The value of research (Was: RE: [Sigia-l] Prominence in Short Lists)

[Dan Saffer]

I do agree that a professional designer has to consider the context of
any problem. Where we differ, I guess, is that I feel that solid
usability testing and other research can and should be one of the
factors (but not necessarily the only one!) that a designer weighs when
making her decisions. 

I also dislike rigid rules of UI, but guidelines and research derived
from well-run tests by subject experts, be they in usability, cognitive
psych, library science, graphic design, etc. can help shape designs by
creating a set of Best Practices to follow. Every craft has these.

Radio buttons might work best vertically and horizontally *in certain
circumstances*. But what is useful to know is that in most cases,
vertically is best because of reason X, reason Y, and reason Z. Reasons
that were discovered through testing, possibly the extensive testing you
suggest. If I want to scatter radio buttons all over the page randomly,
I should at least be aware that it goes against best practices and do so
for reasons of context.

Your highly caffinated pal,

Dan