Interaction can be seen as a dialog between the
computer and the user.
The choice of interface style can have a profound
effect on the nature of this dialog.
There are a number of common interface styles
including
command line interface
menus
natural language
question/answer and query dialog
form-fills and spreadsheets
The command line interface was the first interactive
dialog style to be commonly used and it is still widely
used.
It provides a means of expressing instructions to the
computer directly, using function keys, single
characters, abbreviations or whole-word commands.
Command line interfaces are powerful : they offer
direct access to system functionality.
They are also flexible: the command often has a
number of options or parameters that will vary its
behavior, and it can be applied to many objects at
once.
Flexibility and power brings with it difficulty in use
and learning.
They are therefore better for expert users than for
novices.
the set of options available to the user is displayed
on the screen, and selected using the mouse, or
numeric or alphabetic keys.
Menu options still need to be meaningful and logically
grouped to aid recognition.
Often menus are hierarchically ordered.
Systems either can be purely text based, with the menu
options being presented as numbered choices, or may
have a graphical component in which the menu appears
within a rectangular box and choices are made, perhaps
by typing the initial letter of the desired selection, or by
entering the associated number, or by moving around
the menu with the arrow keys.
Natural language
The ambiguity of natural language makes it very
difficult for a machine to understand.
Language is ambiguous at a number of levels.
First, the syntax, or structure, of a phrase may
not be clear.
Question/answer and query dialog
Question and answer dialog is a simple
mechanism for providing input to an application
in a specific domain.
The user is asked a series of questions ( yes/no
responses, multiple choice, or codes) and is led
through the interaction step by step.
These interfaces are easy to learn and use, but
are limited in functionality and power.
Form-fills and spreadsheets
Form-filling interfaces are used primarily for data
entry but can also be useful in data retrieval
applications.
Most form-filling interfaces allow easy movement
around the form and allow some fields to be left
blank.
it is easy to learn and use, for novice users.
Spreadsheets are a sophisticated variation of form
filling.
The spreadsheet comprises a grid of cells, each of
which can contain a value or a formula.
Chapter 2
Design &Software Process
Interaction design create interventions in complex
situations using technology of many kinds
including PC software, the web and physical
devices.
Design involves:
1- Achieving goals within constraints.
2- Understanding the raw materials: computer and
human
3- Accepting limitations of humans and of design.
• The design process has several stages and is
iterative and never complete.
Interaction starts with getting to know the users and their
context:
1. Finding out who they are and what they are like
2. Talking to them, watching them.
Scenarios are rich design stories, which can be
used and reused throughout design: they help us
see what users will want to do.
They give a step-by-step walkthrough of users
interactions: including what they see, do and are
thinking.
Users need to find their way around a system. This
involves:
1. Helping users know where they are.
2. Creating overall structures that are easy to
understand and fit the users needs
3 Designing comprehensible screens and control
panels.
• Complexity of design means we don‗t get it right
first time:
1. we need iteration and prototypes to try out and
evaluate
2. iteration can get trapped in local maxima;
designs that have no simple improvements, but are
not good theory and models can help give good
start points.
achieving goals within constraints
Goals: what is the purpose of the design we are
intending to produce? Who is it for? Why do they
want it?
Constraints: What materials must we use? What
standards must we adopt? How much can it cost?
How much time do we have to develop it? Are
there health and safety issues?
Trade-off Choosing which goals or constraints
can be relaxed so that others can be met.
The designs we produce may be different, but
often the raw materials are the same.
This leads us to the golden rule of design:
understand your materials
understand computers
o limitations, capacities, tools, platforms
understand people
o psychological, social aspects, human error.
Requirements
Analysis
Design
Iteration and prototyping
Implementation and deployment
Scenarios are stories for design : rich stories of
interaction.
They are the simplest design representation, but
one of the most flexible and powerful.
Some scenarios are quite short:
Tasks of scenarios
1-Scenarios force you to think about the design
in detail and notice potential problems before
they happen.
2- Communicate with others
3- Validate other models
4- Express dynamics
Navigation Design is the process or activity of
accurately ascertaining one's position and planning
and following a route.
Widgets The appropriate choice of widgets and
wording in menus and buttons will help you know
how to use them for a particular selection or action.
Screens or windows -find things on the screen,
understand the logical grouping of buttons.
Navigation within the application -understand what
will happen when a button is pressed.
Environment The word processor has to read
documents from disk, perhaps some are on remote
networks. You swap between applications, perhaps
cut and paste.
if users had perfect knowledge of what they
wanted and how the system worked they could
simply take the shortest path to what they want.
but that at each point in the interaction, some
assessment of whether they are getting closer to
their goal.
what to do to get closer to their goal.
• knowing where you are.
• knowing what you can do.
• knowing where you are going.
• knowing where you have been.
The hierarchy links screens, pages or states in
logical groupings.
The Diagram gives a high-level breakdown of
some sort of messaging system.
This sort of hierarchy can be used purely to help
during design, but can also be used to structure
the actual system.
The basic principles at the screen level
Ask : What is the user doing?
Think: What information is required?
Design: Form follows function
We have a number of visual tools available to help us suggest to the user
appropriate ways to read and interact with a screen or device.
1- Grouping and structure
If things logically belong together, group them together.
This may involve multiple levels of structure.
2- Order of groups and items
In general we need to think: what is the natural order for the user?
This should normally match the order on screen.
3- Decoration
Decorative features like font style, and text or background colors can be
used to emphasize groupings.
4- Alignment
Alignment of lists is also very important.
For users who read text from left to right, lists of text
items should normally be aligned to the left
5- White space
white space is any section of a document that is
unused or space around an object.
White spaces help separate paragraphs of text, graphics, and
other portions of a document, and help a document look less
crowded. Using white space effectively in a document keeps the
reader reading the document and helps the reader quickly find
what they are interested in reading
White space is created by pressing:
the return key,
spacebar key, and
the tab key.
User action and control
Entering information
Knowing what to do
Affordances
How are users supposed to know where to click?
The psychological idea of affordance says that things may
suggest by their shape and other attributes what you can do
to them.
Appropriate appearance
Presenting information
Aesthetics and utility
color and 3D
Localization / internationalization
