I think you've hit the nail on the head, Jeff. Let me back up a bit. I've along wondered about the difference between 'Good Design' and Not[Bad] Design. The aim of the latter is to ensure that the design doesn't interfere with the purpose of the artifact, while the aim of the former is, well, Good Design, whatever that might be. Many years ago I saw Jakob Nielsen for the first time at a CHI conference (this was long before IxDA, UPA and stuff). He sported a striped shirt; checked (bell-bottomed) trousers worn well above the navel; a wide, black belt; wide, black-rimmed glasses, and sideburns. He could have stepped out of a late 1970's sitcom. Stay with me here for a moment. At that time I wondered, What IS this guy, an epitome of bad taste, doing at a conference that, in my perspective, celebrated that which was beautiful and cool? It took me some years to find an answer to that question.
And my own answer is that Jakob is a master of Usability and not Design. Usability is about ensuring that your design is NOT BAD -- i.e., does not in any way impede, restrict, prevent, the user from accomplishing her goals through using an artifact. I think Jakob understands that he doesn't possess that thing that comes naturally to some people, especially those who take up design as a career -- fine aesthetic taste. He is not a natural designer; he is an engineer and scientist. As an engineer and scientist he provides a solid foundation for designers -- who typically design intuitively, the better ones getting the usability part right the first time -- to come up with designs that are also functionally usable. Jakob's website is simple because he is not good at design. He plays it safe by ensuring that his site is NOT BADLY DESIGNED, and above all USABLE rather than by trying to create a GREAT DESIGN. He is understandably conservative -- I would be, if I chose to wear checkered, bell-bottomed trousers and sideburns (I don't know how his sartorial choices have evolved, btw). GOOD, AESTHETICALLY PLEASING DESIGN, can manifest in an infinite number of ways. Nielsen knows that tools for RIA can very easily be misused by people who lack taste (and who don't understand usability) in much the way that typefaces and fonts were misused when the Mac was first introduced. It is for this majority that Nielsen appears to writing his cautionary note. And from that perspective, I believe his Alertbox note is well-intended. Design is about DOING -- it is not about NOT DOING. You don't act by ensuring non-action. Nielsen's guidelines cannot be used for initiating design. You put something down on paper based on an understanding of the requirements and as the NEXT step, evaluate its usability. As an experienced (and 'natural') designer, you get many things right the first time. But following Nielsen's guidelines, you don't let the tool dictate your design -- you continue to rely on your knowledge, experience and intutions, using those aspects of the tool that fit into your intuitions -- and experimenting with others that don't but falling back on USABILITY guidelines to check if things are working out well. I hope I am making sense. -murli On 12/18/07, Jeff Seager <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > There's little doubt that self-promotion is high on Nielsen's list of > talents, Ben, but I also think he has a pretty good grasp on the essence of > usability. I -- murli nagasundaram, ph.d. | www.murli.com | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | +91 99 02 69 69 20 - The reason why death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity -- it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous possessive love that grabs at what it can. - Yann Martel, The Life of Pi. ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
