Out of the Box: Approaches to Good initial Interface Designs

Publisher Summary It seems likely that devotion to any single approach to initial user interface (UI) design would not produce as good designs as the use of multiple approaches. The discussion in this chapter indicates that training in creativity, analogical reasoning, rational thinking, and/or the principles of perception and cognition can increase skill in these areas. Accordingly, companies might invest in training to improve the design of initial interfaces. Alternatively, companies could hire people who already had acquired the appropriate skills for initial design. To identify those people, companies would still have to invest in some means of identifying people with the skills. Current interview techniques at many companies may not be effective in identifying the best designers. Developing valid instruments for selecting employees who have skills in creative design, analogical design, rational design, and/or the application of cognitive and perceptual principles will also require a substantial investment. The difference in cost between the training approach and the selection approach may be that developing and implementing an effective training system will have both a high initial cost and a relatively high continuing cost, whereas the bulk of the cost for selection would be upfront for the development of selection instruments. A third approach is to continue with the current system in which most training is done at universities before a designer is hired, and selection is based on factors that may or may not correlate with design skill. Of the three approaches, this approach has a low cost but also has the lowest chance of producing good initial designs.