UXD - User eXperience Design

Dasher - A new way to write

I simply love finding these little gems on my weekly web excursions.  This time it's a fascinating new piece of software out there called Dasher, and it allows you to write without typing or scripting.  What's that you say?  How else can you write?  Well...The basic idea is that current methods of typing are inefficient, because they don't learn.  Let me explain.  Although there are x number of letters in the alphabet, every pressed key reduces the number of available choices for the next key press, and increases the odds that other specific keys are pressed next.  For instance, 'E' is much more likely to be pressed after 'H' than 'B' is, and 'O' more likely after 'G' than 'C'.  On current writing technologies it's up to the user to learn to be more efficient at writing He than Hb or Go than Gc.  But that doesn't need to be the case.  By taking advantage of the learning and memorization power of the computer, it's possible to create writing interfaces that guide you through the process rather than just recording what you type.  If you'll indulge me in some metaphor, imagine rowing down a river.  Dasher is the river with a strong current to wherever your going, and existing typewriting technology is the river with no current whatsoever.   

What Dasher does is use language patterns to present likely letters and words to the user based on the letters or words they have already written.  The goal is to make writing more efficient by reducing work.  There are no keys to press using dasher.  In fact the mouse is never clicked.  The interface allows one to write by simply navigating the mouse down a path--or tree--through the alphabet.  The start screen displays all 26 letters of the English alphabet.  You select a letter by moving your mouse next to it.  As letters are selected, Dasher displays all available letters again, but this time those more likely to be chosen are larger and therefore easier to select.  As you write, you move forward through the tree, and entire words and phrases are displayed in order of likeliness.   

Dasher needs some work before I start using it instead of my keypad, but the idea has real merit, and it deserves to be explored more.  As an interface designer I see at this tool as a great example of how simple interactions, when thought about creatively, with nothing held sacred, can have potentially revolutionary effects on the way we interact with technology.
 
 

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What are Task Flows?

Task flows are a tool to help us think through the design before a feature is actually developed. They allow us to interject the user into the flow of the application and determine if the conceptual model agrees with the user model.

The Information Architect (IA) is generally the team member taking the lead on diagramming the user narrative. With the business requirements and user modeling taken into consideration, the IA determines the tasks needed for a specific feature and maps out how the user will accomplish the task within the application. The resulting diagram shows a series of actions the user must do in order to begin and end the task, which can be anything from uploading catalog data to generating reports to assigning rights and permissions to user accounts.

Starting with the initial flow, which is a high level concept flow for that feature, the necessary steps to initiate and complete the task are detailed and mapped out into the flow. From there, various iterations of the original diagram are created and expanded upon as more requirements become known. The end result maps out the different levels of complexity for that task once subtasks and parallel flows are identified and designed.

By placing the user into the process at this stage, the Information Architect and the team can determine up front whether or not the final task flows will meet the business requirements along with any system requirements and still make sense to the end user.

Updated: Attached is an example of a task flow. Click on the image to view it full size. For this particular project, we were displaying new functionality at the UI layer and the diagram was created to visually show all the different ways a user could arrive at this new feature. Not all flows are this complex. :)

The Zeigarnik Effect in GUI Design

The Zeigarnik effect suggests people remember incomplete or interrupted things better than completed things. It’s human nature to want to complete a task or hear the end of a story, and when we don’t a psychological tension results until the item is completed.

The effect has an interesting implication for digital interfaces. When a user involved in a long task encounters an interruption or an opportunity to complete a quick task, there’s a good chance the interruption or new task will get acted on. This can leave a lineage of uncompleted tasks and non-linear navigation trails. 

One way to combat this that we have used in a variety of applications is to dynamically create a task queue. The queue stacks up incomplete tasks in one place so the user can get back to these tasks when he or she is ready. In a restricted domain, it’s usually possible to apply some intelligence as to how the queue is built so it reads fluidly and clearly.

It Just Keeps on Flowing

Our Elyse Sanchez has just authored an article entitled "Features into Flow: Techniques for Optimizing User Interactions." It distills some of our experiences designing software for educational reform in an Arabic gulf state. Some choice excerpts:

The success of our design methodology is dependent in a large part on user research and the creation of personas and task-based scenarios. Our principle Enumeration persona, Ahmad, spends a few weeks each autumn traveling through the desert from school to school, generally spending about a week at each location, where he has to manage with makeshift accommodations and associated distractions. A thorough and competent data collector, he dislikes making errors. Using his laptop computer, he enters his data very quickly but often struggles to meet his deadlines.

We were able to incorporate several strategies for optimizing flow and offering Ahmad the benefits of a “smart” application. First, we designed a linear, tabbed structure that guided the information-collecting process and ensured that all dependencies were correctly met (for example, information on teachers had to be obtained and completed before student information could be gathered). For selected subtasks, information had to be moved from one area of the display to another. To enable this in as few keystrokes as possible, we implemented a drag-and-drop function that greatly simplified what could have been monotonous, time-consuming data-recording tasks.

You can read the article here (pdf).

Types of Flow - A Quick Reference

How does the concept of flow manifest in an application? We usually look at three different aspects of flow during the design process.

The first is efficiency. Often we are seeking the use of an application to save us time in accomplishing what we have to do. In the user’s eyes, efficiency gains are often tied to satisfaction and are frequently where flow starts.

The second aspect of flow is hybrid navigation. Most applications of moderate or greater complexity will require a combination of linear and non-linear activities. It is important that the designer be able to empower each activity while keeping the overall scheme consistent and intuitive.

The third aspect of flow is comfort. When the interaction with a product is comfortable and natural, the product starts working at an emotional level. In technology-based products, accomplishing comfort in the design can be a significant differentiator in the marketplace.

Towards a concept of flow--UXD perspectives

"Flow" is an attribute we're talking about--and, hopefully, designing towards--here at Pathfinder. As application designers, we've been captive eyewitnesses to the proliferation of contradictory and unrelated features that consititues progress in IA and development.

Design theories of flow are derived, directly or indirectly, from the work of psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who has dedicated over two decades to developing a theory of "optimal experience."

We've recently shared some of our thoughts on flow at the IA Summit and World Usability Day. Other perspectives include those of Kathy Sierra, the academically focused ACM, and designer/blogger Scott Berkun.

Plus, an interview with The Man Himself in Wired, titled (you guessed it) "Go with the Flow."