In article , Wolf K
wrote:


In The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman points out what's
obvious once you see it: electrical/electronic devices have no obvious,
intuitive methods of operation. It's all dials, knobs, buttons, keys,
and switches. Sure, a lever switch is obviously flipped on or off, but
when there are two or more, they have to be labelled (and usually shape-
and colour-coded for safety's sake), or you don't know which one to flip
when.

excellent book.

So we must rely on de facto standards, and on habits. That's why even
minor changes in the GUI cause such conniptions.

no, it's because most products do not have particularly good user
interfaces, and that's being overly generous. make a change and it
sucks in different ways.

a good ui is *hard*, which is why ui/ux designers get paid big bucks
and why a lot of companies don't bother.

IMO, everybody involved in the design fo electrical and electronic
devices should read Norman's book. Several times, if necessary.

without question, and not just electronics.

it's always entertaining to watch people smash into norman doors...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY96hTb8WgI