User Interface Design and Ergonomics - National Open University of ...

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In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability usually refers to the elegance and clarity with which the interaction with a computer program or a web site is designed. The term is also used often in the context of products like consumer electronics, or in the areas of communication, and knowledge transfer objects (such as a cookbook, a document or online help). It can also refer to the efficient design of mechanical objects such as a door handle or a hammer. The primary notion of usability is that an object designed with a generalized users' psychology and physiology in mind is, for example: More efficient to use—it takes less time to accomplish a particular task Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing the object More satisfying to use Complex computer systems are finding their way into everyday life, and at the same time the market is becoming saturated with competing brands. This has led to usability becoming more popular and widely recognized in recent years as companies see the benefits of researching and developing their products with user-oriented instead of technology-oriented methods. By understanding and researching the interaction between product and user, the usability expert can also provide insight that is unattainable by traditional company-oriented market research. For example, after observing and interviewing users, the usability expert may identify needed functionality or design flaws that were not anticipated. A method called "contextual inquiry" does this in the naturally occurring context of the users own environment. In the user-centered design paradigm, the product is designed with its intended users in mind at all times. In the user-driven or participatory design paradigm, some of the users become actual or de facto members of the design team. The term user friendly is often used as a synonym for usable, though it may also refer to accessibility. