USE OF FLOWCHART IN MOBILE/SCREEN INTERFACE DESIGNS

A planning and analysis tool; this is the simplest way to define a flowchart.

Why do you want to use flowchart in your mobile interface design & screen interface design? How will it help your users to meet the interactive goals?

From a simple task such as cooking pasta to a more challenging task such as designing a mobile interface requires a step by step process or rather a sequence of operations. Thus, creating a flowchart becomes the first step towards managing these operations and what better way to describe the logic behind a process than in a graphical format. This is exactly what one can accomplish through a flow chart. Since a flowchart uses simple yet effective standard symbols, it draws a picture of the process that can be understood straightforwardly. For example, the logic flow for a mobile interface design may start from the beginning of input technique like whether its key based or touch based and then go on to elaborate different possibilities for each technique through subdivisions and recombining decision paths to its possible end point/points. Not only will the flowchart illustrate the process but also act as a tool for communicating the relationships between different steps in that process with clarity and briefness. 

Furthermore, it also provides a simpler way to locate the critical points or problem areas in a process because once you break down the process steps and diagram them, problem areas becomes more visible. This comes in handy when you’re tackling with a complicated process and also if you are working within a team. A good flowchart could act as a device for keeping each member of the team up-to-date with the specific area that he/she is assigned to work (organizing the work flow) and promotes the process understanding within the team.

One of the strongest benefits of a flowchart in my opinion is how effective it acts as a mode of documentation. Without reading through tons of pages of text, one can easily understand the operational procedures involved in a certain process years after it has been implemented. I think it also helps in enhancing certain processes. For example if I plan to further develop a screen interface design which was done a year back, I could go back to the flowchart which was used for the earlier design, analyze it, pin point and break down the areas where I could enhance and develop a new flowchart based on it. This comes to my question, do you see it as a disadvantage of flowcharts that whenever you have to enhance a process say midway through, you have to start all over again with a new flow chart? I guess it has its pros and cons. 

For flowcharts to help you and the users to meet the interactive goals, it needs to have a consistent level of detail. It needs to clearly demonstrate the starting and the end point, the flow logic and the key decisions involved. When a process is crystal clear for you, the design method involves becomes uncomplicated and effective which in turn reflects on the user who are using the program.

Following is a method to get started on flowcharting which I think gives efficient results.

Keys to successful flowcharting: questions to ask yourself

- What process will I flowchart?

- What is the purpose of the flowchart?

- What are the process boundaries?

- What are the process steps?

- What are the sequence of steps?

- What symbols should I use and how do I connect them?