Technology Trends
Graphical User Interface Design and Principles
14:51:00
Impressive user interface applications
are visually clear and forgiving, they instill a feel of control in their users.
Users can quickly observe the options and understand how to reach their goals
and finish their task.
The impressive web site interface does not
bother to the user with the source code of the system. User checks whether the
task is accurately and continuously saved or not. Providing options for the
user to go back or forward on any activity of his task at any time would be
better. The impressive and efficient web sites and web services do a lot of
work, while they just need little amounts information from the users.
Anticipation: Web site should try to meet the expectations of user
requirements. It should not make users to search for necessary tools. The website
does have to come up with the required information for every functioning step
for the user.
Autonomy: The computer,
website which is running in it and its interface and the work area belong to
the user. But for user, this does not mean to toss out the principles. Users should
be left free so that they can grasp efficiently and can gain mastery when they
are placed in work. However, people do not feel free in the absence of all
boundaries (Yallum, 1980).
- Using status notifications to make users aware and informed.
- Displaying status information updated and within easy view.
Color Blindness: Colors are used to
convey information in the interface, but one should use clear color to convey
the information to user. Most of the developers use color displays, but still
the problem persists that is approximately 10% of human males, along with rare
sprinkling of females who have slight color blindness in their vision.
Consistency: Certain principles are
followed which give the interface designer many options to release a web
application without interrupting the fields of consistency which are essentials
to user.
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| Windows 8 One of the best user interfaces |
Stages of Consistency:
1.
Interpretations
of user behavior,
2.
Invisible
structures in consistency,
3.
Small and simple visible
structures.
4.
The look of a
single application or services,
5.
A suite of applications.
6.
In- house
consistency.
7.
Platform
consistency.
Inconsistency: The important thing is,
to be visually inconsistent when things go in other way but they have to be visually
consistent when things work out in the same way.
Avoiding Uniformity: Objects have to
be made consistent with their behavior. Objects that act differently and look
different have to be created.
The important thing is to maintain consistency
of user expectations.
The route to reach user thoughts is
only by doing a test. Nothing replaces this.
Defaults: These should be easy to remove: The options
containing default values should be chosen selectively. Then users can replace
the default values with the new values. The values are expected to be answerable.
The default word should not be used in
any website. “Standard”, “Use Custom Settings”, “Restore Initial Settings”
should replace it, or similar terms to pose and describe what actually will happen.
Efficiency of the user:
- User results should be concentrated but not the computers.
- Manpower costs a lot more than computers, whereas it appears as increase in computer productivity will result in increase of human productivity but the other way is true. While taking a decision over the efficiency of a system, we should have a fore look on the efficiency of the system.
- User should be kept busy: the highest expense in a business is cost of manpower. When the user is kept waiting for a system to respond before he can proceed, money is being lost because of wait time.
- It is to increase the skill in a business or other organization must increase everyone’s skillfulness, not just the skill of a single group.
- The great efficiency of software is founded in the basic concepts of the software but not in the interface design of the website.
- Help messages should be written and should also be made responsive to the problem: good writing pays off big in comprehension and efficiency.
- Menu, text labels and button labels should have the key word(s) first.
Explorable Interfaces:
- Users should be given well-marked roads and landmarks and then they can be asked to carry on their work as they wish without any worry.
- Explain the risk freeness, ease of use of the web sites. Users should not be trapped into a filed because of a service. They have to be given a chance to resist themselves. So this can allow both the new user and experienced user to finish their task as early as possible.
- Sometimes, we need to provide tracks.
- As nearer the developer reaches to the experience, he needs to take care of users.. One single use of the website for doing a unknown task need a lot more indications in the interface than a normal interface used by experts.
- Users have to feel home atmosphere by the offerings.
- The visual elements have to be stabilized to make the users navigate faster and should also act as land marks to make the users feel home.
- Actions should be made reversible.
- User always tries to cross the boundaries of navigation. But at times they like to check what happens if they do some risk oriented task and sometimes they do it accidentally. Their actions can be made reversible and can be allowed to carry on with their work.
- Always allow the option "Undo."
- To avoid the unsupported result one has to display the dialog like "Are you really, really sure?" which slows user.
- If the dialog's are not provided the user slows down even much. A case study proved that people will not make mistakes in risky environment but they make more mistakes only when they get more support. These people work very slow to avoid errors
- A way out should be given,One should not be made feel trapped. A clear way out should be shown.
- It should be made comfortable to stay in.
Fitt’s Law: “Time to acquire a target is a function
of the distance to and size of the target”.
This is for representing the way of pointing, by
hand or finger, or virtually. This to point an object on a computer screen
using a pointing device. [in1954 by PAUL FITTS].
Fitt's law indicates the Mac’s
pull-down menu should be five times faster than Windows menu and this is
proved.
