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Raskin's
First Law of Interaction
A
computer shall not harm your work or, through inaction, allow
your work to come to harm.
Raskin's
Second Law of Interaction
A
computer shall not waste your time or require you to do more work
than is strictly necessary
Raskin's
Third Law of Interaction
An
interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate
of human frailties.
Raskin's
Fourth Law of Interaction
User's
should set the pace of an interaction
This
is just a taster of what Jef Raskin sets out to detail, examine
and provide solutions, in this slim volume which runs to just a
few pages over 200. There are few pictures and it quickly becomes
evident that it is a thoroughly researched and academic study. The
list of acknowledgments and the strength of the names on the list
is impressive. Equally impressive is the reading list of references
given at the end. The introduction left me in no doubt that Raskin
meant business. The concluding paragraph suggested that we might
be in for a treat. Jef Raskin was about to explain the "how"
of what Alan Cooper defined
as Interaction Design and the underlying engineering problems needed
to make it happen.
The
Cooper-esque sentiment continued right at the beginning of chapter
one, as Raskin explains that the Interaction Designer must be introduced
early, and he reminds us that "the simple parts of a task should
remain simple". Raskin tells us that the book will focus on
1-1 interaction. Why? Because, he explains, simple computer-human
one-on-one interaction is not a solved problem! Believe me, it is
so refreshing to hear someone from the BayCHI community say this.
Locus
of Attention
Chapter
two introduces what for me was the key point in the whole book.
The idea of a User Locus of Attention. This concept is thoroughly
backed up with explanation from cognitive psychology and the introduction
of terms like cognitive conscious and cognitive unconscious. The
second chapter continues with an explanation of habit formation
and the gradual movement of a learned activity to the cognitive
unconscious. This formation of habit is a key element in the need
for A-modal designs.
Alan
Cooper's About Face gets an explicit mention on page 27, as Raskin
explains why Error Messages and notifications are bad and why actions
should be easily reversible. Alan Cooper had embodied this idea
in his axiom, "Seek forgiveness not permission".
Chapter
3 introduces a new notation for denoting keystrokes. This is a prelude
to the later explanation of the GOMS method for quantitative analysis
of an interface. I found this little piece of science interesting
and I can see the benefit of putting some real scientific, quantitative
numbers against designs. In many ways, helping to decide between
competing designs without having to test them first.
A-modal
is always best!
The
really useful material in Chapter 3 is the treatise of Modes and
Modal vs A-Modal design. This is the best work I have seen on this
topic. It leaves you in no doubt why a-modal is definitely best
but it also helps to clarify the notion of a-modal and defines a
spectrum of modality between 0 and 1 (truly a-modal to completely
modal). There is further discussion on whether the use of state
indication on a status bar or other visual means is a suitable antidote
to a modal design. Raskin shows us that it is not and locus or attention
provides the explanation of why not.
Other
topics covered in this chapter included, user preference settings
and why they are bad, command line interface - the ultimate a-modal
system, toggle buttons, soft keys, breadth Vs depth menus, visual
affordance, modes and quasimodes, keyboard and mouse controls, adaptive
menus, noun-verb Vs verb-noun design, beginner versus expert levels,
finally concluding that a-modal must always be the goal. This chapter
alone is worth the cover price. It will change the way you think.
Chapter
4 gives us the GOMS tutorial I mentioned and throws in an adequate
explanation of both Fitt's and Hick's Laws.
Unification
Chapter
5 is entitled "Unification". What Raskin means here is
the notion that interface paradigms start to be unified across operating
systems, applications, browsers, and so forth. In other words, that
modes will go away. This chapter raised a bunch of problems with
existing paradigms that Cooper and others have often spoken of.
Concepts like file names and directory structures and why they are
bad for humans, and why Undo and Redo are essential and should be
ubiquitously provided. I found that the book was moving into territory
I used to hear discussed by the OS/2 community, notions of users
think about objects i.e. the locus of attention is always an object.
And that computer interfaces should operate on objects, there should
be no notion of a desktop, an operating system or applications,
but merely, components which perform functions on objects. The functional
behavior should be polymorphic across objects regardless of classification
or type. Almost 10 years ago this led to the OS/2 workplace shell
and a lot of experimentation in OO technologies which evolved component
technologies like CORBA. However, the OOUI community almost disappeared
with the demise of OS/2. Raskin wasn't appealing for a resurgence
in this movement but his ideas are definitely rooted in a lot of
the same notions.
There
are many new and radical ideas from this point on in the book. Raskin
wants quite a few more keys on the keyboard. Keys for Redo/Undo,
keys for "new paragraph" and "execute as a command",
transparent message boxes, a LEAP key, a selection history. He looks
at fundamental problems like how to improve search mechanisms, how
to improve editors, better navigation mechanisms, login mechanisms,
cut and paste, and icons.
The
book finally wraps up with a look at issues like process and documentation
of designs which affect implementation of interfaces but aren't
actually interface problems. This is not a deep section for what
is a huge issue in itself. Raskin is merely bringing it to our attention
and providing a few suggestions.
Conclusion
There
are few books which introduce new language to a profession. Few
authors capable of leaving their stamp on an industry. We have seen
a few in recent years. Alan Cooper's "Inmates are running the
asylum" gave us handful of new language with which to describe
what we do and how we do it. One year later, Jef Raskin has admirably
added to that list with terms like "Locus of Attention".
There
can be no doubt that Raskin has taken the best from his experience
and the best from the academic world and distilled it into this
neat little book which goes a long way to extending the state-of-the-art
in Interaction Design. If 20 or 30 of the right people, those with
influence over design of forthcoming appliances from firms such
as Palm, Ericsson, Apple, Sony & Panasonic, or web shops like
Sapient, or portals like Yahoo, Sprint, OracleMobile.com and others,
read this book, learn its lessons and adopt its teachings and implement
its advice, then the 21st century will be a far better place to
be!
There
are few books reviewed at this site which have had an instant and
profound change on the way that I work and how I approach Interaction
Design on a daily basis. However, this is one of those books. On
several occasions I had to put it down, sit at my laptop and fire
off emails to colleagues around the world. Usability test results
were reinterpreted. Designs were changed. For me, Interaction Design
will never be the same again. Things just got a little better.
If
I have a criticism at all then it must be that the style of presentation
does not best lend itself to use as a reference book. For sure it's
a good story but pulling out the detail after the fact might be
more of a problem. My copy will forever be bookmarked, dog-eared
and marked up. I will have to flick through looking for just the
exact reference that I want to reread.
This
is not a book which will aid the ordinary GUI developer or Web developer
with everyday problems to solve. This book discusses what is wrong
with today's designs and hankers for a better future with a new
paradigm. Ordinary developers may be left in despair after reading
this book, left with a hopelessness brought on through their inability
to affect change. In some respects, this is Raskin's manifesto and
he is looking for a constituency. I, for one, am signing up. Jeff
Raskin for President!
Recommendation
5/5.
It's not really a book for programmers or web developers looking
for solutions to everyday problems but for those from the HCI, Interaction
Design, UI Design and Usability disciplines, this book, which extends
the state-of-the-art, is a "must have".
Order
this book...
Check
out the author's Website
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