User interface design


Designing effective interfaces
for software systems

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 1

Objectives

To suggest some general design principles for
user interface design

To explain different interaction styles

To introduce styles of information presentation

To describe the user support which should be
built-in to user interfaces

To introduce usability attributes and system
approaches to system evaluation

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 2

Topics covered

15.1 User interface design principles

15.2 User interaction

15.3 Information presentation

15.4 User support

15.5 Interface evaluation

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 3

The user interface

System users often judge a system by its
interface rather than its functionality

A poorly designed interface can cause a user to
make catastrophic errors

Poor user interface design is the reason why so
many software systems are never used

Software engineers generally must do interface
design

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 4

Importance of User Interface

“Most important part of any computer system”
• “Interface is the system for most users”

Increasingly important
• GUIs a big improvement over previous approaches
• Platforms (e.g. Mac/ Microsoft) have style guides
• 50% of code devoted to interface

Interface should “disappear” – users can focus on their task, not
the interface

Biggest enemy of good interface design is time

Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 5
 Benefits of Good Design

Small improvements can be worth big $$$
• Book e.g. if users work 1 sec slower on each of 4.8 million screens per year, need almost
an extra person
• Book e.g.s Redesigns have improved productivity 20%, 25%, 40%, 50% …
• IBM - $1 invested in usability returns $10-$100

Interface problems are treated as bugs
• Pressman - $1 fix during design, $10 fix during development, $100 fix after release

Big Improvements can establish new products, companies, markets …
• the browser was a UI idea – before it, search using gopher etc was tedious.
• AOL was successful because it was more user friendly than early leader CompuServe.

Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 6
Graphical user interfaces

Most users of business systems interact with these
systems through graphical interfaces although, in
some cases, legacy text-based interfaces are still
used

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 7

GUI characteristics
•Windows
•Icons
•Menus
•Pointing
•Graphics

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 8

GUI advantages

They are easy to learn and use.

The user may switch quickly from one task to
another and can interact with several different
applications.

Fast, full-screen interaction is possible with
immediate access to anywhere on the screen

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 9

User-centred design

The aim of this chapter is to sensitise software
engineers to key issues underlying the design rather
than the implementation of user interfaces

User-centred design is an approach to UI design
where the needs of the user are paramount and where
the user is involved in the design process

UI design always involves the development of
prototype interfaces

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 10

User interface design process

Analyse and Produce paper- Evaluate design

understand user based design with end-users
activities prototype

Produce
Design Evaluate design
dynamic design
prototype with end-users
prototype

Executable Implement
prototype final user
interface

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 11

15.1 UI design principles

UI design must take account of the needs,
experience and capabilities of the system users

Designers should be aware of people’s physical
and mental limitations (e.g. limited short-term
memory) and should recognise that people make
mistakes

UI design principles underlie interface designs
although not all principles are applicable to all
designs

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 12

 User interface design principles
Principle Description
User Familiarity Interface should use terms familiar to users
Consistency Comparable operations should be started the
same way
Minimal Surprise Users should never be surprised
Recoverability Users should be able to recover from their errors
User Guidance Meaningful feedback, context-sensitive help
User Diversity Should provide for different types of user

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 13

Design principles

User familiarity
• The interface should be based on user-oriented
terms and concepts rather than computer concepts. For example, an
office system should use concepts such as letters, documents, folders
etc. rather than directories, file identifiers, etc.

Consistency
• The system should display an appropriate level
of consistency. Commands and menus should have the same format,
command punctuation should be similar, etc.

Minimal surprise
• If a command operates in a known way, the user should be
able to predict the operation of comparable commands

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 14

Design principles

Recoverability
• The system should provide some resilience to
user errors and allow the user to recover from errors. This might
include an undo facility, confirmation of destructive actions, 'soft'
deletes, etc.

