On Jun 9, 2008, at 10:49 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am a user who doesn't appreciate when a system "guesses" what I might like. The use of that word makes me nervous for myself as a user and for a client of mine where "guessing" may just not be reliable or accurate enough, leading to more frustration.
I think "guessing" is fine as long as it's peripheral to the main line of interaction. Autocomplete is a simple example of this idea -- I can just type and if I happen to notice that the software has "guessed" what I want, I can save some typing time and click it. But if something popped up and said "Hey, it looks like you're typing SMITH, is that what you want?" I'd uninstall the app in a heartbeat.
Guesses -- or, let's say, "reasonable heuristics" -- are often also appropriate when providing default values: the application has already filled in certain fields based on what you've done in the past. Of course you have to be careful when the data is critical; you might not want to assume, for example, that the radiation dosage this time would be the same as last time and get people in the habit of just clicking past the form.
________________________________________________________________ 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
