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Revision as of 15:41, 22 November 2009

User Interface Standards is created by Group 6 for 2009/2010 Software Engineering 4D03 Assignment 5. Group Members: Roshan Jesuratnam, Ashan Khan, Arturo Mata, Jaganvir Sandhu

This document specifically looks at Graphical User Interface (GUI) standards, over other types of interfaces which exist.

Overview

TALK ABOUT TRIAL AND ERROR, SIMPLICITY,ETC

NO INDUSTRY STANDARDS BUT THERE ARE HEURISTICS AS A GENERAL GUIDLINE

EACH COMPANY HAS ITS OWN STANDARD WHICH IT FOLLOWS, THIS WIKI WILL EXPLAIN THE GENERAL, COMMON THINGS AMONG THEM.SDFSDG

The structure principle. The simplicity principle. The visibility principle. The feedback principle. The tolerance principle. The reuse principle.

APPLES AQUA INTERFACE DESIGN STANDARD WINDOWS NEW WINDOWS 7 STANDARD

DIFFERENT TYPES OF USERS

CONSSISTENCY

(Use http://www.isii.com/ui_design.html)

Standards

ADD MORE SHIT ON THIS, NEEDS MORE COWBELL

TAKE FROM APPLE AND MICROSOFT AND MORE CRAP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_(user_interface)
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIntro/XHIGIntro.html
http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/1/9/e191fd8c-bce8-4dba-a9d5-2d4e3f3ec1d3/ux%20guide.pdf ********************
http://www.usabilitynet.org/tools/r_international.htm
http://www.beta-research.com/standards.html <---GOOD RESOURCE

Windows

Window Management

Dialog Boxes

Properties Windows

Common Dialogs

Asthetics

Sizing

Formatting

Titles and Icons

Fonts and Colour

Interaction

Shortcuts

Mouseovers

User Input

Keyboard

Pointers

Accessibility

Messages

Errors and Warnings

Confirmation and Notifications

Text

UI Text

Style and Tone

Commands

Menus

Toolbars

Ribbons

Controls

Principles

These principles are in nature heuristics of interface design. They are guidelines that "should" be used in the design of interfaces, since there is no one industry standard. These general rules provide a basis to build on for an user interface designer.

Ten Usability Heuristics

Jakob Nielsen, a user adovacate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group for enhancing user experience, outlines the following heuristics;

Visibility of system status
Relate system and real world
User Control and freedom
Consistency and standards
Error Prevention
Recognition rather than recall
Flexibility and effciency of use
Aesthetic and minimalistic design
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Help and documentation

Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

From the book Designing the User Interface, Ben Shneiderman outlines eight key rules of good interface design;

Strive for consistency
Consistency must be implemented within itself and other interfaces. This ensures a "global" understanding of where things are and where one would look for it. See Figure 1 for example.
Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
Expert users should not be bound by interaction styles that may slow progress. Thus, enabling shortcuts through speed keys, hidden commands, marcos, etc. will optimize pace of interaction while reducing the number of interactions.
Offer informative feedback
Major or infrequent actions should make aware the user, with descriptive and clear information of what is occuring.
Design dialog to yield closure
Sequences of actions should be grouped with a beginning, middle and end. This gives the user a sense of direction and accomplishment of the task.
Offer simple error handling
Design the interface in a manner which the chance of human error is impossible. However, since it is impossible to predict every behaviour, design it in a way such that it offers informative feedback explaining the details of the error and how it could be solved.
Permit easy reversal of actions
Allow users to undo their mistakes. This allows users to have a sense of security in case a mistake occurs. It also allows users to explore without consequences.
Support internal locus of control
Users should be the initiators of actions rather than responders. Actions should respond quickly with delay and offer response.
Reduce short-term memory load
Reducing sequences of events and commands allows the user to be aided in tasks. Keep the display simple so it is intuitive for the user.

Design

(Use http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/userInterfaceDesign.html)

PUT INTERACTIPON STYLES IN HERE

Techniques

http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/userInterfaceDesign.html

Human Factors

(Use http://www.beta-research.com/standards.html)

@@ Line 98: / Line 98: @@
 :*'''Design dialog to yield closure'''<br>Sequences of actions should be grouped with a beginning, middle and end. This gives the user a sense of direction and accomplishment of the task.
 :*'''Offer simple error handling'''<br>Design the interface in a manner which the chance of human error is impossible. However, since it is impossible to predict every behaviour, design it in a way such that it offers informative feedback explaining the details of the error and how it could be solved.
-:*'''Permit easy reversal of actions'''
+:*'''Permit easy reversal of actions'''<br>Allow users to undo their mistakes. This allows users to have a sense of security in case a mistake occurs. It also allows users to explore without consequences.
-:*'''Support internal locus of control'''
+:*'''Support internal locus of control'''<br>Users should be the initiators of actions rather than responders. Actions should respond quickly with delay and offer response.
-:*'''Reduce short-term memory load'''
+:*'''Reduce short-term memory load'''<br>Reducing sequences of events and commands allows the user to be aided in tasks. Keep the display simple so it is intuitive for the user.
 =Design=

User Interface Standards