1. Interface Design Michelle Dalmau mdalmau@indiana.edu March 31, 2003

2. Getting Started: Things to Think About • Interface design is informed by: • your audience (representative users) • your content (e.g. digital object- image and related metadata) • technologies to be used for implementation • encoding (XML, Unicode) • databases (RDMS, e.g. Oracle) • programming language (Java)

3. Design from the Start • Interface design is an early part of the conceptual and development process • establish early on channels of communication with the rest of the project team • early user input is key for accurate and timely website development

4. Design is Iterative • Consult users throughout the development stage • Create and continually revise prototypes • Combination of regular user input and prototyping will ensure: • desired website • cost and resource efficiency • timely completion of project

5. Design is Complex • On-going user studies • Understanding the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the content and its structure • Understanding the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the technologies used for implementation

6. General Design Considerations • Keep it simple • Follow web conventions (navigation, searching, accessibility, browsing. . .) • Research (related usability studies, design guidelines, example websites)

7. Interface as Interactive Tool • Interface is not just based on aesthetics – appearance in terms of colors, font faces, etc. is secondary • Interface is primarily about functionality – how it works- and how to promote intuitive interaction for users