Start Visual
Visual feedback
The less types and amount of visual feedback you give the better
Ex: an analog clock needs hours and minutes, but does it need seconds? Microseconds? Centuries? Do digital clocks (ex: alarm clocks) display seconds?
What do the clocks in my kitchen need to show me? Why are there so many clocks that aren’t in sync? I have:
- Zojirushi water boiler on the counter.
- Over the window/sink, vintage analog clock stuck at 5:30
- Zojirushi rice maker
- iPad (we use for music in the kitchen)
- Microwave
- Stove
If the power goes out I have to reset each of them, there’s no external clock. This clock costs $20 and sinks with the US atomic clock radio broadcast.
Another watch with no second hand and no minute marks. Originally designed for the blind, but now a popular visual style.
Did Susan Kare invent emoji? Her first icon designs for the Mac were done on a square grid as she knew needlepoint. She went on to do graphic design for General Magic.
Visual states
I look at these fundamental types of visual state:
- color
- motion
- intensity
The type of display is also important: led, a light, a screen, a moving object in 3 dimensions, a swinging/flashing metronome.
Complex visual states
- typeface
- language
- icons
- images
Weekend assignment in two parts
First, please read chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Make It So.
Second, look around your world and find some good and bad examples of visual display of information. Your home, your car, public transit, etc. Example: I think my Eone Bradley watch changed how I think about time. I can only tell time to “about minutes”, it’s “about 4:55” or “about 4:15”. This has changed how I think about time being analog, not digital like on my phone.