REDESIGNBLOG

The Bathroom Door Problem

• 12/15/2008
• 10:22 am

K-I-S-S, right? Well, yes, generally. But in interaction design, sometimes a user’s need to be assured requires a bit of extra complexity.

To illustrate this user insecurity, here’s an everyday example: As a kid (and even somewhat to this day), I was always unnerved by those push-button locks that are found on the inside of a lot of bathroom doors. You know, you push this little button in the center of the doorknob which, when depressed, indicates that the door is locked. But of course, when you turn the knob from the inside, the button immediately pops back out, and the door is unlocked. This is simpler for the bathroom-goer, right? It consolidates two actions—unlocking the door, turning the knob—into one—turning the knob. But, like I said, I was always unnerved by these locks. It was hard to have faith that the door wouldn’t unlock so easily from the outside, too. Just a turn of the knob…. Couple this with the fact that these locks seem to appear in a lot of restaurant bathrooms and other places where one really is afraid of being suddenly exposed and it seems that “Keeping it Simple” can be stupid.

And this does apply to software (and web interface) design, too. Yesterday, I was adjusting my preferences in Pidgin, the IM program. At the bottom of the preferences panel, there was just one button, reading “Close”. Now, I knew that the intelligent makers of Pidgin wouldn’t have done this if my changes didn’t save automatically, but it’s bad interaction design. First of all, there’s no “Cancel” or “Reset“ button. If I don’t notice this absence right away and decide to discard the changes I made, it looks like I’ll have to remember each and ever change I made. This could be problematic. But, more directly related to the Bathroom Door Problem, give me a goddamn “Save” button. A “Save and Close” button would be a significant improvement, but better still would be both: “Save” and “Save and Close” buttons. I, the user, am insecure. I want to know that my changes are saved, not assume it. So, it turns out that Windows’ seemingly redundant “Ok” and “Apply” buttons are the smart call.

Keeping it simple is a great rule, but, as with any other, there are exceptions.

Humble beginnings

• 12/12/2008
• 2:18 pm

I recently came upon this gem entirely by coincidence: http://excalibur.happycog.com/projects/

I’m not saying it’s bad—it isn’t. But it does lack the polish, the spacing, color, and typographic details, that make a website look great. The current Happycog.com does. Now, I’m not talking usability, accessibility, cross-platform compatibility, just shallow visual professionalism. This is really exemplified (for me) by sites like Concentric Studio’s and holy-mother-of-Moses THIS.

What I’m really getting at here is that Happy Cog didn’t start as Superman and no one else should expect to, either. If you look at your sites and feel you’re lacking that polish, you’ll get there. At least you can recognize it! My personal site, twelve8.net definitely lacks a bit of this and redesignblog is questionable at best in this department, though head and shoulders above most of the web, including a few pretty prominent sites. To that end, any suggestions on adding ‘polish’, oh loyal readers?

Creative Review “Brand Identity”

• 10/5/2008
• 11:25 am

From a CR Blog post on Creative Review creativereview’s new identity:

“Following a universal brand audit instigated in the wake of an immersion expedition led by a cohort of leading brand ideators, we engaged in a thoroughgoing knowledge accumulation programme to facilitate blue-sky thinking and empower Creative Review® in the vanguard of world class best practice in thought-leadership.”

Really? Really?

Universal brand audit? Instigated? Immersion expedition? Cohort of leading brand ideators? Yes, ideators. Thoroughgoing knowledge accumulation? Blue-sky thinking? Thought-leadership? And this is an identity? What identity exactly? We here at Creative Review have the best goddamn thesaurus you’ll ever find. But we’re so creative we even add to it.

Lord, have mercy. Link