Overview

User interface (UI) design combines elements of cognitive science (e.g., Card et al., 1983), usability engineering (e.g., Rosson and Carroll, 2002), software development (e.g., Spolsky, 2001), and artistic design (e.g., Ambach and Repenning, 1996). In recent years, the importance for UI designers to understand business principles has also become apparent (e.g., Bias and Mayhew, 1994; Donoghue, 2002). Although any given interface designer or design team will have a mix of strengths and weaknesses in these various disciplines, UI design is enriched by knowledge in multiple disciplines. At the minimum, all the designers on a team should be able to communicate with their teammates and be able to understand the others' perspectives. (See the discussion on social return on investment [ROI] in Wilson and Rosenbaum's Chapter 8.) On the other hand, no one designer is likely to be expert in all the disciplines. UI designers should recognize their own strengths and try to maximize their contribution by playing to those strengths. For example, cognitive psychologists who go to work in industry should maintain their strengths in understanding the users' cognitive abilities and limitations rather than adopting a strictly-business approach to interface design. For example, when a cognitive psychologist working as a usability engineer focuses only on ROI, the user loses a critical advocate in the design process. However, usability engineers who can communicate the impact that...