Invisible Details of Interaction Design

But what makes an interface successful? Beyond speed of performance, cohesive information sequences and anticipation of the human context and need, designing an experience that hopes to create feeling can only be done with feeling. The difference between good and bad becomes a matter of who can bring to bear greater focus and knowhow within the pro... See more

the easiest thing to do in a product is add a feature. People new to design tend to see the world of product as a set of features to build more than an experience to balance, and they rush to add things until they paint themselves in a corner with an encumbered experience that lacks a cohesive purpose. Balancing and integrating takes a lot more eff... See more

As I noted earlier, the ideal instrumental interface for any task or problem is a magic button that can (1) read the user’s mind perfectly to understand the desired task, and (2) perform it instantly and completely to the desired specifications.

In absence of such a perfect button, you, the designer, must conceive of the closest possible approximati... See more