Homework: UI Critique

Find $2$ examples of good user interface design, and $2$ examples of bad user interface design. Is there something that you use regularly that works well? Or really annoys you? Maybe it is on your email client, your phone texting interface, or on Facebook. Think about interfaces you use that you all the time effortlessly. Why is that? Or ones that you knew exactly what they did from the first time you used them. Why? On the other end, what interface drives you crazy? Why do you seem to the same mistake with an interface regularly?

Your examples and your reasoning should be specific. Focus on features of the user interfaces that makes your case even if other aspects of the interface are neutral to or opposing your argument. Any interface can be studied: desktop, embedded, mobile, web, consumer appliances, car dashboards, building entrances, traffic intersections, shower controls, etc. Norman's book, The Design of Everyday Things, includes a lot of examples of this kind, which you may find inspirational.

What to include:

Your report should include $2$ good examples and $2$ bad examples. For each example:

describe the purpose of the overall interface

describe the particular aspect you find good or bad

explain why it's good or bad $($please make explicit reference to the principles covered in the the lectures$/$book$).$

if bad, speculate why it might have been designed that way, and suggest a better design if possible

illustrate with screenshots or photographs