This law indicates that windows task bar which
repeatedly and unnecessarily get into cursor’s way and is proved. This
identifies that most quickly accessible target which is at the corners computer
screen.
The pinned icons on top, bottom, sides and corners
of the computer display and large buttons make the work go faster.
One lined toolbar with the icons bulging out at the
edges of the computer screen will be faster than a double lined toolbar with
icons carefully-applied on it with one pixel at the non-clickable edge.
Human Interface Objects: The human
interface related objects, need not be the same as the one observed at object-oriented
systems but these are included with trash bins, documents and folders. These
all appear within in user activity field and are not mapped to any object-oriented
item. The fact is that GUI’s are developed at non-object oriented areas.
- The objects used in interfaces can be felt, heard, seen or can be
perceived.
- The human interface objects, which can be founded, are a bit
familiar to graphical user interfaces. Objects that work out to sound or
touch are less familiar. Accurate work has to be done in developing
auditory icons.
- The interface objects respond in a standard way of communication
and behavior
- These objects in the human interface should be understandable,
self-consistent, and stable.
Latency Reduction:
Latency is avoided by user’s multi-tasking techniques, which can let
them do their work at the same time, while computations take place in the
background.
- Latency should be reduced in user experience.
·
Indications
for all button clicks by visual notes or audio feedback within no time.
·
Hourglass
indications for every task, which takes time.
·
Animated
display of hourglass so that users can understand system is not hanged.
·
A representative
message to indicate the length of the wait time for any action, which will take
longer than expected time.
·
Display
to show actual length of time.
·
A
message to show users that the task is engaged while they are waiting for long
processes in order to save time.
·
The
system should respond with a buzzer sound and visual indication upon its return
after the process to let the users know the end of process
·
Repeated
click of the buttons should be avoided. Because, in first case the low
bandwidth and users press the button repeatedly and cause the things to run even
bit slower.
- Making the website work faster
The objects in any application if they are not useful to user should be
removed ruthlessly.
Learn ability:
Applications cannot learn
anything. Users have to go for them and gain mastery. While carrying out the
tasks no matter even if they are simple will give the scope of learning.
Learn
ability and usability is not avoidable. One can decide what is required, so
that attack can be made. “Ease of learning automatically coming at the expense
of ease of use is a myth”. [ by J Nielsen on 1 November 2005]
Metaphors Use of:
These
enable the users to understand the things in detail of the conceptual model.
These create visible picture in the mind of a user.
The metaphors are made impressive to
user’s vision through sight, touch, sound and kinesthesia just by triggering
the components in the user’s memory. These invoke the familiar objects but with
a new style.
For example the Windows 95 operating system,
which has the object, called briefcase acts like real world brief case. This
briefcase keeps the electronic documents in it to make them portable. These documents are updater automatically when
the portable drives are connected to the machine.
Protect User’s work:
Users
have to be ensured that they will never lose their work because of an error
done by them or by Internet transmission problems or any other reason, which
are unavoidable like power failure to the computer.
Readability:
- Text should be displayed in high contrasted colors. The best
colors to display are black text on white pane. Grey panes should be
avoided.
- The text should be in a standard font size. Particularly some of
the characters are for favorable display of labels and instructions.
- Attention should be given of elder people. Presbyopia is a state of
hardness and less flexible lenses in the eye, which are combining with
reduced light transmission into the eye. This will affect most people over
age 45. One should not believe the young age eyes to make and take
decisions.
Track State:
Browser-based applications exist in stateless
environment; one should take the responsibility to track state.
Developer may need to know:
- Whether it is the first time the user has been logged into the
system
- Where the user is from
- Where the user is going
- Where the user has been during this session
- Where the user was when he left off in the last session
Developers can make use of the work carried by user
to find out where the user has been.
The information of the existing state
will be placed in a cookie of the computer the user is using, during the
session of transaction service. Later on it is transferred and stored on the
server when the user logout the web site. The users have to be given an option
to logout at office and after going home they can take up exactly where he left
the work at office.
Visible Navigation:
Invisible navigation in the websites
should be avoided. Most of the users cannot understand and will not able to
generate the overview; therefore they will become lost if asked to carry out
the task.
The
Web browser which displays impressive screens, good looking buttons of the web
site which are displayed have an invisible gap in navigation. As one can only
see a certain page he is on, but not the vast space between web pages. When
users reach applications, developer must take care to reduce navigation space
and make that navigation that is clear and natural.
Present
an illusion so that users always stay in the same place, with the work brought
to them. This not only eliminates the need for site maps and other navigational
aids. This offers users a greater sense of mastery and autonomy in using web
applications.
The
capability and security are the main requirements of the user and the
developer’s task is to provide them without the designers concern because the
web is stateless. Therefore one can understand that web navigation is an
invisible challenge.
*** This text is written after studying various sources as part of my internship. This research was for development of a Web Application project for my Masters Degree.
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