User Interface Fundamentals
Lately, I've seen a lot of user interface designs that just don't work. Sure, they look pretty - but they aren't usable. The designers think their designs are wonderful, and don't seem to grasp why they won't work or what basic principles they have violated. I tried to find some documentation on the fundamentals of user interfaces to help them understand. All I can find are things that specify how UI elements should look under certain toolkits, or nearly useless advice like "less is more" and "discoverability is key". I did find several places that list the basic widgets/building blocks (checkbox, button, text entry, etc.). That's a start, sort of.
But where are the fundamentals? What makes a button a button? What things, if removed, would make the user no longer consider something to be a button? What things, if changed, would make the user confused about the operation of a button? Why can't every application use dark, transparent backgrounds? Why are bright colored buttons useful in some applications and harmful in others? How should a scrolling view behave to make it obvious and useful? Etc.
Those things I can't find.
Am I looking in the wrong places? Or are interface designers too focused on pretty pictures and copying the latest fad to document those things that "everybody knows"?
But where are the fundamentals? What makes a button a button? What things, if removed, would make the user no longer consider something to be a button? What things, if changed, would make the user confused about the operation of a button? Why can't every application use dark, transparent backgrounds? Why are bright colored buttons useful in some applications and harmful in others? How should a scrolling view behave to make it obvious and useful? Etc.
Those things I can't find.
Am I looking in the wrong places? Or are interface designers too focused on pretty pictures and copying the latest fad to document those things that "everybody knows"?