Centralis Blog

In Don Norman’s recent article on sociable design, he states that “No object is an island, entire of itself”, however “each piece is designed as if it were an island, independent of actual usage.” The design of how products work together, otherwise known as compatibility, is a prime example of this disconnect. Often how a device works with other objects in a users’ environment is neglected during product design.

When a design is giving users difficulty in a usability test, a common response of the observers is to dismiss the participants as non-representative:

Originally developed to obtain group opinions on product messaging or communications, focus groups are now often used to elicit feedback on interactive applications such as software or websites. In a typical focus group, a moderator demonstrates a concept and then solicits feedback from participants. However, this traditional format does not work well when evaluating complex interactive products. Focus group participants must use a product in depth before they can judge its effectiveness, voice their information needs or explain what features they want and why.

On a recent blog post, we were thrilled to see that the first question you should ask when hiring a web design firm is, “What is your approach to usability?” Naturally, we think the best answer is, “We partner with a user experience firm.”