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B.E/ B.TECH DEGREE EXAMINATION,
NOV/DEC 2012 IT2024 – USER INTERFACE DESIGN
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PART – A (10 X 2 = 20 Marks)
1) State the Characteristics Direct Manipulation.
a. The system is portrayed as an extension of the real world
b. Continuous visibility of objects and actions:
c. Actions are rapid and incremental with visible display of results
d. Incremental actions are easily reversible:
2) List any four Graphical system disadvantages.
a. Greater design complexity
b. Learning still necessary
c. Lack of experimentally-derived design guidelines
d. Inconsistencies in technique and terminology
3) State the five Design Commandments.
• 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.
4) Write the Merits of Casecade Menus.
The advantages of cascading menus are that:
a. The top-level menus are simplified because some choices are hidden.
b. More first-letter mnemonics are available because menus possess fewer alternatives.
c. High-level command browsing is easier because subtopics are hidden.
5) What are the types of Presentation Styles?
• There are two basic styles, commonly called tiled or overlapping.
Tiled Windows
• Tiled windows derive their name from common floor or wall tile. Tiled windows appear in one plane on the screen and expand or contract to fill up the display surface, as needed.
• Most systems provide two-dimensional tiled windows, adjustable in both height and width.
Overlapping Windows
• Overlapping windows may be placed on top of one another like papers on a desk.
• They possess a three-dimensional quality, appearing to lie on different planes.
6) What are the Merits of Track ball?
• Advantages:
Direct relationship between hand and pointer movement in terms of direction and speed.
Does not obscure vision of screen.
Does not require additional desk space (if mounted on keyboard).
7) State the Categories of Users.
• Users of the earliest computer systems were mandatory or nondiscretionary.
That is, they required the computer to perform a task that, for all practical purposes, could be performed no other way.
• This newer kind of user is the office executive, manager, or other professional, whose computer use is completely discretionary.
8) State different Categories of Messages.
• System messages
• Status messages.
• Informational messages
• Warning messages
• Critical messages.
• Question messages
9) What are the advantages of walkthrough?
• Allow a clear evaluation of the task flow early in the design process.
• Do not require a functioning prototype.
• Low cost.
• Can be used to evaluate alternate solutions.
• Can be performed by developers.
• More structured than a heuristic evaluation.
• Useful for assessing “exploratory learning.”
10) Define Visualization.• Visualization is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message.
• Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas since the dawn of man.
PART B (5 x 16 = 80 marks)
11) a) Compare the Characteristics of graphical and web user interface. (16)
Characteristics GUI(Graphical) WEB
Devices User hardware variations
limited.
User hardware
characteristics well defined Screens appear exactly as specified. User hardware variations
enormous.
Screen appearance influenced by hardware being used.
User Focus Data and applications. Information and navigation.
Data Typically created and used
by known and trusted Full of unknown content.
Information Sources are trusted.
Properties generally known. Typically placed into system by users or known people and organizations. Source not always trusted.
Often not placed onto the Web by users or known people and organizations. Highly variable organization.
User Tasks Install, configure,
personalize, start, use, and Open, use, and close data files.
Familiarity with applications often achieved. Link to a site, browse or
read pages, fill out forms, upgrade programs. register for services, participate in transactions, download and save things.
Familiarity with many sites
not established.
Presentation Windows, menus, controls,
data, toolbars
Presented as specified by designer.
Generally standardized by toolkits and style specifications.
guides. Two components, browser
and page
Within page, any combination of text, images, audio, video, and animation.
May not be presented as specified by the designer—
dependent on browser, monitor, and user
Little standardization.
Navigation Through menus, lists, trees,
dialogs, and wizards. Through links, bookmarks,
and typed URLs.
Interaction Interactions such as clicking
menu choices, pressing buttons, selecting list choices, and cut/copy/paste occur within context of active program. Basic interaction is a single
click. This can cause extreme changes in context, which may not be noticed.
Response Time Nearly instantaneous Quite variable, depending
on transmission speeds, page content, and so on. Long times can upset the user.
System Capability Unlimited capability
proportional to sophistication of hardware and
software. Limited by constraints
imposed by the hardware, browser, software, client support, and user willingness to allow features because of response time, security, and privacy concerns.
Task Efficiency Targeted to a specific
audience with specific tasks.
Only limited by the amount of programming undertaken Limited by browser and
network capabilities.
Actual user audience usually not well understood. Often intended for anyone
to support it. and everyone.
Consistency Major objective exists
within and across applications.
Aided by platform toolkit and design guidelines. Universal consistency in GUI products generally Sites tend to establish their
own identity.
Frequently standards set within a site.
Frequent ignoring of GUI guidelines for identical created through toolkits and design guidelines.
components, especially controls.
User Assistance Integral part of most
systems and applications. Documentation, both online and offline,
Customer service support, if provided, usually provided. Personal support desk also usually provided. No similar help systems.
Accessed through standard mechanisms.
The little available help is built into the page oriented to product or service offered.
Integration Seamless integration of all
applications into the platform environment is a major objective. Apparent for some basic
functions
within most Web sites (navigation,
printing, and so on.) in accomplishing this objective
Sites tend to achieve individual distinction rather than integration.
