Here is the illustrator of my final project about information hierarchy.
I didn't add any explanation here because I want to make sure that first of all my information is simple and clear as everyone could understand (I hope so). I'm a little worried about the user experience since I'm afraid that some functions of my final flash version will be hidden so users have to take an adventure to find out. I try to achieve "novelty" while it's hard to balance "novelty" and "better user experience". Still thinking about it...
Advices strongly welcome! Looking forward to see everyone's final work. Exciting~
use pictures where possible to convey function, e.g. icon+text
use thumbnail images to depict full-sized images compactly. e.g. iphoto, safari
the larger the number of people who will use a function, the more visible the function should be. e.g. frequent functions are visible while less frequent functions will be hidden behind "details"/"more".
use visual cues to let users recognize where they are
make authentication information easy to recall. e.g. BoA SiteKey
1. We focus on our goals and pay little attention to our tools
software applications and websites should not call attention to themselves; they should fade into the background and allow users to focus on their own goals.-----This reminds me of a website: http://sidigital.co/ I think it's interesting at first sight and it catches eye with the movement. However, at last I found that I totally miss the content because my eyes only focus on the flow. So I have to go over and find out what the website is about. However, I don't think this is a totally bad website, I still think it's kind of interesting and well designed with its lab concept. Because it is a design company's website, the main purpose would be drawing people's attention and turn them to clients. If it is a website to help people achieve some their own goals, then it maybe too annoying.
2. We use external aids to keep track of what we are doing
interactive systems should indicate what users have done versus what they have not yet done. e.g. unread mail, marking completed steps of a multipart task
interactive systems should allow users to mark or move objects to indicate which ones they have worked on versus which ones they have not worked on. e.g.Mac OS file color-tag, gmail tag
3. We follow information scent toward our goal
the goal-seeking strategy of following information scent suggests that interactive systems should be designed so that the scent is strong and really does lead users to their goals.
4. We prefer familiar paths
sometimes mindlessness trumps keystrokes.
guide users to the best paths.
help experienced users speed up.
5. Our thought cycle: goal, execute, evaluate
goal---provide clear paths
execute---software concepts should be based on the task rather than the implementation; provide clear information scent at choice points
evaluate---provide feedback and status information to show users their progress toward the goal.
6. After we achieve a task's primary goal, we often forget cleanup steps
interactive systems should be designed to remind people that loose-end steps remain.
webcommdesigns:  Above: a screenshot of ClickTale’s interface. Usability testing can to be a time-consuming process that involves hunting down real, live people and raising incentives for them to test your site that for many businesses just isn’t time and cost effective. With CEA solutions like ClickTale… useful for designer, but will users feel like being watched?
Definition of pattern: an optimal solution to a common problem within a specific context.
Four primary components of pattern:
a title
a problem
a context
a solution
Categories:
layout
navigation
selection
rich interaction
social
The design pattern library provided a great deal of patterns that we've been viewing and experiencing, but may not realizing how they facilitate our processing. I browsed the pattern library and here I chose several examples to demonstrate.
Examples:
1. navigation > navigation bar > progress bar
I love progress bar because it provides expectation of how many steps in total; it provides clear preview of what steps I'm going to follow/ what information I'm going to fill; it shows in which step I am now
Confim/submit in the last screen, but don't include a passive confirmation or receipt page in the progress bar
Use short names for steps and use parallel construction
