Inverted duckling Fitts satisfaction

Many days ago, 10 useful conclusions and usability principles appeared on Habré and I wrote a response to it with a detailed analysis of errors and distortions. Yesterday the story repeated - the text Design & Usability appeared. An introduction to a subject based on another article from Smashing Magazine.

Just like last time, yesterday's article is an excellent collection of controversial statements (often given without evidence or references to sources), distorting research results, to which references are given and giving obvious things for discoveries.

At once I will say that all claims are directed towards the author of the original article on SM, and not against the Avart user. Only the part taken from SM will be lynched.
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Under the cut there will be a detailed analysis of each item.


Rule 7 ± 2

First, Miller was studying the limits of human short-term memory. He came to the conclusion that there is a limiting number of objects that we are able to keep in our short-term memory: 7 ± 2. He did not study the question of how many objects a person can perceive, assuming that there may be several thousand. Navigation on the website is generally not related to short-term memory. With rare exceptions, visitors never have to remember all the items on the menu. In fact, the navigation menu is present on every page of the site and is always available to the visitor. Short-term memory here plays absolutely no role.

www.webmascon.com/topics/navigation/25a.asp - translation of the article to which the author refers.

Once again, the author gives two references in this paragraph - to the text of Miller’s study of 1956 (which does not mention interfaces or usability) and to an article refuting his original statement. At the same time there are no references confirming his words at all.


The rule of 2 seconds and the rule of 3 clicks

Here everything is according to the general scheme:

“The user should not wait more than 2 seconds” -> “the value of 2 seconds is chosen arbitrarily, but ...” -> “the smaller, the better”

“The user must find information no more than in 3 clicks” -> “it is not the number of clicks that is important, but ...” -> “the smaller, the better”

The scheme is universal. If you wish, you can come up with any number of such rules.


Pareto principle

And here another method is used: the assertion is correct, but here it has nothing to do with usability.

Significantly improve the impact of the site can determine 20% of users, customers, actions, products or processes that give 80% of the profits and paying special attention to them during development.

That's right, that's just what have usability?


Fitts Rule

The model of human movements published by Paul Fitts in 1954 determines the time needed to move quickly to the target zone as a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target . Typically, this rule is used when considering mouse movement from point A to point B. This may be important when placing elements, the number of clicks on which it is desirable to increase.

Here the author screwed up his only one hundred percent moment :)

The law of Fitts in a clear formulation is as follows: the time required to achieve the goal is directly proportional to the size of the goal and inversely proportional to the distance to it inversely proportional to the size of the goal and directly proportional to the distance to it. Examples of its use in practice have seen everything - this is the context menu (the distance to the target is minimal) and the "Start" button (the "infinitely large" size button).

The law of Fitts, perhaps, the simplest and most understandable of all relating to usability. The author also formulated the paragraph so that nothing is clear in it.


Inverted Pyramid

Users want to receive information as quickly as possible , so the inverted pyramid is perfectly suited for the web.

In the original article by Nielsen, to which the author refers, another rationale was used — users do not scroll the pages. About the desire to receive information as quickly as possible there is not mentioned.

Same as in the first paragraph: the reference that the author gives does not confirm his statement.


Satisfaction

First, a more correct translation of the term Satisficing is reasonable sufficiency.

Secondly, again, there is a simple and understandable formulation of this principle (as opposed to the one given in the article): the user is limited to the first found working script, even if it is not optimal.

Same as with Fitts: simple and clear wording is replaced with a complex and incomprehensible.


Banner blindness

We look at the pictures provided by the author and draw several more conclusions: users ignore site logos, article headings, in general, all pictures, menus, and all navigation.


Duckling Syndrome and Principles of Form Perception

Skip if nobody objects.


The effect of uncertainty and the effect of self-reference

What does it have to do with usability?


findings

In accordance with the rule of the inverted pyramid, the conclusions must be sought at the beginning, and we will use the effect of uncertainty and finish at the most interesting place :)