unity-design team mailing list archive

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 2010-05-14 at 17:29 +0100, Joe Lanman wrote:
> These are all good but I don't think any cover the concept of being
> extremely quick to learn

If you mean quick to learn (as in learnability under the aspect of
required time), then just say so!?


> A UI can be very unfamiliar, but draw on many well-understood concepts
> to create something completely new yet easily understood.

If it draws on many well-understood concepts, it is bound to seem
familiar to those who indeed understand those concepts well.

Everything else will be along the lines of consistency and conceptual
simplicity.


> Language is a flexible thing, often changed over time by usage, and I
> think in this case people often look a good design and call it
> 'intuitive', meaning they quickly grasped it without much effort. I
> think to have a new interface 'not require learning' isn't helpful -
> there will be learning, but I don't mind the use of 'intuitive'.

Do you want your language to be a blurry mess or a sharp tool?

Those who work in a field will use other terms or some of the same terms
differently from the wider populace, because they need to be more
precise.


-- 
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/