Youtube Lecture

Bad Design Costs:

• time
• money
• even lives

Fixing bad design requires following basic principles like: consistency and feedback.

Example:

John Denver's death: Author of "take me home, country roads" was an experienced pilot with over 2,700 hours on various aircraft. He had a instruments license and a learjet rating. The inquiry into the crash of his plane showed that he was low on fuel and that he most likley was not able to use the fuel selector to switch tanks.

The plans for the Long E-Z kit aircraft say that the fuel selector handle--which switches the fuel flow between the left and right tanks--should be located between the pilot’s legs. But the plane’s builder, aircraft maker Adrian Davis Jr., said he put it behind the pilot’s left shoulder because he did not want fuel in the cockpit. Under those circumstances, the pilot would have had to remove his shoulder harness, turn around and switch the handle.

Designing great user interfaces is hard, but designing pretty good user interfaces is easy if you know some basic techniques, principles and methods.