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By, Joe Mastey User Centered Design as a process is almost thirty years old now. The philosophy has permeated our products and the way we build our interfaces. But this philosophy is rarely extended to the code we write. We'll take a look at some principles of UX and Interface Design and relate them back to our code. By comparing code that gets it right to code that gets it desperately wrong, we'll learn some principles that we can use to write better, more usable code. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/G6rI/
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The video titled "Bringing UX to Your Code" by Joe Mastey focuses on the application of User Experience (UX) principles to software code, particularly in the context of back-end development. Mastey emphasizes that while user-centered design has been embraced in product development and interface creation, it is often overlooked in coding practices. He provides several key points on how to improve the usability of code by integrating UX principles: - **The Developer's Perspective**: Mastey, with a background in back-end development and experience as a UI developer, addresses primarily back-end developers to highlight the importance of considering UX in code. - **Key Principles from UX**: Drawing from Don Norman's insights—particularly from his book "The Design of Everyday Things"—Mastey outlines principles applicable to software, such as the "Gulf of Execution" and "Gulf of Evaluation", which describe the gaps between user intentions and actions, and the need for feedback processes, respectively. - **Intuitive Method Names**: He argues for clarity in coding, highlighting that method names should align with typical user expectations (e.g., using 'destroy' instead of 'delete' in Rails to prevent confusion). - **Natural Mappings and Error Handling**: Mastey explains that controls should follow natural mappings and emphasizes the need to design error messages that provide constructive feedback, improving the usability experience for developers encountering issues. - **Design for Constraints**: The importance of designing systems that guide users toward correct actions while preventing mistakes is stressed, with anecdotes illustrating these points, such as safeguards in MySQL to prevent accidental deletions. - **Grouping and Consistency in Code**: Mastey refers to Whitney Hess's design principles that encourage grouping related items to imply relationships and maintaining consistent naming conventions to reduce confusion. - **Emotional Connections and Accessibility**: He discusses how creating a positive emotional experience in software—by avoiding jargon and enhancing clarity—can significantly improve user interaction. - **Clear Documentation and Feedback**: Mastey highlights the value of self-documenting code and providing clear feedback mechanisms, which are crucial for effective debugging and user guidance. In conclusion, Mastey advocates for a proactive approach to usability in coding, encouraging developers to adopt UX principles to enhance the clarity, coherence, and overall user experience of their code. He encapsulates the core message: good design should alleviate suffering through improved user understanding and interaction with software.
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