What is a User Interface? Everything in a device with which a

human being interacts. The total “user experience” Not necessarily tied to computers

– Doors– Thermostat– VCR

User Interface Examples Your car

– Pedals, steering wheel, gearshift… Altair (from videos)

– Knobs, switches, blinking lights…

Microsoft Windows– Mouse, keyboard, Start button…

http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/comphist/objects/altair.htm

Computer User Interfaces Webopedia.com*: “An interface is a set of commands or

menus through which a user communicates with a program. A command-driven interface is one in which you enter commands. A menu-driven interface is one in which you select command choices from various menus displayed on the screen.”

From www.webopedia.com, part of internet.com Corp., copyright 2001.

Advantages of Good User Interface Design

Ease of use Visually appealing Shorter learning curve $$$

– Designer sells more products– User is more efficient / productive

8 Golden Principles*

1. Strive for Consistency

2. Include shortcuts

3. Offer informative feedback

4. Design dialogs to yield closure

From Schneiderman, Ben, Designing the User Interface, Addison-Wesley, 1998.

8 Golden Principles

5. Offer error prevention and simple error handling

6. Permit easy reversal of actions

7. Keep user in control

8. Reduce short-term memory load

User Interface Exercise In groups of 4 – 5:

– Pick one of the following applications Word, Mozilla, Excel

– Give 2 good and 2 bad characteristics of its user interface

– Do any other principles of good user interface design come to mind?

Applications vs. Web Previous slides focused on

applications Assumed that principles held for Web

pages, too – so most Web pages designed with them in mind.

Spool, et. al. showed that this might not be the best way…

Applications vs. Web Applications are tools

– Ease-of-use means the tool is easy to manipulate – easy to get it to do what you want.

Web pages are information sources– Ease-of-use means easy to find the information

you are looking for However, rules derived from print layout

may not be useful either

‘Usable’ Web Pages Some good characteristics:

– Descriptive Links– Minimize Animation– Readability vs. Scanability

Information retrieval vs. Surfing