Security Tightly controlled,
proportional to degree of willingness to invest resources and effort.
Not an issue for most home PC users. Renowned for security
exposures.
Browser-provided security options typically understood by average users. When employed, may have function-limiting side effects
Reliability Tightly controlled in
business systems, Susceptible to disruptions
caused by user, telephone proportional to degree of willingness line and cable providers, Internet service providers, to invest resources and effort. hosting
servers, and remotely
accessed sites.
b) Discuss the advantages and drawbacks of graphical systems in detail. (16)
Graphical system advantages
The success of graphical systems has been attributed to a host of factors. The following have been commonly referenced in literature and endorsed by their advocates as advantages of these systems.
• Symbols recognized faster than text: symbols can be recognized faster and more accurately than text. An example of a good classification scheme that speeds up recognition is the icons. These icons allow speedy recognition of the type of message being presented.
• Faster learning: a graphical, pictorial representation aids learning, and symbols can also be easily learned.
• Faster use and problem solving: Visual or spatial representation of information has been found to be easier to retain and manipulate and leads to faster and more successful problem solving.
• Easier remembering: Because of greater simplicity, it is easier for casual users to retain operational concepts.
• More natural: symbolic displays are more natural and advantageous because the human mind has a powerful image memory.
• Fewer errors: Reversibility of actions reduces error rates because it is always possible to undo the last step. Error messages are less frequently needed.
• Increased feeling of control: The user initiates actions and feels in control. This increases user confidence
• Immediate feedback: The results of actions furthering user goals can be seen immediately. If the response is not in the desired direction, the direction can be changed quickly.
• Predictable system responses: Predictable system responses also speed learning.
• Easily reversible actions: This ability to reverse unwanted actions also increases user confidence
• More attractive: Direct-manipulation systems are more entertaining, cleverer, and more appealing.
• May consume less space: Icons may take up less space than the equivalent in words but this is not the case always.
• Replaces national languages: Icons possess much more universality than text and are much more easily comprehended worldwide.
• Easily augmented with text displays: Where graphical design limitations exist, direct- manipulation systems can easily be augmented with text displays. The reverse is not true.
• Low typing requirements: Pointing and selection controls, such as the mouse or trackball, eliminate the need for typing skills.Graphical system Drawbacks.
The body of positive research, hypotheses, and comment concerning graphical systems is being challenged by some studies, findings, and opinions that indicate that graphical representation and interaction may not necessarily always be better. Indeed, in some cases, it may be poorer than pure textual or alphanumeric displays. Sometimes arcane, and even bizarre. Among the disadvantages put forth are these:
• Greater design complexity: Controls and basic alternatives must be chosen from a pile of choices numbering in excess of 50. This design potential may not necessarily result in better design unless proper controls and windows are selected. Poor design can undermine acceptance.
• Learning still necessary: The first time one encounters many graphical systems, what to do is not immediately obvious. A severe learning and remembering requirement is imposed on many users because meanings of icons or using pointing device have to be learned.
• Lack of experimentally-derived design guidelines: today there is a lack of widely available experimentally-derived design guidelines. Earlier only few studies to aid in making design decisions were performed and available for today now. Consequently, there is too little understanding of how most design aspects relate to productivity and satisfaction.
• Inconsistencies in technique and terminology: Many differences in technique, terminology, and look and feel exist among various graphical system providers, and even among successive versions of the same system. So the user has to learn or relearn again while shifting to next terminology.
• Not always familiar: Symbolic representations may not be as familiar as words or numbers. Numeric symbols elicit faster responses than graphic symbols in a visual search task.
• Window manipulation requirements: Window handling and manipulation times are still excessive and repetitive. This wastes time
• Production limitations: The number of symbols that can be clearly produced using today’s technology is still limited. A body of recognizable symbols must be produced that are equally legible and equally recognizable using differing technologies. This is
extremely difficult today.
• Few tested icons exist: Icons must be researched, designed, tested, and then introduced into the marketplace. The consequences of poor or improper design will be confusion and lower productivity for users.
• Inefficient for touch typists: For an experienced touch typist, the keyboard is a very fast and powerful device.
• Not always the preferred style of interaction: Not all users prefer a pure iconic interface. User will also prefer alternatives with textual captions.
• Not always fastest style of interaction: graphic instructions on an automated bank teller machine were inferior to textual instructions.
• May consume more screen space: Not all applications will consume less screen space.
A listing of names and telephone numbers in a textual format will be more efficient to scan than a card file.
• Hardware limitations: Good design also requires hardware of adequate power, processing speed, screen resolution, and graphic capability.
12) A) Elaborate on the techniques used for requirements analysis. (16)
Requirements Analysis
• The objective of this phase is to establish the need for a system. A requirement is an objective that must be met.
• A product description is developed and refined, based on input from users or marketing.
There are many techniques for capturing information for determining requirements.
DIRECT METHODS
Advantages
• The significant advantage of the direct methods is the opportunity they provide to hear the user’s comments in person and firsthand.
• Person-to-person encounters permit multiple channels of communication (body language, voice inflections, and so on) and provide the opportunity to immediately follow up on vague or incomplete data.
