Thought I would share a couple recent articles from Boxes and Arrows, an
> information architecture and interaction design site, that may be of
> interest to individuals on this list.
>
> *Advancing Advanced Search
> (http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/advancing-advanced)
> *by Stephen Turbek
> The success of the simple search box has relegated advanced search to
> second-class status. Stephen Turbek looks to resurrect this useful
> feature from the dustbins of the design toolbox and suggest some useful
> ways for designers to utilize it effectively.
>
What may be implicit in Turbek's article is that most people are what
Alan Cooper called "perpetual intermediates"
(http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Design/dp/0470084111)
where software is concerned. Specific features may be derived from the
data being manipulated or through the demands of a target audience
segment, but the overall relationship between the application and the
individual is cast within the framework of beginner, intermediate and
expert users.
The ratio of beginner to intermediate to advanced users varies in the
context of any given project (a search UI designed specifically for
librarians, for example), but I do find Cooper's model to be a useful
and simple one to think about in the development of UIs, even search
UIs. This sort of thing must (obviously) be balanced against the
context of the audience personas, the problem domain and a hundred other
factors. There, I left my self some wiggle room ;).
> Good searching,
> Chris
Received on Tue Feb 05 2008 - 13:07:34 EST