I'm making this a quote for others to remember and hopefully get it stuck into those who make user interfaces:

as soon as you need instructions, you fail
Dallas J Clark - 2007

I told this over and over to my multimedia students at WideBay TAFE all last year, and I believe it stuck into some peoples minds. Yes it is cool to show a different interface that is really different to others out there, but you're making a big risk in doing so.

The above image shows an interface that's pretty simple (and it still required instructions), but imagine if this was a full shopping cart system with 100's of products.

Some flash sites out there can be the most confusing, especially when they don't follow good design practices. Plain and simple, if you stick to the normal user interface principles, your users can enjoy the service and your users will be able to get the information they want from your site.

The worst thing you can do for your viewers is confuse them about how to use the site, they won't pursue to figure out how to use it, they will simply walk away.

I'm making this a quote for others to remember and hopefully get it stuck into those who make user interfaces:

as soon as you need instructions, you fail
Dallas J Clark - 2007

I told this over and over to my multimedia students at WideBay TAFE all last year, and I believe it stuck into some peoples minds. Yes it is cool to show a different interface that is really different to others out there, but you're making a big risk in doing so.

The above image shows an interface that's pretty simple (and it still required instructions), but imagine if this was a full shopping cart system with 100's of products.

Some flash sites out there can be the most confusing, especially when they don't follow good design practices. Plain and simple, if you stick to the normal user interface principles, your users can enjoy the service and your users will be able to get the information they want from your site.

The worst thing you can do for your viewers is confuse them about how to use the site, they won't pursue to figure out how to use it, they will simply walk away.