Jakob Nielsen's second usability heuristic
says to match between the system and the real world.
That means the system should speak the user's language
with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user
rather than system-oriented terms.
Additionally, the system should follow real world conventions,
making sure that information appears in a logical order.
Let's discuss each of those components a bit more.
The system should speak the user's language.
Too often I see the use of marketing jargon
instead of direct, plain language
to describe features or web components.
So let's say we're redesigning an intranet
and need to name a section that houses contact information for employees.
Maybe we're looking at two proposed names:
meet-and-greet or staff directory.
Well meet-and-greet might sound trendy,
but it requires the user to make a lot of inferences.
You might think, 'is that work events? maybe calendar invites?'
Using the more direct label of staff directory
results in a stronger information scent,
because many users will recognize the term directory
as a place to find contact information.
In addition to speaking the user's language,
We should also follow real-world conventions.
Here, it's important to point out that people's mental models of technology
are based on their previous digital experiences,
in addition to their prior experiences in the physical realm.
Now, we can't talk about the second usability heuristic
without mentioning skeuomorphic design.
Skeuomorphic web design entails designing digital experiences
to match a physical experience both in visual and interaction.
For example, books.
In physical books, we can turn pages,
highlight text, or use a bookmark.
Looking at a digital book in the Kindle app
we can highlight text by pressing and holding a word,
turn pages with a swipe gesture,
or place a bookmark by tapping the page,
clicking the bookmark icon in the top right.
The digital experience of reading a book
is closely aligned to the physical experience.
Effectively following the second usability heuristic
means speaking the user's language
and following real-world conventions.
If you're not doing both, users might portray your interface in a negative light
as if you don't really know them or you just don't care.
At the end of the day, get out and observe real users.
Test your prototypes.
And remember to design for them and not for you.