A Weblog entry posted on Wednesday, August 22 2007

Great interfaces equal great processes by Aaron

What is a great UI? Is it the colors it uses? How technically capable it is? How many features it has? No. Great interfaces are about great processes. When I speak of process, I mean the list of specific actions one has to take in order to accomplish the end task and how hard those actions are to accomplish.

Great interfaces start from the correct process and not the look and feel. Look and feel is subjective(meaning people like different colors, styles, etc...), while process is objective. Good interfaces mean having to click once or twice to add a new element instead of 3 or 4 times. It doesn’t mean having the prettiest icons, the prettiest colors, or even overall layout. While these are important, process is king.

Great interfaces are not about the number of features, but the way it fits into your workflow. It has to fit within your process to make sense and for you to keep using it. People don’t continually use something because it let’s them balance their checkbook and create a website at the same time. People use something because it’s useful, simple, easy and quick.

Forget about what it looks like. What color should it be? What font? What style? It doesn’t matter. Begin with the organization. Begin with the process.

“People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

— Steve Jobs