The three steps to a successful software UI design
My apologies if this is too obvious, but based on a discussion I was involved in yesterday it seems there are three distinct steps to creating a great UI.
1. Accomplish the task
Often overlooked, this is the foundation and the most important step. Without this step, no matter how well you do on steps 2 and 3, you have failed. You must allow the user to accomplish their task. That may be editing a photo, sending an email, or sequencing a DNA strand. Whatever it is the user is trying to do with your software, it must be possible for them to do. Sounds obvious, but consider how many times you have used software that has failed this step.
2. Facilitate the process
Once you’ve established that your UI allows the user to accomplish a task, the next step is to make accomplishing that task as easy as possible. This involves arranging controls and pages correctly, minimizing the risk of unwanted actions or data loss, usability testing to ensure that the UI is efficient and to minimize user errors, and smart feature design to increase efficiency.
As long as step one is followed, users may put up with some pain to use your application. However, if you don’t do your best to facilitate the process, using your software will be an unpleasant chore that users put up with. We can summarize step 2 as don’t get in your users’ way.
3. Make it fun
Here’s the step that gets missed most often. Step 1 enables users to use your software. Step 2 minimizes the pain of doing so. But the rare piece of software that takes the next step is something special.
One way to make software fun to use is to make the UI visually appealing. Your users are going to have to look at it while they use it, so it might as well be pretty. Apple has obviously always been a leader on this front, but Microsoft has been making some strides on the eye-candy front lately.
Making your software fun to use also involves exceeding your users’ expectations in a surprising way. This can come from some unexpected sources; just recently I found that the mail merge option in Microsoft Word was so easy I couldn’t believe it. When I learned that I can highlight an email attachment in Mac Mail and press spacebar to QuickView it, I was delighted. I’m sure you can remember plenty of times a piece of software just got something right.
So once you’ve established that your software gets the job done and stays out of the way in the process, we can sum up step 3 as make them love it. I know that’s my goal with Mockery.