The Storyboard Podcast: Focusing on elegance and clarity in usability design

We’re proud to announce a new podcast — The Storyboard: Conversations about Usability and UX. We’ll be talking with experts and practitioners about prototyping, testing, and usability challenges and best practices. We think you’re going to find it really useful.

Eric Reiss, CEO of the FatDUX Group, joins The Storyboard (iTunes | RSS | Direct Download | Google Play | Stitcher | Soundcloud) for the second part of a conversation about usability and user experience. The author of Usable Usability, Eric explains the five pillars of elegance and clarity in design: features and functions that are visible, understandable, logical, consistent, and predictable.

As the psychological components of usability design, elegance and clarity help users not only make use of products and services, but truly feel they understand and get value from them.

In this episode, Eric explains how making products and services understandable through these five principles has a tremendous impact on the user experience. He advises designers to make sure they share the same frame of reference with their target customers; as he puts it, “If people don’t know that it’s a button, they’re not going to click on it.” By understanding how users experience products and services, whether online or in the physical world, designers can ensure that their creative efforts go toward compelling content that benefits customers, without creating usability challenges that frustrate and annoy them. 

“It’s the content that makes the difference,” Eric points out. “We’re all trying to be so creative; content is where you’re creative. Content is why people are coming.”

Tune in to this episode for Eric’s thoughts on bathroom faucets, light bulbs, and restaurant menus. Eric also offers a simple strategy for making a business case for usability testing and improvement in your organization.

If you missed it, be sure to check out the first part of this conversation, in which Eric explains the five pillars of ease of use, the subject of the first half of Usable Usability.