Yesterday I attended the local IxDA meet at NITH in Oslo. Topics where Visual Learning by @NinaLysbakken, a masters study on students and motivation, and User-centric design for professional applications by @paalholter, interaction designer at Halogen.
Paal presented us with his experiences from designing interfaces for information-heavy industrial apps where a misinterpreted icon or notification may spell disaster. Think bulk ships and offshore oilrigs.
Paal showing off a pretty (and clever) graphic
Having done quite a bit of similar work for similar clients on SharePoint at Puzzlepart, I found his insights interesting. We’ve made a lot of the same experiences, and I loved his Professional vs Consumer App model describing the implications the two segments have on the user experience and it’s goals.
Key take-aways from Paal
- Clients and endusers are usualy not the same people
- Clients/endusers in technology-intense domains are often skeptical towards new solutions and need grooming to realize that good design will increase workflow efficiency (and safety in this context, on offshore vessels)
- Technology heavy domains often have strict rules and conventions that greatly affect design (on all levels)
- User testing is King.
- Many of the same design concepts from consumer apps apply to pro apps, only with differing goals and means to get there.
Nina’s fantastic study made some pretty cool findings, not necessarily ground-breaking, but her background, methodology and approach to the case was inspiring and fun. Even though her subjects were young students, her process and findings should be very much relevant to good interaction design.
Take aways from Nina
- Students don’t regard any free-time activities as learning, even though they’re constantly learning; on You Tube learning skateboard tricks or how to play drums… Context is vital.
- The Norwegian public school system has a very long perspective on rewards, students don’t. Which leads to…
- Game mechanics are king. Give instant rewards when tasks are completed.
- Visualizing the process is also king. Lots of kings here.
Watch her beautiful video presentation and read more here (in Norwegian).
Some more photos and agenda here
