W8 L2 - UI Design Principles Flashcards
What is Experimental design evaluation method
- most subjective bc you get real users in to use it so they have different experiences with it. Usability tests – interact with working prototypes. Note this is expensive, what they love and what they hate. Get users in early stages of testing. Make them feel comfortable when using this, ask questions, analyse obstacles and delights. What went wrong and why then try fix theses. Expenses based on complexity and deliverable. Can run tests in house or get external companies to set up the experiment for you. May get biased feedback, ppl think THEY are being test not the system
What is the automated design evaluation method?
Automated – this is objective
Experimental does testing on both UI and UX where as automated more focused on interaction
- software; testing suites
what is Critique design evaluation
good balance between Experimental and AUTOMATED. Bring in experts for expertise and experience.
What is FURPS
A representation of attributes of a software (functional and non-functional)
- Functionality - Capability (Size & Generality of Feature Set), Reusability (Compatibility, Interoperability, Portability), Security (Safety & Exploitability)
- Usability (UX) - Human Factors, Aesthetics, Consistency, Documentation, Responsiveness
- Reliability - Availability (Failure -Frequency (Robustness/Durability/Resilience), - Failure Extent & Time-Length (Recoverability/Survivability)), Predictability (Stability), Accuracy (Frequency/Severity of Error)
- Performance - Speed, Efficiency, Resource Consumption (power, ram, cache, etc.), Throughput, Capacity, Scalability
- Supportability (Serviceability, Maintainability, Sustainability, Repair Speed) - Testability, Flexibility (Modifiability, Configurability, Adaptability, Extensibility, Modularity), Installability, Localizability
What are Heuristics and list Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics
- rules of thumb; experienced-based; not-guaranteed
- Visibility of system status
- Match between system and the real world
- User control and freedom
- Consistency and standards
- Error prevention
- Recognition rather than recall
- Flexibility and efficiency of use
- Aesthetic and minimalist design
- Help users recognise, diagnose, and recover from errors
- Help and documentation
What are Microsoft’s 7 user-centred design principles
- User in control
- Directness
- Consistency
- Forgiveness
- Feedback
- Aesthetics
- Simplicity
What is user in control
“The user should always feel in control of the software rather than feeling controlled by the software.”
User initiates; user is active rather than reactive; user chooses
Personalisation
Interactivity and responsiveness. Avoid modes (modal windows); “run long processes in the background, keeping the foreground interactive”; support multi-tasking.
What is directness
Design so “users can directly manipulate software representations of information.”
E.g. dragging an object to move it
“Visible information and choices also reduce the user’s mental workload.”
“Familiar metaphors provide a direct and intuitive interface for user tasks.” – think of the Floppy disk as the save icon
What is Consistency
“allows users to transfer existing knowledge to new tasks … consistency makes the interface familiar and predictable.”
Consistency within an application/system.
Consistency within the operating environment.
Operating system conventions/’style’ (appearance and functional/behavioural)
Across environments? (mobile vs desktop)
What is forgiveness
Users make mistakes.
Physical: accidentally pointing to the wrong command or data
Mental: making a wrong decision about which command or data to select
Support exploration and don’t punish trial and error.
e.g. are you sure you want to delete account
What is feedback
“Always provide feedback for a user’s actions.”
Avoid unresponsive screen (dead screen; dead input)
“It is equally important that the type of feedback you use be appropriate to the task.”
pointer changes
status bar message
display a progress control or message box.
What is aesthetics
“Visual attributes provide valuable impressions and communicate important cues to the interactive behaviour of particular objects.”
“At the same time, it is important to remember that every visual element that appears on the screen potentially competes for the user’s attention.”
Form vs function
‘Content is king’
“The skills of a graphics or visual designer can be invaluable for this aspect of the design.”
What is simplicity
Simple, not simplistic!
easy to learn; easy to use.
balance between function and complexity
“manage complexity by using progressive disclosure.”
“defers advanced or rarely used features to a secondary screen, making applications easier to learn and less error-prone”
What is progressive disclosure
- an interaction design technique often used in human computer interaction to help maintain the focus of a user’s attention by reducing clutter, confusion, and cognitive workload. This improves usability by presenting only the minimum data required for the task at hand
