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Life, the Universe and GUI Design. By Mike Miserendino. 42. What is the question?. Where do we start?. Requirements. Requirements Sources. Research User Interviews Focus Groups User Groups. Interview. Ask lots of questions Have the user do most of the talking
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Life, the Universe and GUI Design By Mike Miserendino
Requirements Sources • Research • User Interviews • Focus Groups • User Groups
Interview • Ask lots of questions • Have the user do most of the talking • Mix questions types from yes/no to those requiring an explanation
GUI Guidelines and Standards • Contains basic design guidelines • Provides a consistent look and feel • Helps maintain company standards • Builds foundation for UI specifications
User Interface Specification • Blueprint for all user interfaces • Contains user interface layouts and overall application map • Describes function of all user interface components • Details the layout, behavior, and flow of all UI content • Establishes detailed requirements • Provides verification testing
Architectural Specifications • Modeled from User Interface Specification and business logic • Provides basis for Interface Control Document
Interface Control Document • Maps user interface to application • Derived from UI Specification • Satisfies UI requirements • Standard reference for the GUI developers so that they can look up and understand the interface methods exposed by the Back-End components
User Interface Design • Good UI design has everything to do with the user's tasks, goals, cognitive processes, and behavior. • Simple • Functional • Clean
Design Inspiration • Print Ads • Graphic Design • TV / Movies • Real life models
Okudagram • Display type invented by Michael Okuda for starship console displays seen in Star Trek. • http://www.lcarscom.net/
Sketches • Roughs of user interfaces or controls • Add functional notes as needed • Notepad or graph paper • Colored pens
Wall Layouts • Use Velcro backed cutouts or pinups of controls • Sticky notes • Easy to layout and modify • Excellent for brain storming • Difficult to back up – manual copy • Not space efficient
Dry Erase Board • Cheap • Quick • Easy to modify • Limited size • Manual backup
Interactive Sketch Board • Dry erase board with PC or printer • Capability to save to file or hard copy • Slow • Expensive
Prototyping for Design • Simple functions available • Time consuming • Limited access • Reuse during prototyping phase
UI Models • Deductive User Interface • Inductive User Interface
Deductive User Interface • Most elements in software today require the user to study them and deduce their behavior • Typically found in traditional applications
Inductive User Interface (IUI) • Also called inductive navigation, the IUI model suggests how to make software applications simpler by breaking features into screens or pages that are easy to explain and understand. • Informal tests suggest that users can perform tasks as quickly in this model as in traditional interfaces, and may find things more easily.
Design Considerations • Navigation • Input Devices • Use of Controls • Color • Text
Navigation • Some UIs are like a maze. • Mazes make good puzzles. • People are not particularly good at remembering long sequences.
Input Devices • Keyboard • Mouse • Tablet • Touch screen
Visible • If something is important enough to be displayed to the user, make sure that the user will be able to see it.
Consistency • "consistency makes the interface familiar and predictable“ (The Windows User Interface Guidelines for Software Design, Microsoft Press)