Here are some recommended direct methods for getting input from users.Individual Face-to-Face Interview• A one-on-one visit with the user to obtain information. It may be structured or somewhat open-ended.
• A formal questionnaire should not be used, however. Useful topics to ask the user to describe in an interview include:
• The activities performed in completing a task or achieving a goal or objective.
• The methods used to perform an activity.
• What interactions exist with other people or systems?
• It is also very useful to also uncover any:
o Potential measures of system usability
o Unmentioned exceptions to standard policies or procedures.
o Relevant knowledge the user must possess to perform the activity.
• Advantages
o Advantages of a personal interview are that you can give the user your full attention, can easily include follow-up questions to gain additional information, will have more time to discuss topics in detail, and will derive a deeper
understanding of your users, their experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and desires.
• Disadvantages
o Disadvantages of interviews are that they can be costly and time-consuming to conduct, and someone skilled in interviewing techniques should perform them.
Telephone Interview or Survey
• A structured interview conducted via telephone.
• Advantages
o Arranging the interview in advance allows the user to prepare for it.
o Telephone interviews are less expensive and less invasive than personal
interviews.
o They can be used much more frequently and are extremely effective for very specific information.
• Disadvantage
o It is impossible to gather contextual information, such as a description of the working environment, replies may be easily influenced by the interviewer’s
comments, and body language cues are missing.
o Also, it may be difficult to contact the right person for the telephone interview.
Traditional Focus Group
• A small group of users and a moderator brought together to verbally discuss the requirements.
• The purpose of a focus group is to probe user’s experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and desires, and to obtain their reactions to ideas or prototypes
• Setting up focus group involves the following:
o Establish the objectives of the session.
o Select participants representing typical users, or potential users.
o Write a script for the moderator to follow.
o Find a skilled moderator to facilitate discussion, to ensure that the discussion
remains focused on relevant topics, and to ensure that everyone participates.
o Allow the moderator flexibility in using the script.
o Take good notes, using the session recording for backup and clarification
Facilitated Team Workshop
• A facilitated, structured workshop held with users to obtain requirements information.
Similar to the traditional Focus Group
• Like focus groups, they do require a great deal of time to organize and run.
Observational Field Study
• Users are observed and monitored for an extended time to learn what they do.
• Observation provides good insight into tasks being performed, the working environment and conditions, the social environment, and working practices
• Observation, however, can be time-consuming and expensive.
• Video recording of the observation sessions will permit detailed task analysis.
Requirements Prototyping
• A demo, or very early prototype, is presented to users for comments concerning functionality.
User-Interface Prototyping
• A demo, or early prototype, is presented to users to uncover user-interface issues and problems
Usability Laboratory Testing
• Users at work are observed, evaluated, and measured in a specially constructed laboratory to establish the usability of the product at that point in time.
• Usability tests uncover what people actually do, not what they think they do a common problem with verbal descriptions
• The same scenarios can be presented to multiple users, providing comparative data from several users.
Card Sorting for Web Sites
• A technique to establish groupings of information for Web sites.
• Briefly, the process is as follows:
o From previous analyses, identify about 50 content topics and inscribe them on index cards. Limit topics to no more than 100.
o Provide blank index cards for names of additional topics the participant may want to add, and colored blank cards for groupings that the participant will be asked to create.
o Number the cards on the back.
o Arrange for a facility with large enough table for spreading out cards.
o Select participants representing a range of users. Use one or two people at a time
and 5 to 12 in total.
o Explain the process to the participants, saying that you are trying to determine what categories of information will be useful, what groupings make sense, and what the groupings should be called.
o Ask the participants to sort the cards and talk out loud while doing so. Advise the participants that additional content cards may be named and added as they think necessary during the sorting process.
o Observe and take notes as the participants talk about what they are doing. Pay particular attention to the sorting rationale.
o Upon finishing the sorting, if a participant has too many groupings ask that they be arranged hierarchically.
o Ask participants to provide a name for each grouping on the colored blank cards, using words that the user would expect to see that would lead them to that particular grouping.
o Make a record of the groupings using the numbers on the back of each card.
o Reshuffle the cards for the next session.
o When finished, analyze the results looking for commonalities among the different
sorting sessions.
INDIRECT METHODS
• An indirect method of requirements determination is one that places an intermediary between the developer and the user. This intermediary may be electronic or another person
Problems of Indirect Method
• First, there may be a filtering or distortion of the message, either intentional or unintentional.
• Next, the intermediary may not possess a complete, or current, understanding of user’s needs, passing on an incomplete or incorrect message.
• Finally, the intermediary may be a mechanism that discourages direct user-developer contact for political reasons.
MIS Intermediary
• A company representative defines the user’s goals and needs to designers and developers.
• This representative may come from the Information Services department itself, or he or she may be from the using department.
Paper Survey or Questionnaire
• A survey or questionnaire is administered to a sample of users using traditional mail methods to obtain their needs.
• Advantage
o Questionnaires have the potential to be used for a large target audience located most anywhere, and are much cheaper than customer visits.
o They generally, however, have a low return rate
• Disadvantage
o They may take a long time to collect and may be difficult to analyze.
