
User Interface Is As Important As Code - theudude2002
http://a-simian-mind.blogspot.com/2007/03/user-interface-is-as-important-as-code.html
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notabel
I'd actually go one step further, and say that user interface is /more/
important than code. In almost all case with a start-up, you users don't
really care about your code, they care about the functionality, and its
usability. That means that HCI trumps code, to some extent.

Of course, interface matters only in so far as it exposes functionality;
that's why craigslist, which is a monster of design, but highly usable, can do
so well. The interface facilitates the user's interaction with the
functionality.

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jwecker
I agree. In addition, some interesting notes about HCI. First- if you haven't
studied HCI or know what the acronym stands for, you may make it as a
programmer for some company, but you're not going to reach your full potential
creating new things.

Anyway, I was reading an HCI paper in one of the publications a few years ago
and came across these interesting statistics:

75% of software does _not_ in fact increase the productivity of the end-user.
(over a paper-based alternative)

Doing a single user-testing session results on average of fixes that take less
than 2 days and that increase the usefulness of the product by 80% (that is it
increases the end-user's productivity that much).

Here's a poor-man's usability test. Get a bunch of people who have never seen
your product and don't know much about it, but that are in your target
demographic (shouldn't be difficult- a brother, roommate, family of the
employees, someone off the street). Sit them down in front of your product and
tell them you're not going to be allowed to answer any of their questions
because you're measuring the usability of the system. Then stand over their
shoulder and let them do their thing. Don't make a sound- no guiding, no "oh-
that actually works by doing this"- just observe and take notes. A few
sessions like this will mean a world of difference in your UI.

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seijitanaka
A well planned project shouldn't have this problem since the UI should come
before the code. The decisions for UI should be resolved before the code since
it will dictate how the different functions will interact. Sometimes a good
interface design will reveal that a there's no room for certain seemingly good
features, thus eliminating a lot of potentially trivial work. Also, while
designing the UI before the code won't necessarily affect the quality of the
code, doing the code before the UI could substantially jeopardize the quality
of the UI.

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henryw
I've been trying to spend a lot of time on graphic design lately, and the link
to the free icons will be very helpful.
http://www.iconbuffet.com/freedelivery/packages

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juwo
Depends upon the platform. Designing a cool user interface in Swing seems to
be like dressing a dog up in a tuxedo. (my frustrations!)

