Designing for Complex Products

Jared M. Spool Carolyn Snyder

User Interface Engineering 800 Turnpike Street, Suite 101 North Andover, MA 01854 (508) 975-4343 spool.chi@xerox.com

Abstract

Increasingly, software interfaces bear the burden for com- municating new and complex concepts to users. To do this, the designer can employ create wizards, cue cards, drag-and- drop, or other similar techniques. Interfaces contain an ever- increasing amount of functionality. But, in order for these methods to be effective, they must be properly designed. How does the designer determine which approach is called for? How can the designer determine what the user needs? How can the designer create these tools so that they are effective?

This tutorial examines the latest interface tools and the techniques for developing them for complex products. Keywords Prototyping, low-fidelity prototyping, process management, product development, contextual inquiry, modeling, practi- cal techniques, wizards, cue cards, guided learning, com- plexity management.

DESIGN CHALLENGES IN COMPLEX PRODUCTS

An interface is far more than a collection of widgets. An interface communicates its content - the product's func- tionality - via the multiple channels of the screen, help, tutorials, etc. An interface that uses these channels wisely will help users get work done, even as they are learning new concepts.

Successful interface design is like magic. [2] The designer must first decide what mental model the user should have, and then consciously create an "illusion" with the product interface that communicates this model to the user.

ADVANCED INTERACTION TOOLS

Designers of sophisticated products have an arsenal of state- of-the-art interface tools at their disposal. "Wizards," "Cue Cards," interactive tutorials, drag and drop, and intelligent defaulting can help users work more easily and productively. Unfortunately, we have observed that a poor implementation of these tools can make the situation worse than having no tool at all. Obviously, these tools all have important design considerations.

"Wizards" and "Experts"

They go by many names - "wizards" in Microsoft prod- ucts, "experts" in Borland, "advisors" in Meca - but the concept is the same: an on-line tool to walk the user through the steps of a complex process.

Many developers are considering wizard-like enhancements to their product. Unfortunately, some wizards fall short of their promise. We have seen instances of wizards that frus- trate and confuse users. Obviously, there are important de- sign issues for wizards. [1] For example, if the wizard pro- vides only a subset of the available functionality (this is true for Microsoft Excel's Chart Wizard), how does the wizard point users toward the rest of the functionality? Also, as the user becomes more familiar with the system, will he or she still want and/or need to use the wizard?

DESIGNING ADVANCED INTERACTION TOOLS

Often, the most difficult part of product design is under- standing what the users need. Contextual inquiry allows designers to gain insights into the users' job and work envi- ronment, and the information thus obtained can substantially influence the design of the product.

For example, a designer who wants to lower the products' learning barrier can search users' work environments for diagrams, handwritten notes, and other "cheat sheets" that users rely on to get their job done. The designer can then incorporate this information directly into the wizard. Before creating the tool. designers should establish its goals. For example, is the proposed wizard intended as a learning aid for new users, or a productivity aid for experienced users? With the goals clearly in mind, the designer can then focus on design issues such as clarity and affordances. Paper prototyping is a useful method for evaluating the success of a particular approach, and for obtaining feedback on how to improve it. For example, when developing a wizard to assist new users with a complex process, designers can determine whether these users actually understand the steps and terminology in the wizard. Since this is a make-it- or-break-it issue for this type of wizard, designers can nail down a workable approach before investing the effort in writing code.

MODELING

Developers often develop "myths" about their users and how they use an interface. For example, "the person who installs this product is the same one who uses it." Since these myths form the basis for many of the developers' assumptions, they can substantially affect design.

Myths often exist at a subconscious level - asking a developer to "tell me your myths about users" is unlikely to elicit any useful information. However, there are ways to unearth myths and use them as the basis for a model of the user. The designers continually refine this model as they acquire more knowledge of users.