• Questionnaires should be composed mostly of closed questions
• Questionnaires should be relatively short and created by someone experienced in their design.
Electronic Survey or Questionnaire
• A survey or questionnaire is administered to a sample of users using e-mail or the Web to obtain their needs.
• In creating an electronic survey:
o Determine the survey objectives.
o Determine where you will find the people to complete the survey.
o Create a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions requiring short answers
addressing the survey objectives.
o Keep it short, about 10 items or less is preferable.
o Keep it simple, requiring no more than 5–10 minutes to complete
• Iterative survey
o Consider a follow-up more detailed survey, or surveys, called iterative surveys.
Ask people who complete and return the initial survey if they are willing to
answer more detailed questions. If so, create and send the more detailed survey.
o A third follow-up survey can also be designed to gather additional information about the most important requirements and tasks
o Iterative surveys, of course, take a longer time to complete.
Electronic Focus Group
• A small group of users and a moderator discuss the requirements online using workstations.
• advantages
o advantages of electronic focus groups over traditional focus groups are that the discussion is less influenced by group dynamics; has a smaller chance of being dominated by one or a few participants; can be anonymous, leading to more honest comments and less caution in proposing new ideas
• Disadvantages
o The depth and richness of verbal discussions does not exist and the communication enhancement aspects of seeing participant’s body language are missing.
Marketing and Sales
• Company representatives who regularly meet customers obtain suggestions or needs, current and potential.
Support Line
• Information collected by the unit that helps customers with day-to-day problems is analyzed (Customer Support, Technical Support, Help Desk, etc.).
E-M ail or Bulletin Board
• Problems, questions, and suggestions from users posted to a bulletin board or through e- mail are analyzed.
User Group
• Improvements are suggested by customer groups who convene periodically to discuss software usage. They require careful planning.
Competitor Analyses
• A review of competitor’s products or Web sites is used to gather ideas, uncover design requirements and identify tasks.
Trade Show
• Customers at a trade show are presented a mock-up or prototype and asked for comments.
Other Media Analysis
• An analysis of how other media, print or broadcast, present the process, information, or subject matter of interest.
System Testing
• New requirements and feedback are obtained from ongoing product testing
Requirements Collection Guidelines
• Establish 4 to 6 different developer-user links.
• Provide most reliance on direct links.Determining Basic Business Functions
• A detailed description of what the product will do is prepared. Major system functions are listed and described, including critical system inputs and outputs. A flowchart of major functions is developed. The process the developer will use is summarized as follows:
o Gain a complete understanding of the user’s mental model based upon:
The user’s needs and the user’s profile.
A user task analysis.
o Develop a conceptual model of the system based upon the user’s mental model.
This includes:
Defining objects.
Developing metaphors.
b) Disscus the structure and content of menus (16)
Structures of MenusSingle Menus• In this simplest form of menu, a single screen or window is presented to seek the user’s input or request an action to be performed
• A single menu may be iterative if it requires data to be entered into it and this data input is subject to a validity check that fails. The menu will then be represented to the user with a message requesting reentry of valid data.
Sequential Linear Menus
• Sequential linear menus are presented on a series of screens possessing only one path.
• The menu screens are presented in a preset order, and, generally, their objective is for specifying parameters or for entering data.
• Sequential path menus have several shortcomings. A long sequence may become tedious as menu after menu is presented.
Simultaneous Menus
• Instead of being presented on separate screens, all menu options are available simultaneously
• Problems with simultaneous menus are that for large collections of menu alternatives screen clutter can easily occur, and screen paging or scrolling may still be necessary to view all the choices.
• Presenting many menu dependencies and relationships on a screen, especially if poorly indicated, can also be very confusing
Hierarchical Menus
• A hierarchical structure results in an increasing refinement of choice as menus are stepped through, for example, from options, to suboptions, from categories to subcategories, from pages to sections to subsections, and so on
• A hierarchical structure can best be represented as an inverse tree, leading to more and more branches as one moves downward through it.
• Common examples of hierarchical design today are found in menu bars with their associated pull-downs
• A disadvantage of a hierarchical scheme is that the defined branching order may not fit the users conception of the task flow.
• If users are not familiar with the hierarchical menu, or are unable to predict what suboptions lie below
• a particular choice, they may go down wrong paths and find it necessary to go back up the tree to change a choice, or perhaps even return to the top-level menu
Connected Menus
• Connected menus are networks of menus all interconnected in some manner. Movement through a structure of menus is not restricted to a hierarchical tree, but is permitted between most or all menus in the network.
• A connected menu system may be cyclical, with movement permitted in either direction between menus, or acyclical, with movement permitted in only one direction. These menus also vary in connectivity, the extent to which menus are linked by multiple paths.
• The biggest advantage of a connected menu network is that it gives the user full control over the navigation flow. Its disadvantage is its complexity,
Event-Trapping Menus
• Event Trapping menus provide an ever-present background of control over the system’s state and parameters while the user is working on a foreground task.
• Event-trapping menus generally serve one of three functions.
