 |
Mandel interviewed for
second edition |
Atomic Dog Publishing
February, 2001
Atomic Dog Publishing Company has announced a revision of the second edition of the popular book, Distributed Multimedia: Technologies, Applications, and Opportunities in the Digital Information Industry: A Guide for Users and Providers.
Each chapter of the new book will feature an interview with an expert in the field discussed in that chapter.
Book authors Palmer Agnew and Anne Kellerman have interviewed Dr. Theo Mandel of Interface Design and Development. The interview with Dr. Mandel will appear as a two-page sidebar in the chapter on Multimedia Tools.
Below is a draft of the initial interview.
Visit the Atomic Dog catalog for this book
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Interview with Theo Mandel, Ph.D.
1. How did you get involved in being a usability specialist?
I got started in the usability field in 1982 when I was completing my Ph.D.
in Cognitive/Quantitative Psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The computer industry was just starting to realize that they couldn’t
just sell hardware and software products based only on functionality - they
had to address a product’s “user-friendliness.” I participated
in an internship program at the Human Factors Center in IBM-Boulder to address
the learnability, understandability, and usability of hardware, software,
and documentation. I then went on to spend 11 years at IBM conducting research
and developing more usable products.
2. If one of our students wanted to do what you do, how would you advise
him or her to prepare and to get started after graduating? What are typical
kinds of starting jobs in this field?
To specialize in the human factors/usability field, it often requires an
advanced degree in Cognitive Psychology or a specialized graduate program
in our field. There are many opportunities for new graduates in starting
positions at Human Factors departments of major hardware and software companies
worldwide.
3. What are researchers in usability concerned about?
Most research is now focused on the use of the World Wide Web for an ever-widening
range of audiences. User characteristics, such as age, gender, disabilities,
and accessibility are key factors being investigated. Additionally, new
mobile devices (“information appliances”) such as Personal Digital
Assistants (PDA’s) and cell phones represent a serious usability challenge,
with small screens and limited input capabilities. Other research addresses
the effectiveness of integrating usability practices into an organization’s
development process.
4. There is so much going on that involves usability (probably inspired
by e-commerce sites desiring better purchase rates from customers), how
do you keep track of all of it and how do you organize and prioritize what
you work on?
It is key to focus on high-impact usability issues. Depending on the specifics
of the product, the interface, and the actual device, it is important to
determine and measure the key usability metrics. These may be high-priority
tasks, timesaving interface techniques, or other cost-effectiveness procedures.
And don’t forget user satisfaction!
5. How important are usability skills for computer science and business
students in the next five years? Are these skills better left to professional
usability experts?
Very important! An awareness of the importance of interface design and usability
is critical for computer science and business students in the future. Also,
the ability to contribute as an integral part of a development team, including
interface design and usability professionals, will be critical. I joke that
developers used to believe in the motto - “This job would be a lot
of fun if it weren’t for those darn users!”
6. Are there any tools (other than templates) on the horizon that will help
creators create more-usable digital information for a variety of end-user
devices?
There are general principles of user interface design and usability that
have been applied and should continue to be applied across all products.
I call these the “Golden Rules” of interface design. These principles
can be found in my book and the many industry guidelines documents. These
Golden Rules are:
1) Place users in control of the interface
2) Reduce users’ memory load
3) Make the user interface consistent
7. Where are the best places to go to learn about usability and to get inspiration
for creating usable content?
There are a number of good information sources on the Web. Here are a few
places to start:
www.interface-design.net (Dr. Mandel’s
Website)
www.useit.com (Jakob Nielsen’s Website)
www.w3.org/WAI/ (Web Accessibility Guidelines)
stc.org/pics/usability/ (Society for Technical
Communications - Usability Special Interest Group Website)
www.hcibib.org/ (HCI Bibliography: Human-Computer
Interaction Resources).
8. Our students are confused about what color letters and backgrounds to
use on monitors to facilitate readability. White with black letters seems
to be used by major top sites. Is this best and are there other alternatives
to consider? Any suggestions here?
This is a typical interface design question. It seems like a simple question,
but, in fact, it is really a very complicated question. The simple answer
is, “Well, it depends.” The long answer is that readability
of information on computer screens involves a number of factors, including
background/foreground color contrast, font style, font size, monitor resolution/size/quality,
the intended use for the information (browsing vs. reading, for example),
and the age and abilities of intended users. Black text on white background
may be very common on web sites, and it is a good, safe starting point for
Web design. However, a white background is actually very bright and can
actually fatigue users’ eyes over extended periods of time.
9. We are specifically interested in multimedia, that is, interacting with
images, audio, and video, in addition to text and graphics. Yet, some usability
experts say that you should forget rich media and just concentrate on doing
text right. While we certainly think that doing text right is important,
we cannot ignore the other media. So, assuming we are going to use audio,
animation, images, graphics, and video, can you give us a few hints on how
to use these additional media well?
First of all, don’t use multimedia technologies just to try to be
on the leading edge. Bandwidth is still an issue for may Web users, so the
important thing is to make sure users need and want the technology, in addition
to business or marketing requirements. The media chosen for information
presentation must add value to your users! In addition, users must be able
to interact with the media in a simple, intuitive way. Interface elements
to navigate, control and interact with media presentations must be obvious
should follow real-world metaphors when possible (for playing videos, music,
etc.).
10. Many people are in situations of creating content where they cannot
go out and either hire a usability expert or conduct usability tests. What
are the minimal things that such people should know up front, that would
prevent them from making major usability mistakes?
Jakob Nielsen estimates that bad intranet Web design will cost $50-100 billion
per year in lost employee productivity in 2001. He coined the term, “Discount
Usability” (www.useit.com/papers/web_discount_usability.html). Interface
design and usability techniques do not necessarily cost lots of money, but
they can provide a tremendous cost-benefit for a small amount of time and
money. The most important thing is to design and test WITH users, not just
FOR users. Show your designs, prototypes and products to customers and users
and get their feedback iteratively throughout the development process. Keep
in mind my favorite phrase - “Know thy users, for they are not you!”
Copyright © 2001 Theo Mandel, Ph.D.
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