Good interfaces create good habits
When you’re first learning how to use even the best of interfaces, preserving your train of thought can be hard because so much of your mind is focused on how to use it, rather than on what you’re trying to do. As you become more proficient at using a good interface, it eventually becomes second nature — it becomes a habit, like walking or talking. You don’t need to think about what sequence of motions you need to perform an action because it’s like your hands have memorized them as a single continuous gesture, saving you the trouble of having to think about them.
Have you ever felt trepidation sitting down to drive someone else’s car, and spent the first couple of minutes “getting a feel” for the controls? That’s the acclimation period where you are concentrated on the “how” instead of the “what” of what you are trying to do. After the controls — the interface — becomes internalized, you don’t need to think about the “how” any more. They’ve become invisible.
Bad interfaces, on the other hand, prevent bad habits from forming — or, worse, they can cause you to form actively bad habits. Have you ever closed a window and hit “Do Not Save”, only to realize a split second too late that it was exactly what you didn’t want to do? That’s a bad habit developed trained into you by a bad interface.
Good interfaces make forming good habits really easy, and they make forming bad habits nearly impossible.
Question: What are some of your favorite examples of interfaces they train you wrong and set you up for failure?
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You’re currently reading “Good interfaces create good habits,” an entry on Aza’s Thoughts
- Published:
- 2.23.09 / 8am
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- WEBLOG
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