Information Technology Reference
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improvements like this to interfaces requires knowing the terms that the users will
be using, which may require substantial work when the users are distant, and
creating designs that can support multiple terms when different types of users
search using different terms. In Fig. 6.5 changing ''SkyMiles'' to ''SkyMiles fre-
quent flyer number'' would be appropriate.
A related example of using multiple names for the same object leading to
confusion happens with air travel from Dulles Airport. Its name is Dulles Inter-
national Airport, and its code is IAD. It is located in the Washington, DC area
about 25 miles west of Washington, DC; however, it is actually in Sterling, Vir-
ginia, near the town of Dulles, VA. In other words, there are several ways that you
could search to find the airport. Some users may use all of these terms, but some
will not recognize some of them. This variety of naming conventions in the real
world can make interface design complex. One way of simplifying things is to use
multiple levels of naming. LON, for example, is the city code used to represent all
the London airports. This helps users who are trying to fly to any London airport
when searching for tickets, although they will not be able to fly into an airport with
the code LON, and will have to select the specific destination airport, such as
Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), or Stansted (STN).
6.2.5 Implications for System Design
When designing systems, you need to think about the users (what types of users,
the range of skill levels and attributes they may have, and so on), how they will
carry out work using the system, and the context in which they will use the system.
If you can talk with and observe users, this may provide you with a chance to learn
how they represent themselves, their tasks, and the system.
Mental models will often provide you with guidance about how to improve the
usability of the system by matching the mental models the users have about
themselves, their tasks, and the system (Krug 2005 ). Knowing about the users and
their mental models will also help identify where you need to support them to
develop an accurate mental model of the system. The areas where support is
needed may not be obvious to you as a designer if you already understand—have a
mental model appropriate to your purposes—the system, but your users are likely
to have a different mental model of the system (based on beliefs, knowledge,
capabilities, and attributes). Their models will differ between users and over time,
so your design needs to take this into account.
For example, photo manipulation software will have to teach the novice user
about the concepts used to describe photos and manipulations to them. Cell phones
may have to disambiguate cleanly what method is being used to make a call
(phone or voice over IP), and what network the phone is connecting to (a phone
company or a local wireless).
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