To significantly improve main usability aspects its important to think of application as an appliance. Can you operate microwave with your eyes closed? Same should apply to program in sense of of ease of use.

Over the last few years penetration of user interfaces of various applications in daily lives is becoming more and more visible and noticeable.
Despite common assumptions that users by default are not proficient, general level of users is gradually growing. Nevertheless, applications are still be designed for general user not familiar with the application, technology. Users are not familiar with application ui design and need to learn it quickly. User interface should be designed with this in mind making learning curve not too steep. Training and presentation technologies became easy and affordable spurring growth in education and mentoring fields in all industries. This has adverse effects on the UI design as users often rely on the training as opposed to good usability.

How can your organization benefit from hiring a good interface design specialist?

In the past 10 years web site design and interactive design services were on the top of the list of marketing to provide immediate return on investments. Little or none was done to improve actual business process and enable clients communicate with company solutions via web interfaces. In the past 3 years this started to change dramatically. Today, more and more organizations realize that web sites alone are not enough to provide good experience for their customers. Web sites become portals, portals become applications. With this change, businesses require more and more specialists that can understand much more sophisticated interrelationships between data, services, customers and business processes. Experienced UE (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) design specialists are bringing real value to organizations by improving business operations and thus enabling marketing departments promote more user-friendly features of services and products.

What is interface design and how is it different from web site design?

So what is so different between web and interface design? Why a web site designer can’t immediately satisfy needs for more complex UI and UE work? The answer to this is not that simple. Web sites can be interfaces, but interfaces are no web sites. Interfaces for applications your organization putting online are all based on pure functionality with as little distraction as possible. Web sites on the other hand search for a balanced approach that often also focused  on marketing message, corporate presentation and branding, all of which are not critical and not applicable in the UI design.

There are many talented site designers out there, but few can demonstrate capability and portfolio of accomplished projects in the UI direction. Many are not only illiterate in more advanced information architecture and workflow analysis, but can in fact guide business in wrong direction. A good and experienced UI designer can immediately provide you with an example of UI and web related work.

Why hire consultants and not rely on internal graphic department?

Many organizations rely on internal design department resources, without questioning if their capabilities are aligned with objectives of creating user friendly experienced for their customers. Designers are often focused for long time on internal production tasks and lack knowledge of how latest trends were used by other companies in the user experience analysis and UI design. Hiring an experienced external consulting form is very good idea. They are far more diversified in types of work they do. Ones that specialize in UI and UE design and have good portfolio are also well aware of how business in relying on user experience in other industries and can contribute invaluable professional advice.

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