When it comes to any digital platform, an extremely important element is the interface design. In the reading by Ben Shneiderman, her explains the “Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design”. We already know that design is important when it comes to the digital platform of the internet and websites. Although the interface design of websites is that we will be more focused on in this class, something else I find interesting is the interface design of apps. In today’s modern world, all of my peers have smartphones that they rely on. On these smart phones, especially the iPhone, there are built in apps and supplementary apps that can be downloaded. These apps must be designed to be user friendly and therefore follow the eight golden rules of interface design.
An example of an app that is extremely popular, and therefore must have a good interface design is Instagram. Almost every person I know has an Instagram, and although I’m sure it can’t account for all of the success, I am sure some of Instagram’s success can be attributed to a successful interface design that is easy for users to operate. The first golden rule is to strive for consistency. An example of a way that Instagram maintains consistency is that all pictures are presented in the same format. It is very easy to see when a picture was posted, and by who because it is always displayed in the same way. The second is to enable frequent users to use shortcuts. Something that could be considered a shortcut is that instead of looking for a person’s picture on the newsfeed, the user can also type in and search a person’s name if they know it. The third is to offer informative feedback. The main source of feedback is the number of likes and comments which lets a person know how popular their picture is.The fourth is to design dialog to yield closure. The dialog to yield closure is the loading bar and then check mark that signal a photo has been successfully uploaded. The fifth is to offer simple error handling. An example of these simple errors that can be handled are spelling errors that can be corrected with autocheck. If there is a simple spelling mistake in a caption it will often be identified. The sixth is to permit easy reversals of actions. . If something is posted accidently, or the person changes their mind it is very easily to delete pictures or comments from Instagram. The seventh is to support the internal locus of control. The user is the one in control of the actions because they are given the tools to edit the picture and post it how they want it to look. Finally, the eighth is to reduce short-term memory load. The simple design of Instagram with the one main feed that can be scrolled through is optimal to reduce short term memory load. Users can open Instagram and just scroll until they reach a picture they have already seen. Once they reach that picture they will know they have seen all of the new pictures.
http://instagram.com/