05/06/2019
We’ve designed a lot of user interfaces over the course of our careers, and one theme has been present across them all--a desire to create something that is easy to use for the novice user. Can mom use it, many have asked?
This may be great for a small company or a simple website that users would only access once or twice. But what about mobile or web-based healthcare application where the clinical staff do “their work” each day?
Research that shows fundamental differences in the way novices and experts approach a problem. Forcing experienced users to muddle past a screen-by-screen flow of wizards or other simplifications can lead to a less than optimal user experience.
Not every novice user, however, evolves into an expert user. Most, in fact, become and remain intermediate users. They learn to interact with the application in a manner that best suits their “middle of the road” understanding of the application workflow.
That is why we say, “Aim for the middle.” Design your user interface to meet the needs of an intermediate user, your largest user population, while also providing some embedded assistance (to help the novices). perhaps some keyboard (or other) shortcuts and other advanced features to appease your experts.