(1) They may immediately change some parameter in the current environment (bold a piece of text),
(2) they may take the user out of the current environment to perform a function without leaving the current environment (perform a spell check), or
(3) they may exit the current environment and allow the user to move to a totally new environment (Exit).Functions of Menus
• a menu can be used to perform several functions, to navigate to a new menu, to execute an action or procedure, to display information, or to input data or parameters
Navigation to a New Menu
• Each user selection causes another menu in a hierarchical menu tree to be displayed.
• The purpose of each selection is to steer the user toward an objective or goal.
• Selection errors may lead the user down wrong paths, and cost time and, perhaps, aggravation, but these errors are nondestructive and usually undoable.
Execute an Action or Procedure
• A user selection directs the computer to implement an action or perform a procedure.
• The action may be something like opening or closing a file, copying text, or sending a message.
• Accidental selection of critical irreversible actions must be prevented in interface design.
Displaying Information
• The main purpose of selecting a menu choice may simply be to display information.
• The user may be searching for specific information in a database or browsing the Web.
The content material and the user’s interests will determine the paths followed.
• The user’s focus is primarily on the information desired and less on the selection function. Wrong turns in the process will again cost time and perhaps aggravation, but these errors are nondestructive and usually undoable.
Data or Parameter Input• Each selection specifies a piece of input data for the system or provides a parameter value. Data or values may be input on a single menu or spread over a hierarchy of menus.Content of Menus
• A menu consists of four elements, its context, its title, its choice descriptions, and its completion instructions.
Menu Context
• A menu’s context provides information to keep the user oriented.
• Feedback is necessary that tells users where they are in a process, what their past choices were, and possibly how much farther they still have to navigate
• Verbal linkage, spatial linkage, or both may be used to provide navigation feedback.
• Verbal linkage involves providing, on the current menu screen, a listing of choices made on previous menus that have led to this position. It also involves assuring the user that the displayed menu is the menu desired
• Spatial linkage can be accomplished by graphic methods. Each succeeding menu screen can be displayed overlapping the previous menu screen so a succession of choices can be seen in a single view.
Menu Title• A menu’s title provides the context for the current set of choices. The title must reflect the choice selected on the previously displayed menu.
Choice Descriptions
• Choice descriptions are the alternatives available to the user.
• These descriptions can range from a mnemonic, numeric, or alphabetized listing of choices to single words or phrases to full sentences or more.
Completion Instructions
• Completion instructions tell users how to indicate their choices
• Explicit instructions may be needed for first time or casual users of a system.
Experienced users will find overly verbose instructions unnecessary.
• The needs of all system users, and the nature of the system, must again be considered in creating this kind of on-screen guidance.
Formatting of Menus
• What follows is a series of guidelines for formatting menus.
Consistency
• Provide consistency with the user’s expectations.
• Provide consistency in menu:
— Formatting, including organization, presentation, and choice ordering.
— Phrasing, including titles, choice descriptions, and instructions.
— Choice selection methods.
— Navigation schemes.
Display
• If continual or frequent references to menu options are necessary, permanently display the menu in an area of the screen that will not obscure other screen data.
• If only occasional references to menu options are necessary, the menu may be presented on demand.
— Critical options should be continuously displayed, however.Presentation
• Ensure that a menu and its choices are obvious to the user by presenting them with a unique and consistent structure, location, and/or display technique.
• Ensure that other system components do not possess the same visual qualities as menu choices.Organization
• Provide a general or main menu.
• Display:
— All relevant alternatives.
— Only relevant alternatives.
• Delete or gray-out inactive choices.
• Match the menu structure to the structure of the task.
— Organization should reflect the most efficient sequence of steps to accomplish a person’s most frequent or most likely goals.
• Minimize number of menu levels within limits of clarity.
— For Web sites, restrict it to two levels (requiring two mouse clicks) for fastest performance.
• Be conservative in the number of menu choices presented on a screen:
— Without logical groupings of elements, limit choices to 4 to 8.
— With logical groupings of elements, limit choices to 18 to 24.
• Provide decreasing direction menus, if sensible.
• Never require menus to be scrolled.
• Provide users with an easy way to restructure a menu according to how work is accomplished.
• In general, the more choices contained on a menu (greater breadth), the less will be its depth; the fewer choices on a menu (less breadth), the greater will be its depth.
• The advantages of a menu system with greater breadth and less depth are:
o Fewer steps and shorter time to reach one’s objective.
o Fewer opportunities to wander down wrong paths.
o Easier learning by allowing the user to see relationships of menu items.
• A broad menu’s disadvantages are:
o A more crowded menu that may reduce the clarity of the wording of choices.
o Increased likelihood of confusing similar choices because they are seen together.
• The advantages of greater depth are:
o Less crowding on the menu.
o Fewer choices to be scanned.
o Easier hiding of inappropriate choices.
o Less likelihood of confusing similar choices since there is less likelihood that they
will be seen together.
• Greater depth disadvantages are:
o More steps and longer time to reach one’s objective.
o More difficulties in learning since relationships between elements cannot always
be seen.
o More difficulties in predicting what lies below, resulting in increased likelihood of going down wrong paths or getting lost.
o Higher error rates.Complexity
• Provide both simple and complex menus.
• Simple: a minimal set of actions and menus.
• Complex: a complete set of actions and menus.
Item Arrangement
• Align alternatives or choices into single columns whenever possible.
