Krug Chapter 5
A: Omit Needless Words
and
Defaults and Memory
Jeff Offutt
http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/
SWE 205
Software Usability and Design
Omit Needless Words
• E. B. Strunk, The Elements of Style
– Vigorous writing is concise
– A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a
paragraph no unnecessary sentences
• Many words on web pages will never be read
• Get rid of half the words
– Then get rid of half of what’s left!
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
2
Editing Is Hard
• “There are no great writers, just great editors”
– Chris Offutt, author
• Sometimes I ask him to check something I write
– He cuts at least 25%, and the paper says MORE, not
less
• Why is editing our writing so hard?
– When we first wrote a word, we thought it had a
purpose in the sentence
– Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier than
cutting our own words
This slide
is verbose!
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
3
Editing Takes Discipline
• “There are no great writers, just great editors”
– Chris Offutt, author
• Sometimes I ask him to he checks something Imy
writeing
– He cuts at least 25%, and the paper says MORE, not
less
• Why is editing our writing so hard?
– When we first wrote a word, we thought it had a
purpose in the sentence
– Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier than
cutting our own words
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
4
Editing Helps Clarity
• “There are no great writers, just great editors”
– Chris Offutt, author
• Sometimes he checks my writing
– He cuts 25% and the paper says MORE
• Why is editing so hard?
– When we wrote a word, we thought it had a purpose
– Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier
Much
better!
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
5
Instructions Must Die
• If we need instructions, the interface has already
failed
• The one definite thing about instructions is that
nobody will read them!
– https://patriotweb.gmu.edu/
– https://patriotweb.gmu.edu/pls/prod/zwgkrtou.P_DispT
ermsOfUsageAgree (must log in first)
• If instructions are needed, reduce them to the
bare minimum
Don’t Make Me Think !
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
6
Overhead and Excise Tasks
• Overhead relates to solving problems:
1. Revenue Tasks : Sub-tasks that work to solve the
problem directly
– designing
– requirements
2. Excise Tasks : Sub-tasks that must be done but that
are not really part of the problem
– compiling
– debugging
• Excise tasks often satisfy the needs of the tools,
not the users
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
7
Excise Tasks
• Excise tasks are trivial, unless we have a lot of
them
– Eliminate them if possible
– Automate them as much as possible
• Excise for users with comp-semantic knowledge is
often perceived as revenue for users without
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© Jeff Offutt
8
Memory – Auto-customization
• Remember what the user did the last time
• Avoid unnecessary questions
• Imagine a roommate that asked you every time if
it was okay to share the milk!
• Dialog boxes ask questions, buttons offer choices
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© Jeff Offutt
9
Auto-customization Examples
• MS Word : I always put my files in C:\offutt
But MS Word always thinks I’m going to open a file in
C:\My Documents\ …
(took me 2 years to find the customization!)
• PPT : I often print “Handouts”, “2”, “Pure black and
white”
If I print several PPT files in a row, I have to click all three boxes
every time!
• ATM : I usually withdraw $150
Why does the ATM always use $100 and $200 as
defaults?
1-Jul-16
© Jeff Offutt
10
Summary
1.
2.
3.
4.
1-Jul-16
Omit needless words
Edit ruthlessly
Reduce excise tasks
UIs should have memory
© Jeff Offutt
11