User guidance
• Some user guidance such as help systems, on-line manuals, etc.
should be supplied

User diversity
• Interaction facilities for different types of user should be supported.
For example, some users have seeing difficulties and so larger text
should be available

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 15

Nielsen’s Ten Usability Heuristics

Visibility of system status

Match between system and the real world

User control and freedom

Consistency and standards

Error prevention

Recognition rather than recall

Flexibility and efficiency of use

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Help and documentation Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 16
 Galitz’s Heuristics (Table 14.2)
1. Automate unwanted workload
2. Reduce uncertainty
3. Fuse data
4. Present new info with meaningful aid to interpretation
5. Use names that are conceptually related to functions
6. Group data in consistently meaningful ways to reduce
search time
7. Limit data-driven tasks
8. Include in displays only info needed by user at a given
time
9. Provide multiple coding of data where appropriate
10. Practice judicious redundancy
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Galitz
Slide 17
 Galitz’s WWW Heuristics
1. Speak the user’s language
2. Be consistent
3. Minimize the user’s memory load
4. Build flexible and efficient systems
5. Design aesthetic and minimalist systems
6. Use chunking
7. Provide progressive levels of detail
8. Give navigational feedback
9. Don’t lie to the user
Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 18
15.2 User-system interaction

Two problems must be addressed in interactive
systems design
• How should information from the user be provided to the
computer system?
• How should information from the computer system be
presented to the user?

User interaction and information presentation
may be integrated through a coherent
framework such as a user interface metaphor

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 19

Interaction styles

Direct manipulation

Menu selection

Form fill-in

Command language

Natural language

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 20

Direct manipulation advantages

Users feel in control of the computer and are less
likely to be intimidated by it

Fast and intuitive interaction

User learning time is relatively short

Users get immediate feedback on their actions
so mistakes can be quickly detected and
corrected

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 21

Direct manipulation problems

The creation of an appropriate information
space model (metaphor) for real world tasks and
objects can be very difficult

Given that users have a large information
space, what facilities for navigating around that
space should be provided?

Direct manipulation interfaces can be complex to
program and make heavy demands on the
computer system

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 22

Direct Manipulation Applications

Games

CAD systems

Files and Folders

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 23

Control panel interface

Title JSD. example Grid Busy

Method JSD
OUIT
Type Network Units cm

Selection Process Reduce Full

PRINT

NODE LINKS FONT LABEL EDIT

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 24

Menu systems

Users make a selection from a list of
possibilities presented to them by the system

The selection may be made by pointing and
clicking with a mouse, using cursor keys or by
typing the name of the selection

May make use of simple-to-use terminals such as
touchscreens

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 25

Advantages of menu systems

Users need not remember command names as
they are always presented with a list of valid
commands

Typing effort is minimal

User errors are trapped by the interface

Context-dependent help can be provided. The
user’s context is indicated by the current menu
selection

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 26

Problems with menu systems

Actions which involve logical conjunction (and)
or disjunction (or) are awkward to represent

Menu systems are best suited to presenting a
small number of choices. If there are many
choices, some menu structuring facility must be
used

Experienced users find menus slower than
command language

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 27

Menu System Applications

Most general purpose systems

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 28

Form-based interface
NE W BOOK

Title ISBN

Author Price

Publication
Publisher date
Number of
Edition copies

Classification Loan
status
Date of
Order
purchase
status

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 29

Forms-based Systems Advantages

Simple data entry

Easy to learn

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 30

Forms-based Systems Disadvantages

Takes up a lot of screen space

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 31

Forms-based Systems Applications

Most systems involving significant data entry

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 32

Command interfaces

User types commands to give instructions to
the system e.g. UNIX, DOS

Advantages:
• Powerful and flexible – good for experts
• Easy to process using compiler techniques
• Commands of arbitrary complexity can be
created by command combination
• Concise interfaces requiring minimal typing can
be created

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 33

Problems with command interfaces

Users have to learn and remember a command
language. Command interfaces are therefore
unsuitable for occasional users

Users make errors in command. An error
detection and recovery system is required

System interaction is through a keyboard so
typing ability is required

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 34

Command languages

Often preferred by experienced users because
they allow for faster interaction with the system

Not suitable for casual or inexperienced users

May be provided as an alternative to menu
commands (keyboard shortcuts). In some cases, a
command language interface and a menu-based
interface are supported at the same time

