What a nice surprise to find the outline of a presentation I did on usable intranets (link) I did a while back still online. Thanks Micheal Sampson
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
household harmony - an 'everyday things' post
well my harmony universal remote passed the ultimate house guest usability test. I had a house guest who had previously professed to be a technophobe. He couldn't drive the 3 remote controls needed to watch TV (amp set to TV, set top box and TV set to AV) without help.
This visit, he arrived home before me and when he walked into the lounge, he noticed the remote lighting up on the arm of the couch (good experience - 'hey here I am')
He picked it up to see on the screen 'what would you like to do?' with 'Watch TV' being one of the 4 options on the screen.
He pressed the corresponding button next to 'Watch TV' and it told him to keep pointing the remote at the TV.
Outcome: he was able to walk in, press one button and get started immediately. No Struggle, no feeling helpless...
If that's not a testament to the good experience to be had through activity/outcome driven design, I don't know what is. The remote matched the goal in my Friends mind when it used the language of the outcome he was seeking, not the function(s) it had.
it reminds me of Alan Coopers thoughts on polite, helpful software in 'The inmates are running the asylum'. Reminding us to capture/analyse context and outcomes to be built in to instructional and interaction design.
This visit, he arrived home before me and when he walked into the lounge, he noticed the remote lighting up on the arm of the couch (good experience - 'hey here I am')
He picked it up to see on the screen 'what would you like to do?' with 'Watch TV' being one of the 4 options on the screen.
He pressed the corresponding button next to 'Watch TV' and it told him to keep pointing the remote at the TV.
Outcome: he was able to walk in, press one button and get started immediately. No Struggle, no feeling helpless...
If that's not a testament to the good experience to be had through activity/outcome driven design, I don't know what is. The remote matched the goal in my Friends mind when it used the language of the outcome he was seeking, not the function(s) it had.
it reminds me of Alan Coopers thoughts on polite, helpful software in 'The inmates are running the asylum'. Reminding us to capture/analyse context and outcomes to be built in to instructional and interaction design.
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