— Orient for top-to-bottom reading.
— Left-justify descriptions.
• If a horizontal orientation of descriptions must be maintained:
— Organize for left-to-right reading.Ordering
• Order lists of choices by their natural order, or
• For lists associated with numbers, use numeric order.
• For textual lists with a small number of options (seven or less), order by:
— Sequence of occurrence.
— Frequency of occurrence.
— Importance.
— Semantic similarity.
• Use alphabetic order for:
— Long lists (eight or more options).
— Short lists with no obvious pattern or frequency.
• Separate potentially destructive actions from frequently chosen items.
• If option usage changes, do not reorder menus.
• Maintain a consistent ordering of options on all related menus.
— For variable-length menus, maintain consistent relative positions.
— For fixed-length menus, maintain consistent absolute positions.
• A meaningful ordering is necessary to:
o Facilitate search for an item.
o Provide information about the structure and relationships among items.
o Provide compatibility with the user’s mental model of the item structure.
o Enhance the user’s ability to anticipate a choice’s location.
Groupings
• Create groupings of items that are logical, distinctive, meaningful, and mutually exclusive.
• Categorize them in such a way as to:
— Maximize the similarity of items within a category.
— Minimize the similarity of items across categories.
• Present no more than six or seven groupings on a screen.
• Order categorized groupings in a meaningful way.
• If meaningful categories cannot be developed and more than eight options must be displayed on a screen, create arbitrary visual groupings that:
— Consist of about four or five but never more than seven options.
— Are of equal size.
• Separate groupings created through either:
— Wider spacing, or
— A thin ruled line.
• Provide immediate access to critical or frequently chosen items.
Line Separators
• Separate vertically arrayed groupings with subtle solid lines.
• Separate vertically arrayed subgroupings with subtle dotted or dashed lines.
• For subgroupings within a category:
— Left-justify the lines under the first letter of the columnized choice descriptions.
— Right-justify the lines under the last character of the longest choice description.
• For independent groupings:
— Extend the line to the left and right menu borders.
Phrasing the Menu
• A menu must communicate to the user information about:
o The nature and purpose of the menu itself.
o The nature and purpose of each presented choice.
o How the proper choice or choices may be selected.
Menu Titles
• Main menu:
— Create a short, simple, clear, and distinctive title, describing the purpose of the entire series of choices.
• Submenus:
— Submenu titles must be worded exactly the same as the menu choice previously selected to display them.
• General:
— Locate the title at the top of the listing of choices.
— Spell out the title fully using either an:
• Uppercase font.
• Mixed-case font in the headline style.
— Superfluous titles may be omitted.
Menu Choice Descriptions
• Create meaningful choice descriptions that are familiar, fully spelled out, concise,and distinctive.
• Descriptions may be single words, compound words, or multiple words or phrases.
— Exception: Menu bar items should be a single word (if possible).
• Place the keyword first, usually a verb.
• Use the headline style, capitalizing the first letter of each significant word in the choice description.
• Use task-oriented not data-oriented wording.
• Use parallel construction.
• A menu choice must never have the same wording as its menu title.
• Identical choices on different menus should be worded identically.
• Choices should not be numbered.
— Exception: If the listing is numeric in nature, graphic, or a list of varying items, it may be numbered.
• If menu options will be used in conjunction with a command language, the capitalization and syntax of the choices should be consistent with the command language.
• Word choices as commands to the computer.
Menu Instructions
• For novice or inexperienced users, provide menu completion instructions.
— Place the instructions in a position just preceding the part, or parts, of the menu to which they apply.
• Left-justify the instruction and indent the related menu choice descriptions a minimum of three spaces to the right.
• Leave a space line, if possible, between the instructions and the related menu choice descriptions.
— Present instructions in a mixed-case font in sentence style.
• For expert users, make these instructions easy to ignore by:
— Presenting them in a consistent location.
— Displaying them in a unique type style and/or color.
Intent Indicators
• Cascade indicator:
— To indicate that selection of an item will lead to a submenu, place a triangle or right- pointing solid arrow following the choice.
— A cascade indicator must designate every cascaded menu.
• To a window indicator:
— For choices that result in displaying a window to collect more information, place an ellipsis (. . .) immediately following the choice.
• Exceptions—do not use when an action:
– Causes a warning window to be displayed.
– May or may not lead to a window.
• Direct action items:
— For choices that directly perform an action, no special indicator should be placed on the menu.
Keyboard Equivalents
• To facilitate keyboard selection of a menu choice, each menu item should be assigned a keyboard equivalent mnemonic.
• The mnemonic should be the first character of the menu item’s description.
— If duplication exists in first characters, use another character in the duplicated item’s description.
— Preferably choose the first succeeding consonant.
• Designate the mnemonic character by underlining it.
• Use industry-standard keyboard access equivalents when they exist.Keyboard Accelerators
• For frequently used items, provide a keyboard accelerator to facilitate keyboard selection.
• The accelerator may be one function key or a combination of keys.
— Function key shortcuts are easier to learn than modifier plus letter shortcuts.
• Pressing no more than two keys simultaneously is preferred.
— Do not exceed three simultaneous keystrokes.
