HUMAN COMPUTER
INTERACTION (DFP4023)
2.2 Understand Design Rules For
Interactive System
Prepared by :
Umaimah Bt
Mokhtar
[email protected].
edu.my
2.2.2 The principle to support usability in
interactive systems design (usability principles)
• Learn ability
• Flexibility
• Robustness
1. Learn ability
⚫Concerns the features of the
interactive system that allow novice
users to understand how to use it
initially and then how to attain a
maximal level of performance.
– Predictability
– Synthesizability
– Familiarity
– Generalizability
– Consistency
Summary of principles affecting
learnability
Principle Definition Related
Principles
Predictibility Support for the user to determine the effect Operation
of future action based on past interaction visibility
history
Synthesizabilit Support for the user to assess the effect of Immediate/
y past operations on the current state eventual honesty
Familiarity The extent to which a user’s knowledge Guessability,
and experience in other real-world or affordance
computer-based domains can be applied
when interacting with a new system
Generalizabilit Support for the user to extend knowledge -
y of specific interaction within and across
applications to other similar situations
Consistency Likeness in input-output behaviour arising -
from similar situations or similar task
objectives
2. Flexibility
• Flexibility refers to the multiplicity of ways
in which the end-user and the system
exchange information.
◦ Dialog initiative
◦ Multi-threading
◦ Task migratability
◦ Substitutivity
◦ Customizability
3. Robustness
⚫Covers features that support the
successful achievement and
assessment of the goals.
◦ Observability
◦ Recoverability
◦ Responsiveness
◦ Task conformance
2.2.3 Schneiderman’s Eight
Golden Rules Of Interface
Design
1. Strive for consistency
2. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
3. Offer informative feedback
4. Design dialogs to yield closure
5. Offer error prevention and simple error handling
6. Permit easy reversal of actions
7. Support internal locus of control
8. Reduce short-term memory load
1. Strive for consistency
⚫ Strive for consistency in action sequences, layout,
terminology, command use and so on.
⚫ Identical Terminology (prompts, menus, help)
⚫ Consistent visual layout (fonts, color, etc.)
2. Enable frequent users
to use shortcuts
⚫Enable frequent users to use
shortcuts, such as abbreviations,
special key sequences and macros, to
perform regular, familiar actions more
quickly.
3. Offer Informative Feedback
⚫Offer informative feedback for
every user action, at a level
appropriate to the magnitude of
the action.
⚫For every user action, the system
should provide feedback
4. Design Dialogs To Yield
Closure
⚫Design dialogs to yield closure so
that the user knows when they
have completed a task.
⚫Action sequences should have a
beginning, middle, and end.
⚫Feedback provides sense of
accomplishment.
⚫Ex. Purchasing items via internet
has a clearly defined step-by-step
process
5. Offer Error Prevention and
Simple Error Handling
⚫users are prevented from making
mistakes and, if they do, they are
offered clear and informative
instructions to enable them to
recover.
6. Permit Easy Reversal of
Actions
⚫Permit Easy Reversal of Actions
in order to relieve anxiety and
encourage exploration, since the
user knows that he can always
return to the previous state.
7. Support Internal Locus of
Control
⚫ Support Internal Locus of Control so that user
is in control of the system, which responds to
his actions.
⚫ Experienced operators want to feel in control.
– User is in charge of the interface
– Interface rapidly responds to the user
⚫ Lack of control builds anxiety and
dissatisfaction.
- Surprising interface actions
- Tedious actions
- Difficulty in obtaining necessary ability
- Difficulty in producing action
⚫ Good rules: Avoid a causality, make users
initiators rather than responders
8. Reduce Short Term Memory
Load
⚫Reduce short term memory load
by keeping display simple,
consolidating multiple page
displays and providing time for
learning action sequences.
Q&A
