Our technical world is becoming increasingly complex - but people are not. Can we get to grips with this?
Experts devise excellent expert systems with great expertise and unleash them on mankind. This is how complex becomes complicated. So much energy flows into the development of technical systems, and just before they reach their goal, they stop. They forget the real purpose of the endeavour: the user. Experts can do a lot, but there's one thing they often can't do: be a non-expert. And so the non-experts are left behind - and so is the company, which is stuck with its products.
A good designer is a bridge builder here. He understands enough about technology, and in particular he understands something about the usability of products. They translate product quality and application into a language that is immediately understandable. They understand what can be understood.
People learn. And they retain what they have learnt. Even if the world around them changes. They develop an abstract idea, a model of reality, and stick with it for the time being. Many senior citizens who have learnt that tapping the typewriter key immediately prints the corresponding letter do not initially understand the enter key principle (first enter, then send - otherwise nothing happens) and despair at the ticket machine. Sometimes people have a simplified idea of technical processes that are not easy to understand, such as the "electricity" that flows to the light bulb (note the vocabulary!) when the light switch is pressed (opening the line), as in a water pipe, and emerges in the form of light. The actual process is of course a little more complex, but the model enables anyone to handle this technology.
In my work, I explore the accepted models of users. What do they intuitively think about how the planned process works? What are they familiar with? What could make using the device a positive experience? From this, I develop an operating concept that makes even the most complicated processes understandable. If desired, this can also be a comprehensive process with interactive wireframes for testing and complete graphics.
The tragic thing in the world of user interfaces is not the complexity that cannot be visualised, but the fact that it would not be rocket science to make it useful and profitable for everyone. It just needs the right expert.