Re: [PHP] Intuitive Interfaces (was: Add Reply-To to this list(s))

Hello

Now that the discussion is coming around to be more on topic I have some
stuff to add.

First and most important: There is no such thing as INTUITIVE when it
comes to interfaces.
Every interface built for human machine interaction has to be learned by
the human using it. So what we consider intuitive is merely the way most
people are used to dealing with stuff. An example: The way we navigate the
computer mouse, keyboard montior seems intuitive for us but everybody had
to learn it at some point but we have gotten so used to it and navigation
by clicking on a gui that we think it as intuitive. (wouldn't it be more
intuitive to simply tell the computer what to do?!)
Another example: The discussing about reply-to header.

So what is the point of stating this?
Never assume anything as being intuitive. Investigate the way people use
your interface and improve accordingly. If you implement a function that
requires the user to learn something tell him clearly that he has to learn
it first and tell him why you are doing it this way.

Just my two cents

Stefan Langer

SLanger@spirit21.de wrote:

> So what is the point of stating this?
> Never assume anything as being intuitive. Investigate the way people use
> your interface and improve accordingly. If you implement a function that
> requires the user to learn something tell him clearly that he has to learn
> it first and tell him why you are doing it this way.

An additional point that (I think) was brought up on here a while is to
log your validation errors. This way you can determine where users have
having trouble with your interfaces or where you may have missed
something in your validation (like allowing a - in names, for example).
Now, you probably don't want to do this all of the time, but when
deploying something new or after a significant change, it's not a bad idea.

--
---John Holmes...

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