Jul 16 2008
Mapping of controls
The mapping of controls refers to how the controls are ‘mapped’ to the device or product that it controls. For example a light switch or a stove. How do you know which control operates the left light? The principle of ‘natural mapping’ refers to designing the controls in such a way that it is obvious and logical which application it operates. Good natural mapping is characterized by not having to learn anything, you automatically got it right! Now let’s have a look at the often used stove controls.
When you are forced to learn
In the following three examples you are forced to learn which controls operate the burners. The spatial arrangement of the controls in relation to the burners is ambiguous. Often producers try to reduce this problems by placing icons next to the controls to indicate which burner it operates. But it still requires you to look at the icon every time. After many repetitions you might have learned which burners the controls operate but what happens if you are going to cook at another stove? Exactly, you have to learn it again, another long painstaking process.
Ambiguous situation, it is not clear which of the two top controls operate the left or right burner. Sometimes even one of the top controls operates a bottom burner!
Similar to the previous example you don’t know which control operates the front or back burner.
The control of left and right is unambiguous but whether you operate the front or back is still ambiguous!
Ideal situations - not having to learn anything
Easy to use products are characterized by a short or even no learning curve. The two following examples clearly show that the relation between spatial arrangement of the controls and which burner it operates is clear.
It is clear which control operates which burner, there is a clear similarity in how the controls and burners are arranged
(Ideal situation: full natural mapping of controls)
Selling usability
If all products could be used without having to learn the lives of many people would become a lot easier. An easy to use and understand product will create more satisfied customers and thus customer loyalty. Although it is not a buying criteria for many customers it certainly will contribute to the user experience of the product and it is the responsibility of designers and companies to delivers such products which in the end is more profitable.
July 19th, 2008 at 8:14 am
This entire post is based on a few pages from Donald Norman’s “Design of Everyday things”. You should reference him.
July 19th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Hi UsabilityGnome, thanks for your visit here. I know Norman writes about this as well in his book, but I consider this as ‘readily available’ information. Especially the stove example above has been used in several articles and books. That is why I didn’t referenced him, you can see I am always precise in referencing, (see other articles).
July 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am
When it comes to selling usability you should always keep in mind what the pay-off will be and when it will be there. In the case of burner controls… 1) I don’t think usability is a priority for the consumer (when he’s buying the product), 2) the life cycle of cooking equipment is not quite as short as that of - let’s say - mobile phones, and so you can seriously doubt whether creating customer loyalty through usability is a good strategy in this case. However, I still believe designers should make products easier to use, but sometimes the only reason you need is because it’s senseless to make a product that annoys people. And in this case the added cost of making it more usable is not that high or not present. So you don’t need the ’selling usability’ argument here. It’s a bit of context in this post, I think.
BTW I indeed know this example from Norman’s book, but also from the first year ergonomics course at Industrial Design Engineering in Delft (be it some years ago…).
July 26th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Ok, why not have a commercial break. If you are interested in reading about interaction design, be sure to read Normans book:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Hello Jasper, thanks for your visit. I fully agree that selling the usability of burner is a priority for the consumers. And as you point out designers should make easy to use product. I could imagine situations in which people get annoyed with a poorly designed burner. Maybe one could argue that creating customer loyalty is also preventing customers from getting annoyed?
July 29th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
The site http://www.interactiondesignblog.com is excellent site, thanks, admin.
By.
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[...] can use “mappings” to explain the relationships between screen elements. For example, if you need to display [...]
November 6th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Keep the heating elements square, controls along the button, but just nudge the back controls up a bit. That makes more sense.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Hello Max,
That might be even a better option; give the buttons the same ordering as the heating elements. Good idea, thanks.