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CS 501: Software Engineering

Learn about the factors that contribute to the usability of computer systems, including user interface design, functionality, performance, help systems, and documentation. Considerations for user interfaces, disabilities, computer systems and networks, device-aware interfaces, and usability and cost will also be discussed.

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CS 501: Software Engineering

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  1. CS 501: Software Engineering Lecture 12 Usability 2

  2. Presentations Schedule your presentation now!!!! Available time slots are on the Notices page. Be sure to contact Anat Nidar-Levi to schedule your presentation. Your client must attend the presentation unless you have special permission.

  3. Design for Usability Usability of a computer system is a combination of factors: • User interface design • Functionality (functional requirements) • Performance (non-functional requirements) • Help systems and documentation • Freedom from errors

  4. System Considerations of User Interfaces • Personal computer cycles are there to be used • Any network transfer involves delay • Shared systems have unpredictable performance • Data validation often requires access to shared data • Mobile code poses security risks

  5. Information Presentation Simple is often better than fancy • Text precise, unambiguous fast to compute and transmit • Graphical interface simple to comprehend / learn uses of color shows variations

  6. Information Presentation: Separation of Presentation from Content Acrobat Presentation software PDF Display Information to be displayed html Presentation software Display Safari

  7. Special Considerations: Disabilities •What if the user: is visually impaired or color blind? does not speak English? is a poor typist? • There is a tradition of blind programmers • Navigation of web sites need not be only visual You may have a legal requirement to support people with disabilities

  8. Special Considerations: Computer Systems and Networks The performance, reliability and predictability of computer systems and networks is crucial to usability • Response time instantaneous for mouse tracking and echo of key stroke 5 seconds for simple transactions • Example: Pipelined algorithm for the Mercury page turner • Quality of Service for real time information

  9. Special Considerations: Design Tensions in Networked Systems • Client computers and network connections vary greatly in capacity • Client software may run on various operating systems; it may be current or an earlier version • System designers wish to control clients; users wish to configure their own environments

  10. Special Considerations: Device-Aware User Interfaces • Examples of devices: desk-top computer, fast network connection laptop computer, intermittent connectivity PalmPilot, synchronization smart telephone digital camera, camcorder • Device-aware user interfaces are aware of: => performance of device => limited form factor (display, keyboard) => connectivity

  11. Special Considerations: Usability and Cost • Good usability may be expensive in hardware or special software development • User interface development may be a major part of a software development project Programming environments provide powerful user interface toolkits • Costs are multiplied if a user interface has to be used on different computers or migrate to different versions of systems Web browsers provide a general purpose user interface where others maintain the user interface software

  12. The Importance of User Interface Design Good support for users is more than a cosmetic flourish • Elegant design, appropriate functionality, & responsive system: => a measurable difference to their effectiveness • A system that is hard to use: => users may fail to find important results, or mis-interpret what they do find => user may give up in disgust A computer system is only as good as the interface it provides to its users *

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