Appliance Design - September 2008 - (Page 22) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN & HUMAN FACTORS Grundig Music Boy radio illustrates how interaction design principles can guide decisions about control selection. In this case, the plus and minus buttons are modal controls for both tuning and time settings. (Image: Grundig Intermedia.) taxed visual and tactile resources. In other words, it’s not the quantity of technology that the user interacts with, but the quality of its implementation that differentiates a product that is quickly understood and adopted from one that is returned because it is perceived to be “broken” or requires special training. So how does one achieve clarity in products that deliver an increasing number of modes, options, and configurations? A helpful way of thinking about the problem is to consider clarity as a measure of the complexity of the user experience, rather than the product functionality. In some cases, making the operation of a device clearer to the user is achieved by transferring the experiential complexity to technical complexity, rather than eliminating complexity from the user-product relationship. For example, an automatic transmission is easier to use than a manual transmission from the driver’s perspective. The ease of use is improved by relocating the complexity of the gear-shifting task from the user to an automated system. But from a technical perspective, the automatic transmission is significantly more complex than the manual version. Accommodating both modes of interaction adds even greater technical complexity, as automobile manufacturers are now providing transmissions than can work in either fully automatic or a clutchless manual shifting mode. On the other hand, some recent products have reduced experiential complexity by avoiding technical complexity. For example, the Flip Video Mino surprised the competitive consumer video camera market with its lack of features, reducing the number of interaction touch points. In practice, designers do not always have the option (or the desire) to reduce product features, and need techniques to support usable products. Therefore, it is valuable to address the pros and cons in the design of each user touch point from the perspective of interaction design principles. For example, a common design decision is whether interface control points should be dedicated (single function) or modal (multiple functions). Dedicated controls are easier to label and learn, but can result in a larger number of options that can confuse or intimidate the consumer, and can add clutter to a minimal aesthetic. Adding touch points can also require more actuator components that leads to higher costs. By contrast, modal controls provide access to multiple functions through the same touch points. For instance, many clock radios have buttons that change functionality based on the mode of use. The plus and minus buttons may be used for tuning frequencies in the radio mode, and also to change the hours and minutes in the time-setting mode. As a rule of thumb, the modal/multiple-function user interface is more complex to learn and use, but is widely applied in situations where second- 22 applianceDESIGN September 2008 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.elec-troninc.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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