| Each month Dr. Eric Schaffer answers selected questions on usable interface design. | Recent Questions |
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April 5, 2010 – submitted by Tricia Sullivan of St. Petersburg, FL |
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Question: We use a corporate style guide to define much of the terminology that we use; however, many of the terms are taken from Microsoft rather than users. I would like to ask whether you (or any of the other UX people at HFI) have a better term than "pane" when speaking or writing about a section of an application screen that contains defined sections of links and functions. I have suggested "Navigation Menu", "Navigation Panel", or simply "Action Menu". However, the style guide (and therefore the editor and managers) insist on referring to it as a "pane", a term that either confuses our users or is meaningless to them. |
Eric's response: I guess it depends on the level of expertise of the user. If the user is used to dealing with technology, then "Pane" or perhaps more commonly "Tile" would be fine. If they are sophisticated and it is a portal, the term "portlet" is more precise. But for less sophisticated users I often wonder why we have the idea a Pane. Sure, there may be a different back-end facility feeding that part of the screen. But who cares??? They are looking at the screen. There are sections of the screen. Why do they CARE to have an additional idea to manage? So in the documentation (if you need documentation) you can say "Look at the top right box on the screen". Do most people need more? |
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April 5, 2010 – submitted by Naveen Phrased Nubian of Bangalore, India |
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Question: Hi Eric, I am Naveen, UI Designer working for an MNC in India, working mostly on designing the UI for web applications. We don't have a separate design team here, I usually work with the development team in the prototype phase and will be thrown out after that. "Front-End" is always pushed to the "Back-End" with least priority :( Right now, we follow a "Developer Centered Design" rather than "User Centered Design". Currently, success of the project is calculated only based on the number/severity of bugs reported after the application went in to production. I don't have any idea about real success of the project. I don't know how to change this approach and bring-in usability in to SDLC. Please advise.. |
Eric's response: You will have a hard time for sure. But the good news is that there is a global shift among executives. They are getting it. And as they do, they start working (often with our help) to shift the corporate culture. There is a tipping point happening. And I think this process will only accelerate in the coming few years. |
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