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 35

Natural language interfaces

The user types a command in a natural language.
Generally, the vocabulary is limited and these
systems are confined to specific application
domains (e.g. timetable enquiries)

NL processing technology is now good enough to
make these interfaces effective for casual users
but experienced users find that they require too
much typing

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 36

Multiple user interfaces
Command
Gr aphical user
language
interface
interface

Command
GUI
language
manager
interpreter

Operating system

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 37

15.3 Information presentation

Information presentation is concerned with
presenting system information to system users

The information may be presented directly (e.g.
text in a word processor) or may be transformed
in some way for presentation (e.g. in some
graphical form)

The Model-View-Controller approach is a way of
supporting multiple presentations of data

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 38

Information presentation

Information to Presentation
be displayed software

Display

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 39

Information presentation

Static information
• Initialised at the beginning of a session. It does not
change during the session
• May be either numeric or textual

Dynamic information
• Changes during a session and the changes must be
communicated to the system user
• May be either numeric or textual

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 41

Information display factors

Is the user interested in precise information or
data relationships?

How quickly do information values change?
Must the change be indicated immediately?

Must the user take some action in response to
a change?

Does the user need to interact with the displayed info via
a direct manipulation interface?

Is the information textual or numeric? Are relative values
important?

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 42

Alternative information presentations
Jan Feb Mar April May June
2842 2851 3164 2789 1273 2835

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
Jan Feb Mar April May June
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 43
Analogue vs. digital presentation

Digital presentation
• Compact - takes up little screen space
• Precise values can be communicated

Analogue presentation
• Easier to get an 'at a glance' impression of a value
• Possible to show relative values
• Easier to see exceptional data values

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 44

Dynamic information display

1
0 10 20
4 2

Dial with needle Pie chart Thermometer Horizontal bar

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 45

Displaying relative values

Pressure Temper atu re

0 100 200 300 400 0 25 50 75 100

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 46

Textual highlighting

!
The filename you have chosen h as been
used. Please choose an other name

Ch. 16 User interface design

OK Cancel

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 47

Data visualisation

Concerned with techniques for displaying large
amounts of information

Visualisation can reveal relationships between entities
and trends in the data

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 48

15.3.1 Colour displays

Colour adds an extra dimension to an interface
and can help the user understand complex
information structures

Can be used to highlight exceptional events

Common mistakes in the use of colour in
interface design include over-use of colour in the
display

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 49

Colour use guidelines

Don't use too many colours

Use colour coding to support user tasks

Allow users to control colour coding

Design for monochrome then add colour

Use colour coding consistently

Avoid colour pairings which clash

Use colour change to show status change

Be aware that colour displays are usually lower
resolution

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 50

15.4 User support

User guidance covers all system facilities to
support users including on-line help, error
messages, manuals etc.

The user guidance system should be integrated
with the user interface to help users when they
need information about the system or when they
make some kind of error

The help and message system should, if possible,
be integrated

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 51

Error messages

Error message design is critically important.
Poor error messages can mean that a user
rejects rather than accepts a system

Messages should be polite, concise, consistent
and constructive

The background and experience of users
should be the determining factor in message
design

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 53

Design factors in message wording
Context The user guidance system should be aware of what the user is
doing and should adjust the output message to the current
context.
Experience As users become familiar with a system they become irritated
by long, ‘meaningful’ messages. However, beginners find it
difficult to understand short terse statements of the problem.
The user guidance system should provide both types of message
and allow the user to control message conciseness.
Skill level Messages should be tailored to the user’s skills as well as their
experience. Messages for the different classes of user may be
expressed in different ways depending onthe terminology which
is familiar to the reader.
Style Messages should be positive rather than negative. They should
use the active rather than the passive mode of address. They
should never be insulting or try to be funny.
Culture Wherever possible, the designer of messages should be familiar
with the culture of the country where the system is sold. There
are distinct cultural differences between Europe, Asia and
America. A suitable message for one culture might be
unacceptable in another.
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 54
Design factors in message wording

Context

Experience

Skill Level

Style

Culture

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 55

System and user-oriented error messages
System-oriented error message

Error #27

? Inv
alid patient id entered

OK Cancel

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 57

user-oriented error messages
User-oriented error message

Patient J Bates
. is not registered
Click on Patients or
f a list of registered patients
Click on Retry to re-input a patient name
Click on Help for more inf ormation

Patients Help Retry Cancel

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 58

Help system design

Help? means ‘help I want information”

Help! means “HELP. I'm in trouble”

Both of these requirements have to be taken
into account in help system design

Different facilities in the help system may be
required

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 59

Help information

Should not simply be an on-line manual

Screens or windows don't map well onto paper
pages.

