Q)How does one remember something?
A) When the mental artifact shifts from the STM (Short Term Memory) to LTM (Long Term Memory).
How does this process happen? One of the ways is through mugging. Now all of us are not smart enough to mug all the time. So when we encounter the artifact again and again in our tasks it gets imprinted in our minds eventually.
For Instance, they teach you in school that the capital of France is Paris in grade 1. You may or may not remember it. Maybe you remember it for the tests but then you forget it. So in grade 2 you encounter the same piece of information again. And again in the third grade. So finally it registers in the mind that the capital of France is Paris.
Forgetting Password
Similarly with Passwords. For the Accounts that you check more regularly the passwords are easier to remember because you encounter that piece of information everyday and hence you 'Remember' it. For accounts that you do not access frequently, the passwords are not remembered. Specially the accounts that you check once in 2 months or more. More so because you have many accounts online each with different usernames and passwords.
As a result, users forget their passwords. Now comes the usability issue. What many sites do is generate a new one instead of sharing the old one on the pretext of more security. This means that the user has now to remember a new piece of information. So sending him a new password as initiated a new cycle of forgetfulness. It has not helped the user remember it. This is because the user does not encounter the same piece of information for him to remember. Instead he has the challenge of remembering an altogether new piece of information.
Remembering Password
Instead the user should help the user encounter the same piece of information to the user by either giving him hints or mailing him his password. This ensures that the user eventually remembers his password. The users can delete the main containing the password immediately after getting the password is security is such an issue.
A word of Caution
When user does not remember passwords, he tends to note it down somewhere which is again a huge security breach. Instead its best the user remembers the password. We should therefore take steps towards making the user remember his password.
I am an interaction designer and my job is to create lots of screen flows and wireframes for software web applications.
I use powerpoint as my prototyping tool as its easier for the client to review and comment. ppt is very flexible but not designed to support prototyping. Visio is something that the clients do not have typically. So here goes the dream -
My ideal prototyping tool would have -
1. A library to store my widgets and templates - Most of the times I just copy paste the widgets I used in previous projects. I would like the application to identify and save these automatically.
2. Automatic Linking of Screens - The application could use my IA diagram and create a structure of pages automatically for me to work on.
3. A comment and review section - Each screen should have its own discussion place and pointers can be used to point things out on the screen. Reminders could be sent to reviewers who have not yet approved the screens.
4. Change at one place only - If I change the name of a link, label, button, then it should automatically reflect on all occurring places.
5. Ability to test it in the browser of choice - I should be able to test it in various browsers to see how it fares.
6. Suggestion of screen resolution - It should tell me what would be the best resolution for a certain browser and size of computer screen and other specifications.
7. Automatic Accessibility Accommodation - It should automatically accommodate accessibility considerations and notify the user wherever it is violated.
8. Web-based - So as to easily share it with stakeholders and peers. Anything new should be notified to the respective people. it could be downloaded anytime.
9. Automatic checking of standards and guidelines - I should be able to feed in the standards and guidelines and it should check these while I prototype and suggest an auto-correction.
10. Auto- generation of HTML - Finally my favorite feature :D!! .... It should generate HTML according to the standards and save all the donkeys from this work.
I believe that all this stuff is something we can out-source it to the machine and concentrate on the concept and ideas.
These features can be overridden at any point of time though. But really it saves so much of work. It we have a computer then might as well use it.
Introduction
In order to evaluate the usability of a system always judge how it performs for a typical usage. A few months back I presented in an HCI workshop for the benefit of engineering college faculties of Hyderabad. Usability is now being introduced at the graduation level and this presentation was an introduction to usability for these teachers. In the presentation I evaluated many systems for them, including an ATM Machine.
The pattern of evaluation was like this-
1. Identify the Usage Pattern of the Device or System
2. Evaluate whether the system facilitates the Usage Pattern
3. If not, then suggest improvements in design
Applying this to the ATM Machine
1. Identify the Usage Pattern of the Device or System
- Instant Cash Anywhere Anytime
- Quick and Easy cash
- For anyone literate or illiterate
- Most of the time amount withdrawn is the same
- Language chosen is same everytime
- Account time for a card is the same.
- ATM does not identify the account - Once the user enters the pass-code the system asks the user to select an account. But to my knowledge a card can be linked to only one account.
- It does not remember things - The user specifies the same language everytime. Why does not the ATM get it once and for all.
- Does not consider the typical usage - The user is got the habit of withdrawing the same amount over 90% of the time, so it should allow for dispensing that amount(checking from transaction history) at the click of a single button rather than having the user to enter the amount again (3 or more keystrokes).
- No prior notice of money finishing - There is always a queue that shifts from one ATM to another when the money gets over. Instead if a prior warning is given then users can find alternate means to take out money instead of wasting time in the queue.
- Does not simplify things - I have seen in many ATMs that in order to withdraw money, the ATM asks you to enter the amount to 2 decimal points, like 500.00. Will the ATM take out 50 paise if I do fill it?
3. Improvements in Design
- Adapt to the common scenario - The longer the process the harder it is for the user. So ask only what you wouldn't know at that point.
- Ask one time preferences only once -Language is one such thing.
- Simplify the Process - Identify the usage pattern and keep it as the default settings
So here it is. There are many more things you can do once you sit and start thinking. These are only a few of them.
Actual Implementation
Wells Fargo has recently changed the design of their 7000 or so ATMs to make it more user friendly.
Read Wells Fargo ATM Redesign
A brilliant example of gesture and touch based input is the unlocking system of the Android. It detects the pattern created by the user's finger on the phone and if the pattern matches then it unlocks the phone. It actually uses the idea of sequencing with dots. So simple that an illiterate could use it!
Take a look this android like system
A good article on this very different field of psychology that studies attention deficit problems in users.
"Information is no longer a scarce resource - attention is.... Computer-based interruptions fall into a sort of Heisenbergian uncertainty trap: it is difficult to know whether an e-mail message is worth interrupting your work for unless you open and read it - at which point you have, of course, interrupted yourself. Our software tools were essentially designed to compete with one another for our attention, like needy toddlers."
