User interface design (UI) or user interface engineering is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing the user experience.
We’ve designed a lot of user interfaces over the course of our careers, and one theme has been present across them all--a desire to create something that is easy to use for the novice user. Can mom use it, many clients have asked?
This approach may be great for a small company or for a simple website that perhaps users would only access once or twice. But what about mobile or web-based applications where the users do “their work” each day using the application?
Scan any job-posting site to see what a mess the Usability and User Experience (UX) world has got itself into. Job titles such as User experience researcher, user researcher, user experience designer, usability specialist, human factors expert, interaction designer, information architect, user experience expert, user experience architect, user interface designer create an alphabet soup that make it difficult for recruiters to know which candidates are right for which positions.
For the majority of my career I have worked on enterprise class software applications and websites that were built on, built for, and built with the Microsoft Windows operating system. Dialog boxes (and other user interactions), in this environment typically have an “OK-Cancel” at the bottom.
I was at a presentation the other day where a developer was presenting some training related to a new web application that they have created. Many of the screens he showed reminded me of one of the many sayings that I’ve used a lot in my UX career, “One size does not fit all.”
It was a pleasure to work with you, as you and your team made this process a more pleasant experience for our team and the participants.
Karen Perry
I just want to tell you that I value people relations more than money. I remember how you were friendly and helpful not going against policies and contractual obligations at the same time, not using your power to make us feel stupid and small. It was a very rare and big experience for me. Really. I will always remember this.
Alex
The Usability People are all individuals that you can become friends with very easily. They have a lot of different interests and are a pleasure to work with. I was writing a PRD/MRD for a billing solution and worked with The Usability People in defining the user interface. They are receptive to ideas and are able to mold the user interface from an end-user's perspective. I really liked the idea of putting end-user photograph & short biography around the office to help understand the users
