Jul 07, 2021 | by Budi Tanrim
3 questions to improve your interface design
A good interface is obvious for people.
It’s obvious when 1) people understand and comprehend the information, 2) people know what to do, and 3) people know they’re making progress toward their goals
You should achieve those three basic criteria of obviousness. Otherwise, it can create frustration for the users. To improve your interface design, consider this approach:
Walkthrough your design using a novice mind. Ask these three questions:
- Who are the users and what is their goal?
- Will the users know what to do here?
- Will the users know they’re making the right progress toward their goal?
Note down any potential improvements. Anytime you go through your design and find anything that’s not obvious enough, write it down. For example: The information on the pop-up is clear but there is a risk for people to skip this modal.
Form questions. Then, convert the potential improvements into a question. This will frame it in a way to help you explore other possibilities to answer the question. Following up on the previous example: What would be the other way to communicate the less skippable information?
These can help you to be more thoughtful, identify some potential improvement even before putting it in front of the users for testing it out.
These questions are inspired by the Cognitive Walkthrough designed by Wharton et al. (1994). I modified it a little bit to make it easier and practical to use on a daily basis.
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