Module2.3

Question 1

Is an essential principle of graphical user interface design.

Answer 1

Visibility

Question 2

Visibility of Actions:
-Use Appropriate Affordances
- Make Commands Visible
- Information Scent
- Make Modes Clearly Visible

Visibility of State:
- Visible Navigation State
- Visible Model State
- Visible View State

Visibility Depends on Locus Attention

• Feedback: Actions should have immediately visible effects
• Visibility vs. Security
• Unnecessary Feedback
• Visibility Isn’t Just Seeing

Question 3

If the user can’t see an important control, they would have to

Answer 3

(1) guess that it exist
(2) guess where it is

Question 4

The first kind of visibility is for actions: what can the user do?

Answer 4

Visibility of Actions: Use Appropriate Affordances

Question 5

Are the simplest form of affordance for actions. _______ are typically metaphorical of real-world buttons, but the underlined _________ has become an affordance all on its own, without reference to any physical metaphor

Answer 5

Buttons and Hyperlinks

Question 6

Suggests that something can be clicked and dragged – relying on the physical metaphor, that physical switches and handles often have a ridged or bumpy surface for fingers to more easily grasp or push.

Answer 6

Texture

Question 7

A visible property of a graphical object that suggests how you operate it. When you move the mouse over a hyperlink, for example, you get a finger cursor.

Answer 7

Mouse Cursor Changes

Question 8

Affordances are low-level properties that tell you what a graphical object is and how to interact with it. At a higher level in a user interface are the commands that are available to be invoked. A command might be represented in a variety of low-level ways, some of these ways better visibility than others.

Answer 8

Make Commands Visible

Question 9

The standard pulldown ____ ___ is a beautiful design pattern. It keeps the top-level menu set constantly visible, without using much screen real estate. It provides a very efficient way to scan all the menus, and see all the available commands at a glance.

Answer 9

Menu Bar

Question 10

One rule of thumb is that every command your interface offers should appear in the ____ ___, even if it also has a toolbar button or a keyboard shortcut that you expect users to use more frequently.

Answer 10

Menu Bar

Question 11

Users depend on visible cues to figure out how to achieve their goals with the least effort.

An important part of information foraging is the decision about whether a hyperlink is worth following

Answer 11

Information Scent

Question 12

Give Good Information Scent

Answer 12

Hyperlinks in your interface – or in general, any kind of navigation, commands that go somewhere else – should provide good, appropriate information scent.

Question 13

Examples of bad scent include

Answer 13

-misleading terms
-incomprehensible jargon (like “Set Program Access and Defaults” on the Windows XP Start menu)
-too-general labels (“Tools”)
-overlapping categories (“Customize” and “Options” found in old versions of Microsoft Word).

Question 14

are interface states in which the same action has different meanings.

Answer 14

Modes

Question 15

occur when the user tries to invoke an action that doesn’t have the desired effect in the current mode.

Answer 15

Mode error

Question 16

you can focus your attention on only one input channel in your environment at a time

Answer 16

Visibility Depends on Locus Attention

Question 17

is one important kind of state to visualize – i.e., where am I now? On the Web, in particular, users are in danger of getting lost as they move around in deep, information-rich sites.

Answer 17

Navigation