Intelligent GUIs Should Require No Thought to Operate May 17
GUIs that work well are those that embrace the way the mind works, and only invoke conscious thought for the experienced user as and when required. The problem that GUIs often encounter is that they’re sold on the basis of how they look, the sparkle and up-front razz, and how quickly they can simplify tasks they’re engineered specifically to demo well. However, the true test comes when a skilled user can operate them with unconscious efficiency to mirror the speed at which touch typists can capture information into a console-based text app. I’ve worked on several failed applications for financial institutions where we wrote superb GUI applications that the users just rejected out of hand because there were too many screens presented in a manner that, while familiar to IDE users’ unconscious brains, were just over complex to end users who reverted to spreadsheets to capture all their data and create outputs. To get the edge over basic tools it needs to replace, GUI design must engage the user’s brain on their terms, not that of the designer or the framework and language on which it runs.
Full Article:
http://java.sys-con.com/read/377018.htm