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User interface design terms explained: Gender HCI as a usability method

Gender HCI is a subcategory of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI concerns itself with the design and evaluation of interactive systems for human beings, such as user interface design, and Gender HCI focuses on the differences in how males and females relate to these interactive systems and their respective user interface designs. Gender HCI examines ways in which software (or even hardware) features can interact with gender differences. This requires Gender HCI (like regular HCI) to be a highly interdisciplinary field because it requires that designers and researchers from various fields collaborate to understand the ways in which males and females problem solve, communicate, and process information differently. Thus, researchers and designers must explore areas such as psychology, computer science, marketing, neuroscience, education, economics and others to ascertain the information needed to research requirements and design successful user interfaces with potential Gender specifics in mind.

Gender HCI is a relatively new field and thus still in the formative stages of becoming a fully fledged category of HCI. Gender HCI was first coined in 2004 by Oregon State University PhD candidate Laura Beckwith (along with the assistance of her advisor Margaret Burnett) and since its clarification as a viable category of HCI, research and interest in the field has exploded and many computer scientists and designers are occupying themselves with system models based on gender differences.

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The following is a list of topics which designers and computer scientists explore relative to how men and women react differently when interacting with computers:

Confidence as related to problem solving tasks on a given interface design
General attitudes towards interface designs, web apps, and how and why to use them
Willingness to try out new and different features on a extant and familiar interface design
Performance of tasks on large vs. small user interface displays
Graphic design reactions.

These are just a few topics that are being explored through the lens of Gender HCI, seeking to understand the different attitudes and reactions of males and females towards interface design parameters. While many of these issues can be analyzed through other usability methods, it is interesting to note gender differences because many user interfaces have users comprised mainly of one sex or the other. For example, designers of a wedding dress retailer would benefit from understanding the patterns of use that women employ when using interface designs. There are many gender targeting or gender specific websites that can benefit from understanding how the sexes view and use interfaces differently. In addition, context-aware or context-sensitive systems have long been a hot topic, since they allow to adapt systems to the specific context of their users, such as location, usage behavior, time, or even gender and mood. Understanding how men and women differ in their requirements and usage would allow better targeting to their needs and hence potentially improve the gender-specific usability of an interface design.

Gender HCI is a field that does not exist without controversy. Many people find Gender HCI to be a method of reinforcing stereotypes and categorizing users based on gross generalizations. There are also many people that maintain that gender differences are a product of socialization, that they are not inherent. Thus, there is a large population of people that find Gender HCI to be offensive and perhaps even a pseudo science. Still, controversy does not automatically make this usability method invalid—if anything it may makes Gender HCI more well-known, as controversy is often one of the best marketing tools around and a surefire way to capture the interest of a broader audience, in this case the broader audience of computer scientists, web designers and interface designers.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Protecting your user interface design against the plague of common usability mistakes

There is a plethora of information available to web designers about how to create interface designs that are characterized by optimal usability.  Yet web designers continue to make the same usability mistakes time and again when developing their user interfaces.  It is not as though web designers aren’t aware of common usability pitfalls—they usually consider them during the creative process and many are well-versed in usability red flags.  Yet this does not always ensure that designers will end up with a user-friendly interface design.   That is why it is important to beat the concept of usability pitfalls to death—if every website floating around in the world wide web was perfect then we wouldn’t need to do it.  But that isn’t the case so it is good to remind ourselves of the illnesses that can attack website usability in order to find ways to keep user interfaces healthy and strong.

There are hundreds of ailments that can attack your interface design and paralyze its usability.  Below are a few common pitfalls to watch out for as you attempt to keep your user interface healthy and usable:

:  Websites that require users to read about products and services must have content that is not only easy to read but also easy to scan since users often scan websites for the information that they need.  If your user interface has convoluted or complex information, users are likely to get frustrated and abandon it.  So even if you think your user interface has a lot to say and all of it is worth reading, your users may not agree. And that is why you need to infuse your site with information that is simple, easy to scan, and to the point.  If you feel like there is a breadth of information that users need to read, then provide links to detailed information—but don’t make that the focal point of your user interface design.
:  A great site layout is nullified when users don’t have an easy method of engaging with it.   One example of this is contact information.  Maybe your users want to get in touch with you for more information about site services or they want to sign up for something you offer.  Either way, if you do not make this process explicit and easy on your website, chances are that users will never reach their original goal and leave your site in desperation.
: Linking is a crucial function of every website but if your links are difficult to locate or are too small (thus requiring too much effort to click on) then you need to make changes because users aren’t going to stick around if you aren’t able to take them anywhere.
:  Search boxes are one of the main features of a modern user interface design. Users look for them when they open a page.  Searches provide users with an avenue of finding exactly what they want in the quickest possible way.  Some user interfaces provide no search option or provide search options that are difficult to use or find.  If you want your users to get where they need to get to sign up, make a purchase or find the information they require, then you had better focus on functioning search boxes.

If you are developing a user interface make sure you are fighting usability related illnesses with usability tests, a type of computer science medicine that allows you to eradicate usability problems and invigorate your website’s popularity and success.  There is no perfect interface design all user interfaces can be continually improved and changed.  If you keep fighting usability pitfalls at the forefront of your development process then you will find it easier to build a healthy site that will contribute to overall success and satisfaction.

Source: ArticlesBase.com