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User Interface Design Is About Speaking The User's Language
One of the goals of a good UI is to not require the user to learn a new language. The UI should allow them to express themselves in terms they already understand, presenting them with easily recognisable concepts which map closely to their own mental models of the application domain. In the Agile Design workshop, pairs/threes work as a single team to establish a UI design for a community DVD library. I very deliberately ask them to design and implement the internal application logic first before considering the user interface. Many will tell you this is wrong, wrong, wrong, but I’m here to tell you that they are wrong, wrong, wrong and double-wrong.