The dynamic characteristics of the display can
improve information presentation.

People are not as good at reading screen as
they are paper text.

Content should be prepared with help of application
specialists

Content should not be too large – don’t overwhelm user

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 60

Help system use

Multiple entry points should be provided so that
the user can get into the help system from
different places.

Some indication of where the user is positioned
in the help system is valuable.

Facilities should be provided to allow the user
to navigate and traverse the help system.

Index, TOC, and Search should be provided

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 61

Entry points to a help system
Top-level
entry

Entry from
application

Entry from error

message system

Help frame network

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 62

Help system windows
Help frame map Mail redirection

Mail may be redirected to another

network user by pressing the
redirect button in the control
panel. The system asks for the
name of the user or users to
whom the mail has been sent

You are here more next top ics

Help history

1. Mail
2. Send mail
3. Read mail
4. Redirection

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 63

Help on WWW

Easy to implement

Easy for users to use

Difficult to link to applications themselves
• users may need to make extra effort to get to help
• Help doesn’t know context where you needed help
– cannot provide context sensitive help

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 64

5.4.3 User documentation

As well as on-line information, paper
documentation should be supplied with a system

Documentation should be designed for a range of
users from inexperienced to experienced

As well as manuals, other easy-to-use
documentation such as a quick reference card
may be provided

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 65

 User document types

System System Novice Experienced System

evaluators administrators users users administrators

Functional Installation Introductory Reference Administrator’s

description document manual manual guide

Description of How to install Getting Facility Operation and

services the system started description maintenance

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 66

15.5 User interface evaluation

Some evaluation of a user interface design
should be carried out to assess its suitability

Full scale evaluation is very expensive and
impractical for most systems

Ideally, an interface should be evaluated against a
usability specification. However, it is rare for
such specifications to be produced

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 68

Usability attributes
Attribute Description
Learnability How long does it take a new user to
become productive with the system?
Speed of operation How well does the system response match
the user’s work practice?
Robustness How tolerant is the system of user error?
Recoverability How good is the system at recovering from
user errors?
Adaptability How closely is the system tied to a single
model of work?

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 69

 Things to Test

Conformance with a requirement

Conformance with guidelines for good design

Identification of design problems

Ease of system learning

Retention of learning over time

Speed of task completion

Speed of need fulfillment

Error rates

Subjective user satisfaction Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 70
…System - User Interface Design Goals

5 human factors central to community evaluation:
1. Time to learn
2. Speed of performance
3. Rate of errors by users
4. Retention over time
5. Subjective satisfaction

Trade-offs sometimes necessary

Test all design alternatives using mock-ups

Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 71
 Objective Measures of Usability

Effectiveness
• Speed of performance, # errors (against some standard)
• Tasks completeable by required pct of target users

Learnable
• Time to learn, amount of training and tech support needed (against some
standard)
• Relearning time for intermittent users

Flexible

Subjective satisfaction
• Tiredness, discomfort, frustration, effort required, willingness/eagerness to use
system

Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 72
Simple evaluation techniques

Questionnaires for user feedback

Video recording of system use and subsequent
tape evaluation.

Observation of users at work with system and “thinking
aloud” about how they are trying to use system

Instrumentation of code to collect information
about facility use and user errors.

The provision of a gripe button for on-line user
feedback.