• Use a plus (+) sign to indicate that two or more keys must be pressed at the same time.
• Accelerators should have some associative value to the item.
• Identify the keys by their actual key top engraving.
• If keyboard terminology differences exist, use:
— The most common keyboard terminology.
— Terminology contained on the newest PCs.
• Separate the accelerator from the item description by three spaces.
• Right-align the key descriptions.
• Do not use accelerators for:
— Menu items that have cascaded menus.
— Pop-up menus.
• Use industry-standard keyboard accelerators
13) A ) Discuss in detail about windows presentation style (16) Window Presentation Styles
• The presentation style of a window refers to its spatial relationship to other windows.
• There are two basic styles, commonly called tiled or overlapping.
Tiled Windows
• Tiled windows derive their name from common floor or wall tile. Tiled windows appear in one plane on the screen and expand or contract to fill up the display surface, as needed.
• Most systems provide two-dimensional tiled windows, adjustable in both height and width.
• advantages:
o The system usually allocates and positions windows for the user, eliminating the necessity to make positioning decisions.
o Open windows are always visible, eliminating the possibility of them being lost and forgotten.
o Every window is always completely visible, eliminating the possibility of information being hidden.
o They are perceived as fewer complexes than overlapping windows, possibly because there are fewer management operations or they seem less “magical.”
o They are easier, according to studies, for novice or inexperienced people to learn and use.
o They yield better user performance for tasks where the data requires little window manipulation to complete the task.
• Disadvantages
o Only a limited number can be displayed in the screen area available.
o As windows are opened or closed, existing windows change in size. This can be
annoying.
o As windows change in size or position, the movement can be disconcerting.
o As the number of displayed windows increases, each window can get very tiny.
o The changes in sizes and locations made by the system are difficult to predict.
o The configuration of windows provided by the system may not meet the user’s
needs.
o They are perceived as crowded and more visually complex because window borders are flush against one another, and they fill up the whole screen. Crowding is accentuated if borders contain scroll bars or control icons. Viewer attention may be drawn to the border, not the data.
o They permit less user control because the system actively manages the windows.
Overlapping Windows
• Overlapping windows may be placed on top of one another like papers on a desk.
• They possess a three-dimensional quality, appearing to lie on different planes.
• Advantages:
o Visually, their look is three-dimensional, resembling the desktop that is familiar to the user.
o Greater control allows the user to organize the windows to meet his or her needs.
o Windows can maintain larger sizes.
o Windows can maintain consistent sizes.
o Windows can maintain consistent positions.
o Screen space conservation is not a problem, because windows can be placed on
top of one another.
o There is less pressure to close or delete windows no longer needed.
o The possibility exists for less visual crowding and complexity. Larger borders can
be maintained around window information, and the window is more clearly set off
against its background. Windows can also be expanded to fill the entire display.
o They yield better user performance for tasks where the data requires much window manipulation to complete the task.
• Disadvantages
o They are operationally much more complex than tiled windows. More control functions require greater user attention and manipulation.
o Information in windows can be obscured behind other windows.
o Windows themselves can be lost behind other windows and be presumed not to
exist.
o That overlapping windows represent a three-dimensional space is not always realized by the user.
o Control freedom increases the possibility for greater visual complexity and crowding. Too many windows, or improper offsetting, can be visually overwhelming.
Cascading Windows
• A special type of overlapping window has the windows automatically arranged in a regular progression.
• Each window is slightly offset from others, as illustrated in Figure
• Advantages
o No window is ever completely hidden.
o Bringing any window to the front is easier.
o It provides simplicity in visual presentation and cleanness.
Picking a Presentation Style
• Use tiled windows for:
o Single-task activities.
o Data that needs to be seen simultaneously.
o Tasks requiring little window manipulation.
o Novice or inexperienced users.
• Use overlapping windows for:
o Switching between tasks.
o Tasks necessitating a greater amount of window manipulation.
o Expert or experienced users.
o Unpredictable display contents.
Types of Windows Primary Window
• Proper usage:
— Should represent an independent function or application.
— Use to present constantly used window components and controls.
• Menu bar items that are:
— Used frequently.
— Used by most, or all, primary or secondary windows.
• Controls used by dependent windows.
— Use for presenting information that is continually updated.
• For example, date and time.
— Use for providing context for dependent windows to be created.
— Do not:
• Divide an independent function into two or more primary windows.
• Present unrelated functions in one primary window.
• It has also been variously referred to as the application window or the main window. In addition, it may be referred to as the parent window if one or more child windows exist
Secondary Windows
• Proper usage:
— For performing subordinate, supplemental, or ancillary actions that are:
• Extended or more complex in nature.
• Related to objects in the primary window.
— For presenting frequently or occasionally used window components.
• Important guidelines:
— Should typically not appear as an entry on the taskbar.
— A secondary window should not be larger than 263 dialog units x 263 dialog units.
• A dependent secondary window is one common type. It can only be displayed from a command on the interface of its primary window. It is typically associated with a single data object, and appears on top of the active window when requested. It is movable, and scrollable.
• An independent secondary window can be opened independently of a primary window— for example, a property sheet displayed when the user clicks the Properties command on the menu of a desktop icon.
