Design - User Interface Design

Question 1

What is User Interface Design?

Answer 1

• User interface design is the process of designing how the system will interact with its users.
• The study of human-computer interaction (HCI) focuses on: Improving the interactions between users and computers by making computers more usable and receptive to the user’s needs.
• Some organizations employ professional HCI designers.

Question 2

What does usability mean in User Interface Design?

Answer 2

The term usability encompasses two related concepts, systems that are:

• Easy to use
• Easy to learn
• When a system’s user interface is very usable, users will be more likely to use the system

Question 3

What are the greatest problems facing UI Design?

Answer 3

• Using space effectively: There is often more information to present than room to present it.

Analysts must balance the need for simplicity and pleasant appearance against the need to present the information across multiple pages or screens, which decreases simplicity

Question 4

What are the 3 Fundamentals parts of UI Design?

Answer 4

• Navigation Mechanism: the way in which the user gives instructions to the system and tells it what to do (e.g., buttons, menus).
• Input Mechanism - The way in which the system captures information (e.g., forms for adding new customers).
• Output Mechanism - The way in which the system provides information to the user (e.g., reports).

These are closely related.

Question 5

What are the principles for User Interface Design?

Answer 5

• Layout
• Content Awareness
• Aesthetic
• Usage level
• Consistency
• Minimise user effort

Question 6

What are some types of navigation menus?

Answer 6

• Menu bar
• Drop-down menu
• Hyperlink menu
• Embedded hyperlinks
• Pop-up menu
• Tab menu
• Tool bar
• Image map

Question 7

What are some types of Input selection?

Answer 7

• Check box selection list
• Radio button selection list
• On-screen selection list
• Drop-down selection list
• Combo box selection list
• Up-down numeric control

Question 8

What are some types of outputs?

Answer 8

• Detail report
• Summary report
• Turnaround document
• Graphs

Question 9

What is the main point of the output design?

Answer 9

Outputs are the reports that the system produces, whether on the
screen, on paper, or in other media, such as the Web. Outputs are
perhaps the most visible part of any system, because a primary
reason for using an information system is to access the information
that it produces.

The goal of the output mechanism s to present information to users so that they can accurately understand it with the least effort.

The fundamental principles for output design reflect how the outputs are used and ways to make it simpler for users to understand them.

Question 10

What are some disadvantages of Touch Screens in UI Design?

Answer 10

Significant (typed) data entry is not ideal for the touch screen environment. Whenever possible, use graphical objects that can be manipulated rather than entering text

It is difficult to provide information to the user through hovering and tool tips.

When using a finger to interact with the application, the finger obscures some of the content on the screen

Can inadvertently “click” things when picking up the device.

Question 11

How can we design our UI prototypes?

Answer 11

Paper and Pen and photographs work well for 1 or 2 pages, but as your design grows a sketching tool is productive.

Balsamic and Ninjamock give you a pallet of UI Widgets that are consistent with UI conventions. Beware: too much creativity decreases familiarity.

Sketch in something easily and quickly

Customers / Senior management get to review the product concept without thinking we are done.

Question 12

How can we test and evaluate UIs?

Answer 12

You can test usability with conceptual UI’s:

• Task Completion Rates
• Assistance Rates
• Assisted Completion Rates

These metrics tell you a lot about how much guidance should be embedded in the UI.

Tip: identify a “user” who’s job is to evaluate/test the UI throughout the project.

Keep a record of all tests done (goes in your testing report)
Keep a note of all changes made as a result of finding problems

Question 13

What is the difference between UI Design vs System UI Design?

Answer 13

Not all interfaces are for users. Example: Interface from software to hardware:

A sensor provides readings to software

An API is an interface: Will your system provide code-level access for the other programs?

Interfaces to exchange data between different systems: What should be exposed? How ill the data be transferred (sockets, protocols), is any transformation required?