1. Define user Interface Design. Explain the Importance and benefits of Good Design.

User interface design is a subset of a field of study called human-computer interaction (HCI).
Human-computer interaction is the study, planning, and design of how people and computers
work together so that a person’s needs are satisfied in the most effective way.
Importance of Good Design
 Inspite of today’s rich technologies and tools we are unable to provide effective and
usable screen because lack of time and care.
 A well-designed interface and screen is terribly important to our users. It is their window
to view the capabilities of the system and it is also the vehicle trough which complex
tasks can be performed.
 A screen’s layout and appearance affect a person in a variety of ways. If they are
confusing and inefficient, people will have greater difficulty in doing their jobs and will
make more mistakes.
 Poor design may even chase some people away from a system permanently. It can also
lead to aggravation, frustration, and increased stress.

Benefits of good Design

 The benefits of a well-designed screen have also been under experimental scrutiny for
many years. One researcher, for example, attempted to improve screen clarity and
readability by making screens less crowded. The result: screen users of the modified
screens completed transactions in 25 percent less time and with 25 percent fewer errors
than those who used the original screens.

 Another researcher has reported that reformatting inquiry screens following good design
principles reduced decision-making time by about 40 percent, resulting in a savings of 79
person-years in the affected system.

 Other benefits also accrue from good design (Karat, 1997). Training costs are lowered
because training time is reduced, support line costs are lowered because fewer assist calls
are necessary, and employee satisfaction is increased because aggravation and frustration
are reduced.

2. Explain five Commandments in Designing for people.

The complexity of a graphical or Web interface will always magnify any problems that do occur. Pitfalls
can be eliminated if the following design commandments remain foremost in the designer’s mind.

 Gain a complete understanding of users and their tasks: The users are the customers. Today, people
expect a level of design sophistication from all interfaces, including Web sites. The product, system or
Web site must be geared to people’s needs, not those of the developers.

 Solicit early and ongoing user involvement: Involving the users in design from the beginning provides a
direct conduit to the knowledge they possess about jobs, tasks, and needs. Involvement also allows the
developer to confront a person’s resistance to change, a common human trait. People dislike change for
a variety of reasons, among them fear of the unknown and lack of identification with the system.
  Perform rapid prototyping and testing: Prototyping and testing the product will quickly identify
problems and allow you to develop solutions. Prototyping and testing must be continually performed
during all stages of development to uncover all potential defects. If thorough testing is not performed
before product release, the testing will occur in the user’s office. Encountering a series of problems early
in system use will create a negative first impression in the customer’s mind, and this may harden
quickly, creating attitudes that may be difficult to change. It is also much harder and more costly to fix a
product after its release.

 Modify and iterate the design as much as necessary: While design will proceed through a series of
stages, problems detected in one stage may force the developer to revisit a previous stage.. Establish
user performance and acceptance criteria and continue testing and modifying until all design goals are
met.

 Integrate the design of all the system components: The software, the documentation, the help
function, and training needs are all important elements of a graphical system or Web site and all should
be developed concurrently. Time will also exist for design trade-offs to be thought out more carefully.

3. List and Explain Characteristics of Graphical User Interface(GUI)

Sophisticated Visual Presentation

 Visual presentation is the visual aspect of the interface. It is what people see on the
screen. The sophistication of a graphical system permits displaying lines, Including
drawings and icons. It also permits the displaying of a variety of character fonts,
including different sizes and styles.

Pick-and-Click Interaction

To identify a proposed action is commonly referred to as pick, the signal to perform an action as click.

The primary mechanism for performing this pick-and-click is most often the mouse and its buttons and
the secondary mechanism for performing these selection actions is the keyboard.

Restricted Set of Interface Options

The array of alternatives available to the user is what is presented on the screen or what may be
retrieved through what is presented on the screen, nothing less, and nothing more. This concept
fostered the acronym WYSIWYG.

Visualization

Visualization is a cognitive process that allows people to understand information that is difficult to
perceive, because it is either too voluminous or too abstract.

The goal is not necessarily to reproduce a realistic graphical image, but to produce one that conveys the
most relevant information. Effective visualizations can facilitate mental insights, increase productivity,
and foster faster and more accurate use of data.

Object Orientation
A graphical system consists of objects and actions. Objects are what people see on the screen as a single
unit.

Objects can be composed of sub objects. For example, an object may be a document and its sub objects
may be a paragraph, sentence, word, and letter.

Use of Recognition Memory

Continuous visibility of objects and actions encourages to eliminate ―out of sight, out of mind‖ problem

Concurrent Performance of Functions

Graphic systems may do two or more things at one time. Multiple programs may run simultaneously.

It may process background tasks (cooperative multitasking) or preemptive multitasking.

4. Explain Direct and Indirect Manipulation

Concept of Direct Manipulation

The term used to describe this style of interaction for graphical systems was first used by Shneiderman
(1982). He called them ―direct manipulation‖ systems, suggesting that they possess the following
characteristics:

The system is portrayed as an extension of the real world: A person is allowed to work in a familiar
environment and in a familiar way, focusing on the data, not the application and tools. The physical
organization of the system, which most often is unfamiliar, is hidden from view and is not a distraction.

Continuous visibility of objects and actions: objects are continuously visible. Reminders of actions to be
performed are also obvious. Nelson (1980) described this concept as ―virtual reality,‖ a representation
of reality that can be manipulated. Hatfield (1981) is credited with calling it ―WYSIWYG‖ (what you see
is what you get) and Rutkowski (1982) described it as ―transparency,‖

Actions are rapid and incremental with visible display of results: the results of actions are immediately
displayed visually on the screen in their new and current form. Auditory feedback may also be provided.
The impact of a previous action is quickly seen, and the evolution of tasks is continuous and effortless.

Incremental actions are easily reversible: Finally, actions, if discovered to be incorrect or not desired,
can be easily undone.

Indirect Manipulation

In practice, direct manipulation of all screen objects and actions may not be feasible because of the
following:

o The operation may be difficult to conceptualize in the graphical system.

o The graphics capability of the system may be limited.

o The amount of space available for placing manipulation controls in the window border may be limited.
o It may be difficult for people to learn and remember all the necessary operations and actions.

When this occurs, indirect manipulation is provided. Indirect manipulation substitutes words and text,
such as pull-down or pop-up menus, for symbols, and substitutes typing for pointing.

5. Briefly Explain the General Principles of user Interface Design

AZ Doc P.No.13-15

6. Write at least six difference between GUI and Web user Interface
7. Discuss the Characteristics of Intranet and Internet and bring out the differences between them
8. Explain the objective criteria for Measuring Usability
9. Explain the Guidelines for Designing Conceptual Models
 10. Explain Briefly about Human Interaction Speeds

11. Discuss With suitable Examples the human characteristics on Design

Module-2 Az doc P.no. 4-7