Study guide: Design Clear and Kind Controls
Improve a pretend player with an unlabeled triangle, sound-only directions and a colored save dot. Supply three changes linked to those barriers.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- An icon is a small picture used in an interface. Different people may interpret it differently. A word or spoken label can explain its action. In a paper design, pair the icon with a useful action label rather than assuming the picture communicates everything.
- An interface status reports what has happened. Color can help some users, but it must not be the only clue. A clear text or spoken message identifies the result. The paper exercise asks for labels that a person can understand even when the colored dot is hidden.
- People receive information in different ways. An equivalent alternative retains every important task step in the requested form. Complete written directions can replace spoken instructions for someone who cannot hear them. A labeled diagram can explain positions; readable larger text can address a small-font barrier. A title or picture of only the finished result is not a complete set of directions.
- Useful feedback identifies a design detail and a possible improvement. It does not attack the person who made it. We can test a paper interface by trying a stated task and reporting where the task becomes unclear. The lesson uses fictional designs rather than judging real classmates.
Useful vocabulary
- interface
- The controls and information a person uses with a system.
- status
- A message about what happened.
- alternative
- Another way to receive the same information.
Watch your reasoning
- A decorative picture does not automatically tell a learner what will happen.
- A green dot alone does not tell every learner what has been saved or completed.
- Match the required form and barrier; larger decoration alone is not equivalent information.
- Insults and guesses about a maker do not explain how the design could improve.
A worked review example
Triangle icon should play the spoken story. Which label describes the required action? The supported answer is Read story aloud. Choose the stated action label that resolves the supplied icon’s ambiguity. A decorative picture does not automatically tell a learner what will happen. The supplied facts, rather than an assumed real-world detail, determine this paper case. Compare the recorded action or value with the stated rule before choosing an answer. A triangle icon has no stated action. Which improvement addresses the observation? The supported answer is Add an action label. Describe the observed interface problem and suggest a change linked to that problem. Insults and guesses about a maker do not explain how the design could improve. The supplied facts, rather than an assumed real-world detail, determine this paper case. Compare the recorded action or value with the stated rule before choosing an answer.
Make a practice plan
- Draw or tell one computing idea from each of the four lessons. Give one example of using each idea.
- Use the example to explain one mistake to avoid.
- Try the unit review before opening the explanations.
- Try the new task on paper or say your answer. Then compare your steps with the example answer.