Design process
Obstacles and pitfalls in development path
No body ever gets it right for the first time
Development is chock full of surprises.
Good design requires living in a sea of changes.
Designers need good tools.
Performance design goals
People may make mistakes while using a good system also
Common pitfalls
No early analysis and understanding the users needs and expectations.
A focus on using design features or components .
No usability testing.
No common design team vision.
Poor communication
Common usability problems
Ambiguous menus and icons.
Languages that permit only single direction movement through a system.
Input and direct manipulation limits.
Complex linkage.
Inadequate feedback.
Lack of system anticipation.
Inadequate error messages.
Irritating characters
Visual clutter
Impaired information readability
Incomprehensible components
Annoying distractions.
Confusing navigation.
inefficient operations
inefficient page scrolling.
Information overload
Design team
Development
Human factors
Visual Design
Usability assessment
Documentation
Training
Human interaction with computers
Understanding How People Interact with Computers :
Characteristics of computer systems, past and present, that have caused, and are causing,
people
problems. We will then look at the effect these problems have -
o Why people have trouble with computers
o Responses to poor design
o People and their tasks
Why People Have Trouble with Computers
Extensive technical knowledge but little behavioral training.
with its extensive graphical capabilities.
Poorly designed interfaces.
What makes a system difficult to use in the eyes of its user?
Use of jargon
Non-obvious design
Fine distinctions
Disparity in problem-solving strategies an "error-preventing" strategy
Design inconsistency
Psychological
Typical psychological responses to poor design are:
Confusion: Detail overwhelms the perceived structure. Meaningful patterns are
difficult to ascertain, and the conceptual model or underlying framework cannot
be understood or
established.
Annoyance: Roadblocks that prevent a task being completed, or a need from
being satisfied, promptly and efficiently lead to annoyance.
Inconsistencies in design, slow computer reaction times, difficulties in quickly
finding information, out-dated information, and visual screen distractions are a
few of the many things that may annoy users.
Frustration: An overabundance of annoyances, an inability to easily convey one's intentions
to
the computer, or an inability to finish a task or satisfy a need can cause frustration.
Frustration is heightened if an unexpected computer response cannot be undone or if what
really took place cannot be determined: Inflexible and un-forgiving systems are a major
source of frustration.
Panic or stress: Unexpectedly long delays during times of severe or unusual pres-sure may
introduce panic or stress. Some typical causes are unavailable systems or long response times
when the user is operating under a deadline or dealing with an irate customer.
Boredom:
Boredom results from improper computer pacing (slow response times or long
download times) or overly simplistic jobs.
These psychological responses diminish user effectiveness because they are severe blocks to
concentration.
Physical
Psychological responses frequently lead to, or are accompanied by, the
following phys-ical reactions.
Abandonment of the system: The system is rejected and other
information sources are relied upon.
These sources must, of course, be available and the user must have the
discretion to perform the rejection.
In business systems this is a common reaction of managerial and
professional personnel. With the Web, almost all users can exercise this
option.
Partial use of the system: Only a portion of the system's capabilities are used, usually those
operations that are easiest to perform or that provide the most benefits. Historically, this has
been the most common user reaction to most computer systems. Many aspects of many systems
often go unused.
Indirect use of the system: An intermediary is placed between the would-be user and the
computer. Again, since this requires high status and discretion, it is another typical response of
managers or others with authority.
Modification of the task: The task is changed to match the capabilities of the system.
This is a prevalent reaction when the tools are rigid and the problem is unstructured, as in
scientific problem solving.
Compensatory activity: Additional actions are performed to compensate for system
inadequacies.
A common example is the manual reformatting of information to match the structure
required by the computer.
This is a reaction common to workers whose discretion is limited, such as clerical personnel.
Misuse of the system: The rules are bent to shortcut operational difficulties.
This requires significant knowledge of the system and may affect system
integrity.
Direct programming: The system is reprogrammed by its user to meet specific
needs. This is a typical response of the sophisticated worker.
These physical responses also greatly diminish user efficiency and
effectiveness.
They force the user to rely upon other information sources, to fail to use a
system's complete capabilities, or to perform time-consuming "work-around"
actions.
Important Human Characteristics in Design:
Importance in design are perception, memory, visual acuity, foveal and peripheral vision,
sensory
storage, information processing, learning, skill, and individual differences.
Perception
Proximity
Similarity
Matching patterns
Succinctness
Closure
Unity
Continuity
Balance
Expectancies
Context
Memory: Memory is not the most stable of human attributes, as anyone who has
forgotten why they walked into a room, or forgotten a very important birthday,
can attest.
Short-term, or working, memory.
Long-term memory
Mighty memory
Sensory Storage
Mental Models: As a result of our experiences and culture, we develop mental
models of things and peo-ple we interact with.
A mental model is simply an internal representation of a person's
current understanding of something. Usually a person cannot describe
this mental mode and most often is unaware it even exists.
has been forgotten or Mental models are gradually developed in order
to understand something, explain things, make decisions, do
something, or in-teract with another person.
Mental models also enable a person to predict the actions necessary
to do things if the action has not yet been encountered.
Movement Control : Once data has been perceived and an appropriate action
decided upon, a response must be made; in many cases the response is a
movement. In computer systems, move-ments include such activities as pressing
keyboard keys, moving the screen pointer
by pushing a mouse or rotating a trackball, or clicking a mouse button The
implications in
screen design are:
– Provide large objects for important functions.
– Take advantage of the "pinning" actions of the sides, top, bottom, and corners
of the screen.
