CHAPTER 9

1. CHAPTER 9 Interface

2. Introduction * The interface is the infrastructure of the application. * The main content sections were suggested and agreed – gives a shape to the intentions of what the site or application will contain. * The decisions about the content will indicate the best way of organizing the information, and will take the audience and platform capabilities into account.

3. At the proposal stage, the decisions will be shaping the interface in a particular way, since the amount of material and the number of sections it will have tend to contribute to the style of the interface. • Complex projects – one or more analysis may need to be involved to help shape the definition of the content structure to the needs of the company and the users.

4. When text is the dominant medium, interactive applications have tended to be structured through menus. • Tree structure: The user makes a choice that leads to another text menu and so on. The user goes down through the levels and returns by selecting Back, Exit or the equivalent. This leads the user back through the levels to the top menu. Many websites follow this basic pattern using levels of headings and drop-down lists.

5. Icons * In multimedia any pictorial representation that a user can select is called an icon. * The use of icons and the method of organization : • tree, windows, hypertext – are symbolic, so the • users’ correct interpretation of their meaning is the • key to good design. • * Icons have certain advantages over text: • icons can take up less space • icons are not language specific • icons are more aesthetic and appealing • icons can make access through an • application easier

6. The research on icons can be linked with that on signs and symbols called semiotics. • In the theory of signs, icons are images that are readily recognizable. They are not symbolic; they are realistic to the extent that they are recognizable without explanation.

7. Factor for Designing Icons • Symbolic structures need special care, explanation and • possibly training, when the target audience has little exposure • to such concepts. • An application can need many icons to indicate the • functionality. • It can be difficult to choose symbolic pictures that • demonstrate the functionality clearly.

8. Designers also need to take into account • that there will be a saturation point for • the number of icons a screen can support. • Even though icons nominally take up • less physical space than text, graphics take • longer to download and take up digital • capacity.

9. Knowing the target Audience • The more you understand your target audience, the better your design will be. • If the project is tied to a specific target group – spend time building up a profile of them, their multimedia literacy level, what they would like from the application and their expectations of what information/results they want from the interactive application. • Consistency in look and feel is a FACTOR that needs attention across all media used to convey information, particularly if branding and image are important to your clients. • Consistency of VISUAL STYLE across media helps users to identify a product. It can also provide a sense of harmony that contributes to a feeling of satisfaction for the user.

10. Testing Interface Design • Usually, the aim of the interface is to provide smooth, easy access to any part of the program the user wishes, but games, activity entertainment titles or image-aware sites can have different aims. • One of the misconceptions about usability tests is that you need a large number of people to produce valid results. • More recent research has shown that up to 80% of the problems were found with between 4 and 5 participants and that 90% were detected with 10 users.

11. It is important: 1) the selection of the participants has been made according to a predetermined profile of user groups; 2) the environment for the test has been carefully prepared; 3) the participants have been inducted into the test environment and know their rights; 4) the tasks to be performed have been created to mirror the aims of the product and the needs of the users; 5) the ways of collecting quantitative and qualitative data have been agreed; 6) the testing team have been thoroughly prepared and tried out in a pilot test; 7) the ways to organize and communicate the data have been agreed.

12. The Interactive Environment • If the purpose of the interface is to make the interaction smooth then this is the criterion that needs to be applied for quality. • An interactive communicator aims to trigger the user’s interpretation of the messages embedded in the content. This ability holds the key to good communication with media. • The new forms of interactive structuring employ techniques that take time for users to understand. • Icons; layering of information; use of mouse free users from typing in their selections; windowing with option bars and icons

13. The initial selection screen – the home page for a website and the main menu for an offline application – is very important. They should set the example of: 1) how users are to select an option – find the links/hot-spots and select, click on an icon which expands into a menu, and so on; 2) how they will know if they have made the selection. For example, the button/hot-spot/picon may change shape, size, color or stay in a depressed position (simulated by the graphics of course), or you may use a sound to show that something has been successfully selected. * picon – realistic pictures

14. Use of Color, Sound, Usability, Accessibility • The use of sound and colors in the interface also needs attention to ensure best use. • Sound means any type of audio used. This can include: i) speech ii) warning bleeps iii) alarm bells etc. • Need to consider giving control of volume to the users – by including a control bar linked with the sound (and video) that allow the user to control the volume, pause, repeat, move forwards and backwards, and so on. Control of these could help make the application more versatile for people with hearing difficulties.

15. The use of color The use of : i) background colors; ii) the color of text against a colored background; iii) color linked with layout; iv) the awareness of color-blindness in a percentage of the audience still have RELEVANCE. • Graphic artists are important members of the team. • One of the problems that still prevail for offline projects is the changes that occur in colors depending on their origins, the platform, the software, and the encoding processes.

16. Website – there are 216 so-called web safe colors that can be used with more reliable consistency. • With some applications, color consistency is vital. For eg. medical application. • Common examples of Western color psychology are: i) Red = stop, danger, appliance is on, left (port) ii) Blue = cold, water, sky iii) Green = go, environmentally , friendly, right (starboard)

17. Usability issues affect all aspects of the design process and are key to a project’s success. • Usability.gov (http://usability.gov) says ‘Usability is the measure of the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system – whether a website, a software application, mobile technology, or any user-operated device.’

18. ‘Easy to use’ means (according to Computers Solutions Consulting UK): i) Effortless – requires little training or mental investment; ii) Obvious – the software is clear, instinctual and non-misleading; iii) Simple – anyone can use the software; iv) Uncomplicated – there are no hidden meanings.

19. Screens are harder to read and people spend less time and effort on web pages than print. To make an impact faster we need to: i) organize the content more efficiently; ii) sequence it appropriately; iii) use more headings; iv) use smaller paragraphs; v) use shorter sentences; vi) use lists and tables.

20. Accessibility issues have implications for many projects and may need to be considered across all aspects of the design process. • There is growing global recognition that designing applications to allow equal access to the material by people with disabilities (problems with vision, hearing, physical/motor, literacy, and learning, and language and communication) is important.

21. Example: * Screen enlargers magnify or enlarge parts of the screen so that people with poor vision can read better. * Screen reviewers or screen readers translate text on screen to synthesized speech. This helps visually impaired and blind people access the information.