USER INTERFACE DESIGN

Not just about the arrangement of media on a screen Its designing an entire experience for people, hence a look and feel User interfaces should be designed to match the skills, experience and expectations of its anticipated users. System users often judge a system by its interface rather than its functionality A poorly designed interface can cause a user to make catastrophic errors Poor user interface design is the reason why so many software systems are never used

The Design of Everyday Things - Donald Norman (Doubleday, 1988)

In England I visited a home with a fancy new Italian washer-drier combination, with super-duper multi-symbol controls, to do everything you ever wanted to do with the washing and drying of clothes. The husband (an engineering psychologist) said he refused to go near it. The wife (a physician) said she had simply memorized one setting and tried to ignore the rest.

Normans Principles of Usability:

1. 2. 3. Visibility Mapping Feedback Frequently used functions should be obvious and easy. Relate interface to mental model Has an intended action to be done

Human Factors in Interface Design

1. Limited short-term memory People can instantaneously remember about 7 items of information. If you present more than this, they are more liable to make mistakes. People makes mistakes When people make mistakes and systems go wrong, inappropriate alarms and messages can increase stress and hence the likelihood of more mistakes. People are different / People have different interaction preferences People have a wide range of physical capabilities. Designers should not just design for their own capabilities.

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UI Design Principles
1. User familiarity The interface should use terms and concepts which are drawn from the experience of the people who will make most use of the system. Consistency The interface should be consistent in that, wherever possible, comparable operations should be activated in the same way. Minimal surprise Users should never be surprised by the behaviour of a system. Recoverability The interface should include mechanisms to allow users to recover from errors. User guidance The interface should provide meaningful feedback when errors occur and provide context-sensitive user help facilities. User diversity The interface should provide appropriate interaction facilities for different types of system user.

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Two Approaches to UI Design:

1. Lisa Lopucks 3 Steps to UI Design a. Identify your audience and message b. Determine the setting Tay Vaughans Approach to UI Design a. Determine all the functionality that a UI should provide b. Design UI that provides this functionality c. Create an experience

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Prototyping
You cant evaluate or improve a design until its been implemented, but changes are hard to make after its implemented.

an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from

Interaction Styles
1. Direct manipulation a. Easiest to grasp with immediate feedback b. Difficult to program Menu selections a. User effort and errors minimized b. Large numbers and combinations of choices of problems Form fill-in a. Ease of use, simple data entry b. Tedious, takes a lot of screen space Command language a. Easy to program and process b. Difficult to master for casual users Natural language a. Great for casual users b. Tedious for expert users

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GUI: User-system interaction Two Problems

1. How should information from the user be provided to the computer system? a. Direct manipulation d. Command language b. Menu selection e. Natural language c. Form fill-in How should information from the computer system be presented to the user? a. Information display factors b. Alternative information presentations (bar chart) c. Information display (dial w. needle, pie chart, thermometer and horizontal bar) d. Displaying relative values e. Text highlighting f. Data visualization Techniques for displaying large amounts of information g. Color Displays Color adds an extra dimension to an interface and can help the user understand complex information structures. h. Can be used to highlight exceptional events

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Common Mistakes
Too much color will kill you\

Error Messages
Error message design is critically important Poor error messages can mean that a user rejects rather than accepts a system Messages should be polite, concise, consistent and constructive The background and experience of users should be the determining factor in message design