Chapter 18: Designing for Different Needs

There are two concepts that help with dealing with users of different levels of experience.

Command vectors are distinct techniques for allowing users to issue instructions to the program. These are direct manipulation handles, drop-down and pop-up menus, toolbars, and keyboard accelerators. Immediate vectors are controls of this type where there is no delay between clicking and seeing the results. Pedagogic vectors offer more guidance for new users.

A user's working set is the commands and actions memorized after frequent use. Establishing the minimal working set of an application is researching what the majority of users know how to do.

Providing multiple vectors to suit all users of various levels of expertise is recommended, yet in the case of "dangerous" commands, like "Erase All", etc.

According to Donald Norman, users access "information of the world" and "information in the head". Information of the world is info you access from a resources; Information in the head is knowledge you have learned or memorized = world / head vectors.

Memorization vectors help a user who is sit of the tedious pedagogic vectors to know the shortcut to an immediate vector = "butcons" (iconic buttons)

The author also covers the areas of personalization and configuration. People like to change things to suit themselves. Office cubicles are an example of this. Persistent objects cannot be moved. It is recommended however that a user be able to personalize these persistent objects. Personalization makes the places in which we work more likable and familiar. Configuration refers to being able to move persistent objects, which is can adversely affect usability, but is recommended only for expert users.

"Idiosyncratically modal", either users love it or hate it. Half of the users clearly prefer one idiom, whereas the other half prefers another. Why not offer both?

Localization and Globalization - use of immediate vectors, visual rather than textual, make this easier. Language dependent items must be translated.

Offer the user a gallery of good-solution templates, than asking them to design from scratch, which may be daunting to a user.