Modal and Modeless
• Modal:
— Use when interaction with any other window must not be permitted.
— Use for:
• Presenting information.
— For example, messages (sometimes called a message box).
• Receiving user input.
— For example, data or information (sometimes called a prompt box).
• Asking questions.
— For example, data, information, or directions (sometimes called a question box).
— Use carefully because it constrains what the user can do.
• Modeless:
— Use when interaction with other windows must be permitted.
— Use when interaction with other windows must be repeated.
Cascading and Unfolding
• Cascading:
— Purpose:
• To provide advanced options at a lower level in a complex dialog.
— Guidelines:
• Provide a command button leading to the next dialog box with a “To a Window” indicator, an ellipsis (. . . ).
• Present the additional dialog box in cascaded form.
• Provide no more than two cascades in a given path.
• Do not cover previous critical information.
— Title Bar.
— Relevant displayed information.
• If independent, close the secondary window from which it was opened.
• Unfolding:
— Purpose:
• To provide advanced options at the same level in a complex dialog.
— Guidelines:
• Provide a command button with an expanding dialog symbol (>>).
• Expand to right or downward.
Cascaded Window
Unfolded Window
Dialog Boxes
• Use for presenting brief messages.
• Use for requesting specific, transient actions.
• Use for performing actions that:
— Take a short time to complete.
— Are not frequently changed.
• Command buttons to include:
— OK.
— Cancel.
— Others as necessary.
Property Sheets and Property Inspectors
Secondary windows provide two other techniques for displaying properties, property sheets and
property inspectors.
Property Sheets
• Use for presenting the complete set of properties for an object.
• Categorize and group within property pages, as necessary.
— Use tabbed property pages for grouping peer-related property sets.
— The recommended sizes for property sheets are:
• 252 DLUs wide x 218 DLUs high
• 227 DLUs wide x 215 DLUs high
• 212 DLUs wide x 188 DLUs high
— Command buttons to include:
• OK.
• Cancel.
• Apply.
• Reset.
• Others as necessary.
— For single property sheets, place the commands on the sheet.
— For tabbed property pages, place the commands outside the tabbed pages.
Property Inspectors
• Use for displaying only the most common or frequently accessed objects properties.
• Make changes dynamically.
Message Boxes
• Use for displaying a message about a particular situation or condition.
• Command buttons to include:
— OK.
— Cancel.
— Help.
— Yes and No.
— Stop.
— Buttons to correct the action that caused the message box to be displayed.
• Enable the title bar close box only if the message includes a cancel button.
• Designate the most frequent or least destructive option as the default command
Palette Windows
• Use to present a set of controls.
• Design as resizable.
— Alternately, design them as fixed in size.
Pop-up Windows
• Use pop-up windows to display:
— Additional information when an abbreviated form of the information is the main presentation.
— Textual labels for graphical controls.
— Context-sensitive Help information
b) Discuss in detail about any four presentation controls. (16) Presentation Controls
• Common presentation controls are static text fields, group boxes column headings, ToolTips, balloon tips, and progress indicators.
Static Text Fields
• Description:
— Read-only textual information.
• Purpose:
— To identify a control by displaying a control caption.
— To clarify a screen by providing instructional or prompting information.
— To present descriptive information.
• Proper usage:
— To display a control caption.
— To display instructional or prompting information.
— To display descriptive information.
Static Text Field Guidelines
• Captions:
— Include a colon (:) as part of the caption.
— Include a mnemonic for keyboard access.
— When the associated control is disabled, display it dimmed.
— Follow all other presented guidelines for caption presentation and layout.
• Instructional or prompting information:
— Display it in a unique and consistent font style for easy recognition and differentiation.
— Follow all other presented guidelines for prompting and instructional information.
• Descriptive information:
— Follow all other guidelines for required screen or control descriptive information.
Group Boxes
• Description:
— A rectangular frame that surrounds a control or group of controls.
— An optional caption may be included in the frame’s upper-left corner.
• Purpose:
— To visually relate the elements of a control.
— To visually relate a group of related controls.
• Proper usage:
— To provide a border around radio button or check box controls.
— To provide a border around two or more functionally related controls.
• Guidelines:
— Label or heading:
• Typically, use a noun or noun phrase for the label or heading.
• Provide a brief label or heading, preferably one or two words.
• Relate label or heading’s content to the group box’s content.
• Capitalize the first letter of each significant word.
• Do not include and ending colon ( : ).
— Follow all other guidelines presented for control and section borders.
Column Headings
• Description:
— Read-only textual information that serves as a heading above columns of text or numbers.
— Can be divided into two or more parts.
• Purpose:
— To identify a column of information contained in a table.
• Proper usage:
— To display a heading above a column of information contained in a table.
• Guidelines:
— Heading:
• Provide a brief heading.
• Can include text and a graphic image.
• Capitalize the first letter of each significant word.
• Do not include an ending colon ( : ).
— The width of the column should fit the average size of the column entries.
— Does not support keyboard access.
ToolTips
• Description:
— A small pop-up window containing descriptive text that appears when a pointer is moved over a control or element either:
• Not possessing a label.
• In need of additional descriptive or status information.
• Purpose:
— To provide