Comments on: Your App's User Interface is Like Eating http://shopsavvy.mobi/2008/12/15/ui-is-like-eating/ Shopping. Improved. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:14:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: rbarnes http://shopsavvy.mobi/2008/12/15/ui-is-like-eating/#comment-1275 rbarnes Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:26:34 +0000 http://www.biggu.com/?p=1143#comment-1275 Hey, you're an UI Guru and an Aggie? ROCK! You and I would have a lot to talk about if we ever crossed paths. Glad you liked the post. Hey, you’re an UI Guru and an Aggie? ROCK! You and I would have a lot to talk about if we ever crossed paths.

Glad you liked the post.

]]> By: Phillip Hunter http://shopsavvy.mobi/2008/12/15/ui-is-like-eating/#comment-1274 Phillip Hunter Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:53:27 +0000 http://www.biggu.com/?p=1143#comment-1274 Kudos for talking about UX here. However, from this designer's perspective, this commentary is an interesting analogy but doesn't quite capture the complexity and subtleties of why UX and interaction design are important. Far more than the material and gastronomic but rather empty satisfactions of cupcake apps, getting the design right often is the difference between success and failure, not between "eh" and a sugar rush. The example of fun doesn't really enlighten the reader with what fun should be about, plus, the characteristic that is more general and important is delight. An app might be engaging and entertaining without being what someone would call "fun". This element of delight is also far more crucial than unnecessary desire fulfillment. While some people may indeed just need to flick their home screen, many more of us are interested in the what and how of the satisfaction we get with the actual experience. In addition, you have to be careful with guidelines such as "trim the fat". I've seen highly efficient and minimalistic apps that work perfectly and are nearly unusable. Why? Turns out that the wheels of interaction are greased by some amount of seeming excess and redundancy. Designing that correctly is crucial though. You are right that there is a threshold that is reached quickly beyond which users will regard the app as bloated and time-wasting. And there are several more very key components of good UX design that aren't covered here. Enough for the soapbox. Your app is a sign of things to come: When connecting to the internet means more than starting a search with thousands and thousands of results and instead becomes applications that use built-in intelligence and knowledge to find the information and do the things we really want. Best of luck. Kudos for talking about UX here. However, from this designer’s perspective, this commentary is an interesting analogy but doesn’t quite capture the complexity and subtleties of why UX and interaction design are important. Far more than the material and gastronomic but rather empty satisfactions of cupcake apps, getting the design right often is the difference between success and failure, not between “eh” and a sugar rush.

The example of fun doesn’t really enlighten the reader with what fun should be about, plus, the characteristic that is more general and important is delight. An app might be engaging and entertaining without being what someone would call “fun”. This element of delight is also far more crucial than unnecessary desire fulfillment. While some people may indeed just need to flick their home screen, many more of us are interested in the what and how of the satisfaction we get with the actual experience.

In addition, you have to be careful with guidelines such as “trim the fat”. I’ve seen highly efficient and minimalistic apps that work perfectly and are nearly unusable. Why? Turns out that the wheels of interaction are greased by some amount of seeming excess and redundancy. Designing that correctly is crucial though. You are right that there is a threshold that is reached quickly beyond which users will regard the app as bloated and time-wasting.

And there are several more very key components of good UX design that aren’t covered here.

Enough for the soapbox. Your app is a sign of things to come: When connecting to the internet means more than starting a search with thousands and thousands of results and instead becomes applications that use built-in intelligence and knowledge to find the information and do the things we really want. Best of luck.

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