Design that Serves the User based on the book “The best interface is no interface” by Golden Krishna
Introduction
In “The Best Interface is No Interface” Golden Krishna takes a critical look at the current state of the design industry, where interfaces are typically associated exclusively with graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Modern designers have become so focused on screens and applications that they have become overly complex, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT). Krishna points out that many physical devices could interact with users without a screen, offering more natural and ergonomic solutions.
The main idea of the book is that the computer industry has recently become dominated by a cognitive bias: the interface is understood exclusively as a graphical user interface (GUI). All designers in the world are so stuck in the paradigm of “you need a screen, and on the screen you need an application” that it has begun to harm the industry, especially in the development of Internet of Things devices - they also strive to equip them with screens, while physical devices have a much richer range of interaction options.
What is the solution? It consists in returning to the roots, to the initially correct ideas that were thought about back in the 80s. Golden Krishna's concept is called NoUI, but this, of course, is more of a catchy slogan. He does not call for abandoning the interface altogether, but rethinking it in favor of more natural, more minimalistic, cleaner and more tangible interfaces. After the publication of the book, many companies began to adopt this method, and such devices became more common.
Below is a retelling of several key points from his book
- Mixing UI and UX is a fatal mistake
Have you noticed that in job descriptions UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) are often crossed, as if they were one skill: UI/UX?
But initially they were understood differently:
1. UI is about how to draw a beautiful form
2. UX is about how to fulfill the user's need
Or, if we go from skills:
1. UI is technology
2. UX is psychology and ergonomics
In fact, now UI/UX is simply understood as a UI specialist, because companies are trying to save money and not hire two employees, believing that one is enough for them. Mixing these two disciplines and a bias towards UI has led to the fact that we are surrounded by screens with a digital interface, and user experience is the last thing on our minds.
- Screen interfaces: fashionable, does not mean necessary
Since the beginning of the smartphone boom, it has become a rule of good form that a mobile application should be for everything. No matter what hardware gadget you make, it should have a mobile application.
Graphical interfaces are inserted everywhere without thinking. For example, Twitter and Facebook feeds are displayed directly on the car dashboard, that is, next to the fuel indicators, speed, etc. Golden Krishna asks: how safe is this for driving?
Wait. What if without an application at all? Without a graphical interface as such?
After all, we are talking about physical devices. Why don't they interact with us in more tactile, more tactile ways? Why don't they react to the environment, become adaptive?
- The best design is the one you can't see
Golden Krishna considers Mark Weiser and his ideas great. There was a famous engineer at Xerox PARC, he assumed that over time the computer should become invisible, dissolve into everyday life. The best design is the one you don't see. When the computer is integrated into your environment, and you don't bother learning new habits, but the computer learns yours, already established ones. This concept was called Ambient Computing.
A few negative examples
And so the industry came to what it came to.
Chi Touch Handdryer 2 hair dryer with a screen interface:
Kraft Foods Diji Taste vending machine, where instead of watching the products "live" behind the glass, you are offered a touch interface and only images of the products on the screen:
Kraft Foods Diji Taste vending machine, where instead of watching the products "live" behind the glass, you are offered a touch interface and only images of the products on the screen:
You yourself can recall enough examples where a screen is completely unnecessary and a traditional interface would be much more convenient.
4. Observation — Sensorics — Adaptation
Golden Krishna pays a lot of attention to how to make a truly human interface that meets the user's needs. He even has such a capacious thesis: the goal is to use computers, not to service them. In other words, computers should stop giving users messages like: "Error message: your password must contain at least 18770 characters and must not repeat your previous 30689 passwords." Golden Krishna notes: "We service computers. Let's turn this relationship upside down."
At the same time, screenless interfaces allow technologies to imperceptibly penetrate the environment around us. They allow us to interact with objects in ways familiar to us, reducing the time it takes to master the device.
Now, with the development of technology, big data is connected, and this makes the device even easier to use, because it adapts directly to us. Here, an example is the SportVU camera, which tracks the health of NBA basketball players and helps the coach make a decision on the timely replacement of a player.
Or the very relevant device EarlySense, which is attached under the mattress of a hospital bed and transmits data on the patient's breathing and motor activity, gradually studying his individual characteristics.
"Observation - Sensorics - Adaptation" - this is how the steps to implement the NoUI paradigm look like.
A few positive examples
Let's see how you can take and rework an unsuccessful design to make it closer to a person.
Unlocking a car door
Let's say there is a mobile application for this. Golden Krishna calculated how many actions the user needs to take to open an electronic lock via phone. It turned out to be 14 steps! And imagine that this is done in the cold, without gloves?
Meanwhile, an alternative solution was developed at Mercedes-Benz 10 years ago by Siemens, it is as follows: the car sends a low-frequency radio signal to make sure that the car keys are somewhere nearby - and if everything is OK, the door is unlocked. That is, no action is required from you at all. Moreover, it is impossible to accidentally slam the keys in the car: it can detect such situations, and if the keys are inside, it simply will not lock the door.
Conclusion
Golden Krishna's book is a manifesto against over-screening, calling on developers and designers to create interfaces that serve the user rather than force them to adapt to technology. As we become more aware of the ways technology can distract and demand, this book serves as a reminder that technology should ultimately serve human needs, not the other way around.
