Transfer of training is the concept that if you learn how to perform a function in one context, learning is much faster to perform the same function in a different context if the actions are the same. For example, copying and pasting is the same between Microsoft Word, Notepad, Adobe Photoshop, and others – Control-C and Control-V. These conventions are created through traditions and user interface guidelines, such as Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines for OS X and the iPhone. Consistency is good: users learn an action once, and it can be applied everywhere. Transfer of training.
However, the iPhone/iPod Touch interface has several glaring inconsistencies. One is how to delete objects. What’s been touted in Steve Jobs’ presentations has been swiping your finger across an object to delete it. For example, in Mail, the user swipes their finger across a message, and they get:
Then, they press delete, and it’s done. Simple enough, once users learn the finger swipe action.
This is almost the same with deleting a video. The finger swipes across a video and the red Delete button appears, but there’s a second confirmation:
This is not too drastic of a change, and adding a confirmation is not necessarily a bad idea, especially when it’s so obvious as to which buttons do what.
However, trying to delete a bookmark in Safari requires not only confirmation, but trying to guess at the meaning of buttons. The user brings up the bookmarks list, and a finger swipe does nothing. Instead, there is a button on the lower left labeled “Edit,” which does not evoke the “Delete” action at all. Once the user finally presses “Edit”, they are presented with little red circles to the left of the bookmark. It is important to note that this iconography is not used anywhere else in the interface. Finally, once the user clicks on the red circle next to the bookmark, they see the familiar red “Delete” button. Whew, that was different.
Moving on to the Notes application, however, shows a major breakdown. This, in my opinion, is the worst offender of implementing the delete feature. Deleting a note does not involve a finger swipe or an “Edit” button. Instead, to delete each individual note, they must be opened one-by-one. Of course, there is no indication of this. Once the note is opened, the user is presented with:
Suddenly, there is a Trash Can that is assigned the Delete command. More iconography that is never used in the iPod Touch interface, despite its familiarity to the user.
Yes, the iPod Touch interface is very new, but Apple is known for its consistent and intuitive user interface. This is an example of a total disregard for consistency in Apple’s shiniest new product, and it detracts greatly from the usability of the iPod Touch. Every computer user knows how to Copy and Paste, because the keystrokes are the same across applications. But when something as simple as a Delete command takes on four different implementation in four applications on a system, there is a problem. Apple desperately needs to standardize their interface to make transfer of training much easier from one iPod Touch application to the next.