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 73

Kinds of Tests

Guidelines review

Heuristic evaluation (will be covered last due to
extensive coverage)

Cognitive walkthrough

Think aloud evaluations

Usability test

Classic experiments

Focus groups

Galitz
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 74
 Elements of Discount Usability
Engineering

Scenarios

Simplified Thinking Aloud

Heuristic Evaluation

Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 75
Scenarios

Take prototyping to extreme – reduce functionality AND number
of features

Small, can afford to change frequently

Get quick and frequent feedback from users

Compatible with interface design methods

Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 76
 Simplified Thinking Aloud

Bring in some users, give them tasks, have them
think out loud

Fewer users in user testing

Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 77
 Heuristic Evaluation

Context – part of iterative design

Goal – find usability problems

Who – small set of evaluators

How – study interface in detail, compare to small set of
principles

Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 78
How to Conduct a Heuristic
Evaluation

More than one evaluator to be effective.

Each evaluator inspects the interface by themselves

General heuristics may be supplemented

Results can be oral or written

Evaluator spends 1-2 hours with interface

Evaluator goes through interface > 1 time

Evaluators may follow typical usage scenarios

Interface can be paper

Nielsen
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 79
 Norman’s Four Principles of
Good Design

State and the action alternatives should be visible

Should be a good conceptual model with a
consistent system image

Interface should include good mappings that
reveal the relationships between stages

User should receive continuous feedback

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 82

Galitz’s Principles of User Interface
Design

To follow … alphabetically (following book)

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 83

Aesthetically Pleasing

Meaningful contrast between screen elements

Create groupings

Align screen elements and groups

Provide 3 dimensional representation

Use color and graphics effectively and simply

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 84

Clarity

Visual elements

Functions

Metaphors

Words and text

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 85

Compatible

With the user

With the task and job

With the product (past systems)

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 86

Comprehensibility

User should easily be able to determine:
• What to look at
• What to do
• When to do it
• Where to do it
• Why to do it
• How to do it

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 87

Configurability

Users should be able to set preferences

Good Default Settings should be provided for
non-tinkerers

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 88

 Consistency

One of Shneiderman’s 8 golden rules for interface
design

Similar components should
• Have similar look
• Operate similarly

Same action should always produce the same result

Function of elements should not change

Position of standard elements should not change

Same terminology used for same thing throughout

Standards and Guidelines increase the odds of
consistency
©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 89
 Control

User should control the interaction
• Actions initiated by user
• Actions performed quickly
• Actions can be interrupted or stopped, and reversed

Context maintained is from the user’s perspective

More than one way to do things

Avoid modes

Configurable

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 90

Directness

Provide Direct Manipulation
• user selects an object, then directly performs an action on it
• The effect of action on an object should be immediately visible
• Available alternatives reduces memory load

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 91

Efficiency

Minimize eye and hand movements
• Make user actions flow from one to another
• Don’t switch users frequently from keyboard to mouse

Anticipate users wants and needs whenever
possible

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 92

 Familiarity

Use language and concepts familiar to the user

Keep the interface natural

Use real world metaphors

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 93

Flexibility

compatible with the user’s “skills, experience,
habits, and preferences, and current conditions”

Danger: more flexibility increases complexity of
system

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 94

Forgiveness

Prevent errors from occurring when possible

Tolerate and forgive common and unavoidable
human errors

When an error occurs, provide constructive error
messages

Protect against catastrophic errors

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 95

Predictability

User should be able to anticipate the flow of the
task

Expectations should be fulfilled

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 96

 Recovery

System should permit:
• Commands or actions to be abolished or reversed
• Immediate return to a certain point if difficulties arise

Users should never lose work due to:
• An error on their part
• Hardware, software, or communication problems

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 97

Responsiveness

Respond rapidly to user requests

Provide acknowledgement of user actions

Beginners need more / more informative feedback
than experts do

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 98

Simplicity

Provide as simple an interface as possible
• Progressive disclosure
• Defaults
• Minimize screen alignment points
• Make common actions simple
• Provide consistency

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 99

Transparency

Allow user to focus on the task, not the interface
• Basic principle of direct manipulation
• Use user’s task vocabulary
• Design interface based on task analysis

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 100
Trade-offs

Final Design will always represent a series of
trade-offs

People’s requirements always take precedence
over technical requirements

©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 15 Slide 101