Lecture 7

Question 1

What are interaction design principles for?

Answer 1

They provide a general guidance

• Universally applicable
• High-level
• Often derived from theoretical foundations, e.g. cognitive psychology
• Or based on aspirations e.g. regarding inclusion or sustainability
• Need interpretation and often expertise to apply effectively

e.g. Be consistent

Question 2

What are guidelines, give 3 advantages and 2 disadvantages?

Answer 2

Specific applications of principles to particular situations, or accepted ‘rules of thumb’

e.g. Provide an escape to a known place on every screen

Advantages:

• Consistency (same look and feel across all applications)
• Learning (basic commands, icons are familiar)
• Development (ready made building blocks and design guidelines)

Disadvantages:

• Lack of portability
• Can constrain design possibilities and creativity

Question 3

Where do principles and guidelines come from?

Answer 3

• Informed by cognitive psychology
• Results of empirical study
• Based on experience and common sense
• Constructed by organisations to project and identity
• Some are aspirational

Question 4

As design becomes more detailed, what must it add?

Answer 4

• Decisions about functionality
• Detailed form of devices
• Sequence of actions (designing the interaction)
• How the actions including navigation are triggered (input)
• Visual design: detailed layout, labelling and structure
• Feedback
• Responses to errors

Question 5

What types of things should you think about when designing interactions?

Answer 5

Identify all relationships/dependencies between activities:

• Which items need to be completed before others
• Choices that are mutually exclusive