seem like I am picking on Windows here as it is a problem just as apparent in web design. One of my pet hates is the tick boxes at the bottom of forms saying whether or not you want your details to be sold on, I always feel like I am getting tricked with double negatives. So I have to read and re-read buttons and form instructions.
So where’s the missing button?
Well this is another example of usability issues coming up, this time in software. My Grandmother has recently got her first computer (a Mac no less) and has been trying to get with grips with things, especially Skype as my Aunt lives in Spain. Last night I was talking to my Mum with Skypeout and my Grandmother started calling through Skype at the same time. I clicked decline and sent a quick chat message saying why I had not accepted, I assumed that she would not have seen the chat window before but would at least see my message so she would not think that I was rude. I knew right away that something was up as it kept saying she was typing and nothing came through. After a bit I stopped one conversation and rang my Gran back and asked what was happening with the typing. It turns out she could type the message but didn’t know how to send it. I thought it was fairly obvious that you hit enter but I use IM everyday so hadn’t even thought to look for a send button. When I went back and looked at the chat screen it turned out that there is not a send button, although it seems obvious to many people to hit enter I am sure that to a lot of novice computer users it is not.
I guess a lot of decisions like this come down to the intended audience. After my experience with Skype and my Gran I looked at my instant messenger (Adium) and this too does not have a send button. However I think in the case of Adium, it is an open source IM client for Mac only. It is pretty unlikely that my Gran will ever hear of it let alone use it. Skype on the other hand is fast becoming the defacto program for VOIP and is an increasingly mainstream piece of software so usability for less technologically literate people is very important. Firefox interestingly has chosen to not have a go button in their address bar in the latest version. Personally I have not used the go button in years, if at all, but having seen my Grandmother using a computer I do wonder whether it would be immediately obvious. Knowing the history of Firefox I am sure they have considered this, but my Gran obviously wasn’t one of their test users!
How does this relate to web design?
An obvious example would be search buttons on web sites. Googles search form has a search button as it is a widely used site while a site aimed at web designers may not have the button as they can safely assume that their visitors would hit enter. Web apps these days are becoming more and more popular with everyday users, especially with the Google apps (now with the supporting browser Google Chrome) so more novice users are going to be using them.
Conclusion
I remember reading that Firefox was built first to be usable by one of the developers Mums so it had to pass the Mum test. Now I hope that all your latest apps are ready to pass the Gran test! You never know when they are going to start using Basecamp to organise their Christmas shopping, or dishing out Moo cards. They may be already!
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who is going to steal this shit??
where are wordpress copyright?
you suck, you know it?
Hi Lenny,
Thanks for your comment, really not sure what I did to deserve such a visceral reaction. Sorry you don’t like my site, can’t please everyone I guess! In answer to your questions I have already have had images stolen from my site and am having to put measures into action to prevent this as it uses up my bandwidth and is unfair.
As to your other question, there is no need for a copyright to wordpress, in fact not even wordpress has copyright wordpress on their site. All of the front end code and images were created by me, it is only the back end were wordpress is involved. You are right the site is powered by wordpress and I have thanked them in the about section.
Not sure if the last bit is a question, but if it is no I do not know it, but if I am wrong… I can live with that!
Hi.
I’ve just stopped by and I’d like to ask you if I can make a layout inspired in yours.
If you are ok with it, I’ll credit here, of course.
In order to answer me, please, go to my weblog and leave me a comment (I’m a Brazilian girl and my weblog is in Portuguse, but if you leave me a comment in English that’s ok) or send me an e-mail.
Thanks for the attention.
Best regards.