Slip‐Sliding away: Real world challenges await us
Thom Haller · Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology · 2013
Abstract Editor's Summary For Thom Haller, an icy spinout in a new truck and frustration with a user manual raised the issue of perceptual affordance, design based on the perceived needs of a user. An object's design ideally serves its user, being visible and clearcut to avoid error, yet design snafus abound. The vehicle manual's verbal references to four‐wheel drive were circuitous and uncertain, and the illustration was no more helpful. Both failed to provide a direct answer to the user's question about how to enable four‐wheel drive or meet reasonable expectations for guidance. For information architects, usability is primary, delivered through sensible and logical placement of information and understandable terminology. Our job is to make the complex clear, and the need is everywhere.