What’s up with your logo?
In April of this year Binary Systems Design became Monolith Development LLC. It was time to change my business structure and thought a name change was needed as well. Two primary reasons for the name change.
The biggest reason for the change was trying to give my website address or email verbally. It was certainly not a domain name you could easily remember.
The other big reason is the word ‘Design’ gives many people the impression that I’m some sort of graphics design person, ‘web designer’.
Web Developer = I build stuff
Web Designer = I make stuff pretty
While I’m confident in my abilities to create an aesthetically pleasing, user friendly application. Creating logo’s and the like is a job for those who have that talent.
Developing Applications For The Less Saavy User
Posted 07/01/09 | Updated 07/01/09
I hear this one allot from my clients, “I need my application to be really simple and easy to use, my users aren’t very technical”.
The first thing I need to do is remind myself and the client of my own limitations with this. By default developers are not always the best usability testers. This is especially true for the developer who built the application. We have our own lingo and we have pre-conceptions about how the application is used. In nearly every circumstance I hand over a finished application and the client will find a sequence of events that leads to a scenario I simply never thought of. I expect this on every build and make adjustments based on feedback.
From 37signals book Getting Real
You need to speak the same language as your audience too. Just because you’re writing a web app doesn’t mean you can get away with technical jargon. Think about your customers and think about what those buttons and words mean to them. Don’t use acronyms or words that most people don’t understand. Don’t use internal lingo. Don’t sound like an engineer talking to another engineer. Keep it short and sweet. Say what you need to and no more.
You can take this methodology too far. If we assume the users knowledge is only slightly beyond checking their email we should not be creating new standards and terminology that don’t exist on common websites. Take a look at some of the popular mainstream applications that are used daily by users of all technical levels.
Should the button say “Update” or should it say “Save”, or should the button say “Press this button to update the page”? Clearly the last example is overkill, take a look around at other applications and see how similar user interfaces are handled.
Another example is using “click here” for links. This is one of my pet peaves. Your site should have a layout that makes it very obvious what pieces of text are links. Instead of I found this really interesting article click here to read the interesting article. Consider I found this interesting article. Aside from poor usability, “click here” is counter productive to search engine rankings.
If the user base truly has a low technical level your doing them a disservice by introducing them to your custom user experience that does not represent the standard.
Trying to anticipate users perceptions can be like trying to hit a moving target on boat from another boat in heavy seas at night (clearly there are those skilled enough to accomplish this, but that is a rare breed). You’ll waste valuable time getting your product out spending hours to think of the best name for a button or link. The best approach is to get someone who has never seen your shiny new app. Sit them down, give them a task and just watch. You’ll see very quickly when they reach a roadblock. You’ll quickly find things you would of never thought of while they quickly overcome your perceived roadblocks.
Posted in For The Client