Learning: Learning, as has been said, is the process of encoding in long-term
memory information that is contained in short-term memory.
Skill: The goal of human performance is to perform skillfully. To do so
requires
linking in-puts and responses into a sequence of action.
The essence of skill is performance of ac-tions or movements in the correct
time sequence with adequate precision. It is characterized by consistency and
economy of effort.
Individual Differences : In reality, there is no average user. A
complicating but very advantageous human char-acteristic is that we all differ-
in looks, feelings, motor abilities, intellectual abilities, learning abilities and
speed, and so on.
In a keyboard data entry task, for example, the best typists will probably be
twice as fast as the poorest and make 10 times fewer errors.
Individual differences complicate design because the design must permit people
with widely varying characteristics to satisfactorily and comfortably learn the
task or job, or use the Website.
Human Considerations in Design
The User's Knowledge and Experience:
The knowledge possessed by a person, and the experiences undergone, shape the
de-sign of the interface in many ways. The following kinds of knowledge and
experiences should be identified.
Computer Literacy - Highly technical or experienced, moderate computer
experience, or none
System Experience - High, moderate, or low knowledge of a particular system and
its methods of interaction
Application Experience - High, moderate, or low knowledge of similar systems
Task Experience - Other Level of knowledge of job and job tasks
Systems Use - Frequent or infrequent use of other systems in doing job
Education - High school, college, or advanced degree
Reading Level - Less than 5th grade, 5th-12th, more than 12th grade
Typing Skill - Expert (135 WPM), skilled (90 WPM), good (55 WPM),
average(40 WPM), or "hunt and peck" (10 WPM).
Native Language or Culture- English, another, or several
JOB/TASK/NEED
Type of System Use -Mandatory or discretionary use of the system.
Frequency of Use -Continual, frequent, occasional, or once-in-a- lifetime use of system
Task or Need importance - High, moderate, or low importance of the task being performed
Task Structure - Repetitiveness or predictability of tasks being automated, high,
moderate, or low
Social Interactions - Verbal communication with another person required or not required
Primary Training - Extensive or formal training, self-training through manuals, or no
training
PSYCHOLOCICAL CHRACTERISTICS:
Attitude - Positive, neutral, or negative feeling toward job or
system
Motivation - Low, moderate, or high due to interest or fear
Patience - Patience or impatience expected in accomplishing
goal
Expectations - Kinds and reasonableness
Stress Level - High, some, or no stress generally
resulting from task performance
Cognitive Style - Verbal or spatial, analytic or intuitive,
concrete or abstract.
Age -Young middle aged or elderly
Gender -Male or Female
Handness Left, right or ambidextrous Disabilities Blind,
defective vision, deafness, motor handicap
Reading: The average adult, reading English prose in the United States, has a reading speed in
the order of 250-300 words per minute.
Proof reading text on paper has been found to occur at about 200 words per minute, on a
computer monitor, about 180 words per minute.
Listening
Speaking to a computer: 150-160 words per minute.
After recognition corrections: 105 words per minute.
Keying
Typewriter
Fast typist :150 words per minute and higher Average typist : 60-70 words per minute
Computer
Transcription 33 words per minute
Composition: 19 words per minute
Screen designing
How to distract the screen user
Unclear captions
Improper type and graphic emphasis
Misleading headings
Irrelevant and unnecessary headings
Inefficient results
Clustered and cramped layout
Poor quality of presentation
o Legibility
o Appearance
o arrangeemnt
Visual inconsistency
Lack of design features
Over use of 3D presentations
Overuse of too many bright colors
Bad typography
Web screens also present to the user Variety of distractions:
Numerous audio and visual interruptions
Extensive visual clutter
Poor information readability
In comprehensible screen components
Confusing and inefficient navigation
Inefficient operations
Excessive or inefficient page scrolling
Information overload
Design in cosistency
What screen users want:
An orderly clean clutter free appearance
An indication of what is being shown and what should be done with it.
Expected information located where it should be.
A clear indication of what relates to what.
Plain and simple English.
A simple way of finding out what is in a system and how to get it out.
A clear indication of when an action can make a permanent change in
data
Design goals:
Reduce visual work
Reduce intellectual work
Reduce memory work
Reduce mentor work
Eliminate burdens or instructions
Organizing screen elements clearly and Meaningfully:
Visual clarity is achieved when the display elements are organized and presented in meaningful
and understandable ways.
A clear and clean organization makes it easier to recognize screen’s essential elements and to
ignore its secondary information when appropriate.
Ordering of Screen Data and & Content
Divide information into units that are logical, meaningful and sensible.
Organize by interrelationships between data or information.
Provide an ordering of screen units of elements depending on priority.
Possible ordering schemes include
Conventional
Sequence of use
Frequency of use
Function
Importance
General to specific
Form groups that cover all possibilities.
Ensure that information is visible.
Ensure that only information relative to task is presented on screen.
Organizational scheme is to minimize number of information variables
Visually pleasing composition
Provide visually pleasing composition with the following qualities –
Balance
Symmetry
Regularity
Predictability
Sequentiality
Economy
Unity
proportion
Simplicity
Groupings.
Information retrieval on web
The web has an almost unlimited supply of information—
The magnitude and structure of the web seems to be creating a user
interaction pattern with these characteristics:
The most sought after web commodity is content.
Behavior is often goal driven.
Reading is no longer a linear activity.
Impatience.
Initial focus on attention
Page perusal
Scanning guidelines
Browsing
Browisng guidelines
Searching
Problems with search facilities
Search facility guidelines
Express the search
Progressive search refinement
