user experience (ux) lessons & myths

UX Lessons& Myths

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Photo credit: Daniel Novta

Play around or go straight to help?

Sometimes users prefer to explore a tool to find a solution to a problem and sometimes they like to seek help.

It depends on…• personal predilection• the severity of the problem• how well they can explore & learn without

causing errors

Photo credit: wolfpix

Tool list overkill

Camtasia Studio 6Editing tools were presented in a long list. Resulted in "task list blindness" – people stopped looking there to find their tools.

Camtasia Studio 7Introduced a graphical, tabbed interface for the editing tools, making them much easier to find!

Photo credit: hmboo

Sometimes a simple solution can fix a large usability problem

“I do not like green eggs & the Ribbon”

In Snagit 9 we added a "ribbon" style menu bar à la Microsoft Office. While many users thought they didn't like the ribbon because of its reputation, they were able to use it very efficiently.

Photo credit: freeloosedirt

Some user interface elements carry a stigma

Dust off the shoebox

By watching users interact with physical images (printed on paper) we learned how to model their real-world needs, behaviors, and expectations for editing multiple images in Snagit 9.

Some behaviors translate from physical to digital experiences

Photo credit: Paul Schultz

The wonders of videoIn many of our products, like Jing and Camtasia Studio, we've learned that a simple video can do a lot to help users understand a product before trying it out.

Photo credit: James Vaughan

What would we do without you?

Users are helpful…You really love to help us help you! You’re generous with time, responses, feedback, and willingness to participate in our research. Thanks!

…to a fault?Sometimes users are too nice. When unable to accomplish a task, they’ll often say that it was easy to do, even though we watched them struggle through it.

Photo credit: Hillary Kladke

Myth #1People never right-click on Mac!

RealityThey do right-click...a lot. (This is no longer the advanced behavior it once was.)

Photo credit: grey.beard.44

Myth #2People don't use file menus!

RealityNot true. They're still the go-to place to look for something you can't easily find in front of you.

Photo credit: grey.beard.44

Myth #3Red always means “stop”

RealityThe Snagit capture button proves this ain’t always so.

Photo credit: grey.beard.44

Myth #4People want to do everything with the keyboard (yay hotkeys)!

No, people prefer to use the mouse!

RealityTurns out there are “two kinds of people...”

Photo credit: grey.beard.44

Myth #5“Switching” from PC to Mac is hard.

RealityApple OS X offers a visual experience and standards across applications that can make their tools easy to explore and learn.

Photo credit: grey.beard.44

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