Principles of User Interface Design

User Interfaes are human-computer and are the focus if this chapter

System Interfaces are machine-machine and are dealt with as part of systems integration

The Principles of User Interface Design:

1. Layout of the screen, form or report: The arrangement of items on the screen
2. Content Awareness—how well the user understands the information contained
3. Aesthetics—how well does it appeal to the user: Interfaces should be functional, inviting to use, and pleasing to the eye
4. User Experience—is it easy to use?

• Ease of learning
  1. Significant issue for inexperienced users
  2. Relevant to systems with a large user population

• Ease of use
  1. Significant issue for expert users
  2. Most important in specialized systems
• Ease of learning and use of use are related
  1. Complementary: lead to similar design decisions
  2. Conflicting: designer must choose whether to satisfy novices or experts
• Consistency—refers to the similarity of presentation in different areas of the application
• Minimal User Effort—Interfaces should be designed to minimize the effort needed to accomplish tasks
  A common rule is the three-clicks rule
  • Users should be able to go from main menu of a system to the information they want in no more than three mouse clicks

References

Alan Dennis, Barbara Haley Wixom and David Tegarden . (2015).Systems Analysis & Design, An Object-Oriented Approach with UML . 05 th Edition. John Wiley & Son, Inc.. Hoboken, NJ. ISBN: 9781118804674 .