Thinking inside the box: The case for convention

“People don’t change their behavior unless it makes a difference for them to do so.”
-Sharon Stone

The human brain has the ability to unconsciously perform repetitious activities. This trait was favored by evolution because it allows us to automatically perform mundane tasks like walking without requiring constant expenditure of mental effort. This frees our conscious mind to focus on solving complex and novel tasks. As it is advantageous to repeat a once-learned pattern rather than start from scratch each time, humans tend to gravitate toward accepted conventions. Knowing in advance the expected method of performing an activity saves time and energy. Instead of needlessly “re-inventing the wheel” with each new product interface, interaction designers can create intuitive interfaces by leveraging common automatic behaviors and adhering to conventions.

For example, driving a car is a learned automatic process with which most of us are familiar. If you imagine your car’s controls, remembering the relative positions of the ignition, the headlight switch and the gearshift is a simple task.

Now, recall the last time you drove a friend’s car or a rental. The dials, gauges, buttons and controls were shifted slightly from your vehicle’s configuration. You surely paused for a few moments to scan the console to find all the controls necessary for operating the vehicle. Perhaps the first time you tried to turn on the headlights, the windshield wipers suddenly sprung to life.

Drivers must invest time when learning the nuances of an individual model’s interface. Automotive interface designers attempt to minimize the learning curves by adherence to convention and accepted standards. Therefore most cars have relatively similar controls and console layouts. If each make and model sported a unique interface, prospective drivers would be forced to read each vehicle’s instruction manual before driving.

The unorthodox ignition and gear shifting systems of the Toyota Prius have confused many drivers accustomed to operating conventional control systems. 

Similarly, Human-Computer Interaction benefits from convention. For example, the user interfaces of Microsoft Word, Apple Pages and Open Office Writer are virtually undifferentiated.

Evolution is an inevitable part of the life of a product. As features are added or fall out of favor, changes must be made to the interface. Slowly adding features and delicately shifting interface elements gives users time to comfortably adjust to the changes. Adherence to convention in the present with fluid pragmatic evolution toward future goals  allows your website, your product or your service to be accessible and easily useable by the broadest possible audience.

Adherence to convention increases the end-user’s efficiency, as the writer is not forced to expend effort learning an unfamiliar interface and can instead focus all attention solely on the task of writing.

In other words, intuitive interface design demands “thinking inside the box.”

Be Sociable, Share!

•