April 26th, 2008 Posted in Computer, Psychology, Web Design

Well made machines are invisible

I came across this quote at uni, but only just saw it in connection with interfaces and gadgets:

Introspective psychology and analytical philosophy of the self, of perception and of will, do not seem to take into account that in any well-made machine one is ignorant of the working of most of the parts – the better they work, the less are we conscious of them. Thus it is very unlikely that introspection will reveal those intermediate processes which are most important

Kenneth Craik, The Nature Of Explanation (1943)

The best designs are ones that we don’t even notice. The best interfaces are the ones that seem to have us hovering over the link we need without us even realising we are doing it. I think this is why people get so frustrated with computers, because they are supposed to be a tool, a means to an end, but often fail utterly to help us achieve our ends and it becomes apparent how much there is to go wrong.

Good use of AJAX and jQuery can help make interfaces invisible, especially when they are loading things ahead of time so when you click that link, it is there instantly for you. I am going to aim for invisibility in my web interfaces, and see if other people find them invisible too.