Interface as a continuation of thought
Uncertainty is an aspect of reality that seriously complicates decision-making. Moving in short iterations and revising priorities based on data is a good way to overcome uncertainty. But how to do it with the least losses and quickly? If we are talking about automation of processes between b2b, b2c, c2b or g-sectors, then the user interaction with the system or, as psychologists say, the person-sign comes first. After all, in any case, a person enters and receives information, everything else is processing and storing data.
We set ourselves the goal of making the interface as informative, intuitive and fast as possible in interaction with the user. To do this, we studied the actions of users when entering and reading information, conducted problem interviews, became subjects ourselves, tried, made mistakes and tried again. In any case, our work is based on living natural human experience. The need that we solved through our UI solutions is the continuation of meaningful interaction with the environment in the digital space. The naturalness of the transfer is the main thesis of our work. We believe that the concept of intuitive is when the interface becomes a continuation of thought; fast is when input or output blocks become seamlessly perceived; informative means containing only the relevant content of elements without unnecessary and overloading the screen.
You can call it a clear experience. In the international sense, we introduce the concept of clear experience. Just as modern design of physical objects is minimalistic, has clean lines and is easy to perceive, and also uses natural colors for humans; so we bring the same principles to UI and UX.
In this article we want to talk about those interface elements (solutions) that help us achieve the above-mentioned goal. Some of them exist and we have rethought their use, we have brought something of our own.
First of all, it is worth saying that we separate the input and output of data into two different processes and define different approaches to organizing interfaces for them. In our opinion, the user has different motives for working with these channels, they require a different approach to assembling UI elements. Therefore, we do data input separately from output. At the same time, we define connections between blocks that interact with each other by both dragging and dropping data (cause) and dynamic updating (effect). At the same time, we reserve the right to change the interface control scenarios, and thus the scenarios become easily adaptable. Another example of this approach is sequential input with prompts, when data is divided into blocks and an input sequence is determined, which is supplied with prompts – a coherent logically defined system that allows you to speed up the input of information several times (sometimes tens).
The second postulate of our approach is the absence of multi-layered UI for user experience. We do not use pop-up windows or anything similar, and we avoid dialog boxes against this background. For example, we replace a dialog box with a dialog through an existing element and work with it. So the scroll area does not take up space on the screen but is integrated into the user's work area with the help of an indicator when performing the action itself. And in general, any interface object should appear only when there is a real need for it. For example, tooltips for a specific block. The purity of the general (work area) when displaying the particular (elements) is a necessary condition for us to solve the system's problems and build relationships with the user.
The structure of information delivery is another pillar of the system. First of all, it is the structure of the menu of the system itself, which can be extended to individual elements. Our research shows that the perception of information in a convenient form is determined by the language model and in the case of using, for example, the Russian language, the menu and its elements should be presented in text form. The automatic translation system completely solves the issue of switching to another language, preserving the structure of transitions, which can be extended along two axes in any direction. Another example of structure can be the process of user immersion in the product, when prompts become elements of a stencil that appears at a certain moment and in a certain place in connection with expectations of an answer or other user actions, certain scenarios of immersion and involvement. Another example of structure is the user path, which should be non-linear and take into account various scenarios of not only input, but also output of information.
The general concept of our approach is to rethink the approach to the interface – as a continuation of the action, the naturalness of the virtual action as the implementation of the plan. We proceed from the fact that the user, when working with the interface, solves his main need – the speed of interaction to save resources. These can be any resources – time, money, emotional, etc. In other words, the better the interface, the less time you need to spend with it. That is, any process processed through the interface should be digitalized quickly enough that the user's input or reading of the output data does not become work. We have shown using examples of our interfaces that we can provide such speed, which means saving resources for employees and business, increasing labor efficiency, maintaining employee engagement and motivation, helping to focus on the real delivery of value to customers.
