Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen has published a first look at interaction on the iPad, and the summation isn’t pretty:
“Weird interaction styles” is going to be my new phrase of the day, but his point is a good one: with no consistency of navigation between apps, users waste a lot of time trying to figure out how each app works.
There’s a lot to chew on here, including inconsistent use of gestures, “whacky interfaces” and a “crushing print metaphor” (another favorite new phrase). As someone who worked on the Web in the early days, this struck a chord with me:
“It’s the same with iPad apps: anything you can show and touch can be a UI on this device. There are no standards and no expectations.”
Hopefully, some of the design issues will evolve more quickly than they did on the Web, but it’s going to take some creativity and some standardization to get there.
All this said, note the very small testing group of seven users, who also are familiar with iPhones, and had a week’s experience with the iPad.
The full 93-page report, “Usability of iPad Apps and websites: First Research Findings,” is a free download.
>Jakob Nielsen wants everyone to stop being so weird (Alexis Lloyd)
