2505ICT

1. 2505ICT User Interface Design

2. Course organisation • Course Convenor and lecturer • Marilyn Ford, L08 Room 2.20, m.ford@griffith.edu.au • The course website • http://www.ict.griffith.edu.au/marilyn/2505ICT/index.html • The course textbook • Exploring Interface Design, 2005, Marc Silver

3. Assessment and available marks • Lab Exercises (days 1 –12) • 12 x 2 marks = 24 • Individual Project Reports • #1: due beginning of lab, day 5 (16 marks) • #2: due beginning of lab, day 9 (20 marks) • #3: due beginning of class, day 13 (20 marks) • Presentation on group project (day 13) • Individual marks = 20

4. Day 1 • Lecture on chapter 1

5. Objectives of lecture 1 • Understand some of the costs associated with poor user interface design • Understand the importance of client and user requirements before beginning to design a software project • Understand why it is important to create designs on paper before beginning coding

6. Some basic terminology • User Interface (UI) is the means by which people interact with a computer to achieve their aim • The person’s interaction with the computer is called human-computer interaction (HCI) or computer-human interaction • The term user experience recognises that when using the software, users have experiences that have been orchestrated by (caused by) the designers of the software.

7. The user experience • http://www.ted.com/talks/david_pogue_says_simplicity_sells.html

8. In the old days • The users of software were often the users of the software or specialists in a field • The general public did not use software • Even specialists needing computer output did not use the software • So, it did not matter what the interface was like

9. Then … • Personal computers became popular during the 80s and 90s and so the general public came to use software regularly • The users’ tolerance for hard-to-use software was low • Their expectations of the software running on their computers were higher than expectations had been for software running on the corporate mainframe • Things started to change, and still are changing

10. Designing with user in mind • More and more today, there is a push to design with the user in mind • [ISO 13407] "The usability of an interface is a measure of the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users can achieve specified goals in a particular environment with that interface."

11. Usability • Effectiveness • The accurateness and completeness with which specified users can achieve specified goals in a particular environment • Efficiency • The use of minimum effort by the user to accurately and completely achieve a specified goal in a particular environment • Satisfaction • The users’ comfort with and acceptability of the software

12. Ways of imagining the cost of bad UID • Imagine • being stuck in a room with no visible way to get out • being lost in a foreign country and being unable to communicate with anyone • being forced to make a decision with serious consequences when you don’t understand the choices • being on a highway with too many signs competing for your attention • having to reintroduce yourself every time you see your best friends • having to walk around the block every time you want to move from one room to another in your house • being hungry, but unable to figure out how to open the refrigerator • hiring an employee who refuses to do what you ask and makes you feel stupid for asking

13. Similar things happen when you have bad UID • Some examples: • You’re taken to a web page with no visible means of getting back to a known page • A group of buttons is displayed with cryptic icons whose meaning or function you cannot guess • A web page presents a confusing array of choices, poorly organized links, ambiguously labeled buttons, and meaningless graphic images • You’re forced to retype the identical user information that you provided to the same site yesterday • A tutorial program requires that you click the right arrow through 25 screens of information to get to the review quiz you were working on yesterday • A dialog box gives you 2 choices, neither of which you want

14. Satisfy the clients and the users • To do this, you must: • Understand the clients and the USERS • Find out what the client and the USERS want • Get feedback from clients and USERS from the very beginning and throughout the design process • Take notice of feedback you obtain • Don’t blame users for having trouble with your software • Adhere to established design principles

15. Think of UID as architecture • Would you build a structure without designing it on paper first? • Would you develop a prototype or model of it before building the real thing? • The term “information architect” is sometimes used to describe user interface designers, especially those working out the structuring of the information presented in the software • Just as architects use blueprints to specify their design, so user interface designers can use sketches or partial implementations to help specify their design and get feedback on the design • Don’t fall into the trap of heading straight for the computer when given a project ... before you head for the computer, get information from potential users and develop sketches and prototypes

16. One principle to keep in mind - consistency • Consistency placements have become the de facto standard in design • Deviating from expected conventions does have its place, such as when the goals of the site are to defy such convention • Think of (non-IT) examples where convention is not adhered to … think of the trouble this can lead to … it is the same with software • If you do deviate from convention, make sure that it is for a reason that you believe will enhance the user’s experience

17. Don’t be like Dilbert! http://web.mit.edu/is/usability/IAP/2003/Session1/