Hospital Usability Lessons

Usability isn’t only for Web design. It’s also applicable in the real world as things aren’t always well-designed. Paying attention to real world design can help you think through usability for Web design. For instance, there is an elevator in New York where the numbers are in three columns. The numbers go across, but in this elevator they go from right to left instead of left to right. It’s in English not Hebrew.

Elevator in NY:
10 9 8
7 6 5

Most elevators:
8 9 10
5 6 7

This concept can be applied to a Web page by assuring numbers, letters, and other meaningful groups of information are sorted in a logical order.

I also saw a school speed zone sign where it said to slow down during the following times:

7:30 AM - 8:15 AM
2:45 AM - 3:30 PM

Hmm… figure out what’s wrong with this sign? This one can also teach a lesson for Web design usability. What lessons come to mind?

Donald Norman talks about such design in The Design of Everyday Things. While I was in the hospital twice in a little over a one week period, I discovered a few usability problems. [ Read more... ]