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152 Chapter 5 Understanding how interfaces affect users

to narrow down which plug-in is required, it is easy to overlook something and end
up with an inappropriate plug-in. Even when the right plug-in has been down-
loaded and placed in the appropriate system folder, it may not work. A number of
other things usually need to be done, like specifying mime-type and suffix. The
whole process can end up taking huge amounts of time, rather than the couple of
minutes most users would assume.
How to avoid or help reduce the frustration:
Users should not have to spend large amounts of time on housekeeping tasks.
Upgrading should be an effortless and largely automatic process. Designers need to
think carefully about the trade-offs incurred when introducing upgrades, especially
the amount of relearning required. Plug-ins that users have to search for, down-
load, and set up themselves should be phased out and replaced with more powerful
browsers that automatically download the right plug-ins and place them in the ap-
propriate desktop folder reliably, or, better still, interpret the different file types
themselves.

4. Appearance
Cause: When the appearance of an interface is unpleasant
Level of frustration: Medium
As mentioned earlier, the appearance of an interface can affect its usability. Users
get annoyed by:
websites that are overloaded with text and graphics, making it difficult to
find the information desired and slow to access
* flashing animations, especially banner ads, which are very distracting
the copious use of sound effects and Muzak, especially when selecting op-
tions, carrying out actions, starting up CD-ROMs, running tutorials, or
watching website demos
featuritis-an excessive number of operations, represented at the interface
as banks of icons or cascading menus
childish designs that keep popping up on the screen, such as certain kinds of
helper agents
poorly laid out keyboards, pads, control panels, and other input devices that
cause the user to press the wrong keys or buttons when trying to do some-
thing else
How to avoid or help reduce the frustration:
Interfaces should be designed to be simple, perceptually salient, and elegant
and to adhere to usability design principles, well-thought-out graphic design princi-
ples, and ergonomic guidelines (e.g. Mullet and Sano, 1996).

5.3.1 Dealing with user frustration

One way of coping with computer-induced frustration is to vent and take it out on
the computer or other users. As mentioned in Chapter 3, a typical response to see-
ing the cursor freeze on the screen is repeatedly to bash every key on the keyboard.