TBIG Makes Technology Easier
Easy To Use Software Applications
- Reflect the skill set and mindset of the user
- Recognize that users are very busy
- Provide a favorable return on investment
- Help users achieve their goals
Apple became the leading technology company in the world by making the user interface of the iPhone and the iPad easy to use. Why has Apple invested so much in the user interface?
Almost everyone gets frustrated when a user interface makes a simple task difficult. Watching cable TV, setting a themostat, online banking, and filling your car's tank with gas all require interacting with software interfaces that can be infuriating.
Why Is the User Interface Design So Important?
Easy to use software applications play to the skill set of the user.
Each profession has its own skill set and jargon. An engineer
probably looks at a user interface differently than an interior
designer. Well designed software does not insult the user with
indecipherable error messages. It remembers
the preferences of the user. It provides choices that are simple and
straightforward. It takes advantage of the memory and speed of modern
technology to help the user get tasks done quickly. When
the tools for work are so natural that they become invisible to the
worker, the thinking process is not interrupted and high productivity
occurs.
Easy to use software recognizes that users are very busy.
Well-designed applications allow users to flow with their work.
Users don't have time for frustrating delays for searches through cryptic
user guides. Extensive user training is always required when software
is not intuitive. Software that is intuitive can be learned quickly
and allows the user to concentrate on work, not on the tools used to
do work.
Easy to use software applications provide a favorable return
on investment. Software should increase the quality of work and productivity
of users or reduce costs sufficiently to pay for itself within a year. When
software helps increase the quality of users' work, fewer errors occur.
Downstream errors can be costly. On the other hand, software that is
difficult to use becomes a bad investment. It wastes valuable resources.
It creates stress and friction within an organization.
If an application is designed to be easy to use, a significant investment
in training is not needed. TBIG designs software applications that require
almost no
training while providing the users with an effective tool to accomplish
their goals.
Easy to use software applicaitons help users achieve their goals.
Both organizations and individuals benefit from well-designed software. Organizations
purchase software that helps realize their mission. For example, an
interior design firm working on a large commercial project creates a
lengthy document specifying all the materials that will be purchased
and installed – the spec book. Employees of this design firm must create
this document, which can consume much time. Software that helps the
design firm create the specifications efficiently and get the installation
completed on time, without costly errors, increases the profitability
of the firm. Easy-to-use software helps the interior design firm achieve
organizational goals.
Professional goals are related to the performance and career
of the individual user. If the software helps the user create
higher quality work, it increases the likelihood that the user will
receive excellent performance evaluations, get pay increases, be promoted,
and get job offers. For example, a professional interior designer spends
valuable time creating specifications for the rooms in a new hotel.
If the software she uses reduces the number of hours required significantly,
she has more time to spend on creating great designs. Great designs
win awards and generate referrals. Easy-to-use software helps the interior
designer achieve professional goals.
Easy to use software applications help people achieve
their personal and professional goals.