Jason Terhorst

Make it Human

As humans, we tend to reach for things that we can relate to - things with familiar and friendly faces, or things with personality.

Whether it’s software or hardware, the things you design should be a natural grasp for other people.

Physical objects should be pleasant to the touch, and have obvious hinting - where to hold it, where to grab or pull. Software should, to some extent, imitate things in the “real world” that the user would already be familiar with. Don’t try to blaze your own trail in UI design until you’re sure that users will “get” it. By all means, please do innovate! But test it first, to be sure it’s a viable concept. Test it in all kinds of environments as well, to be sure it can stand up to whatever they decide to throw at it.

End users won’t put up with much if they can go elsewhere, so make sure you go out of your way to make it easy, make it simple, make it human.