Communication Design Principles
"One cannot not communicate. Because every behavior is a kind of communication, people who are aware of each other are constantly communicating. Any perceivable behavior, including the absence of action, has the potential to be interpreted by other people as having some meaning."-PAUL WATZLAWICKThe concept behind UI is Communication is that a user interface (UI) is essentially a conversation between users and a product to perform tasks that achieve users' goals.A user interface differs from human conversation primarily in that it uses the language of UI instead of natural language. A well-designed UI boils down to communicating to users in a way that is natural, professional and friendly, easy to understand, and efficient. By contrast, a poorly designed UI is unnatural, is technological and mechanical, and requires users to apply thought, experimentation, memorization, and training to translate it into something meaningful. Effective communication is often what makes the difference.The goal of this chapter is to establish baseline principles of intuitive UI design as a form of effective human communication, which I will use throughout the book. In doing so, I will present the attributes of intuitive UI for both individual interactions and entire tasks. Many UIs involve asking users questions, so I will present principles for doing this common pattern intuitively. Finally, I will present a model for typical user behavior to help determine how well your designs communicate.

scihub/10.1016/b978-0-12-396980-4.00001-9.pdf

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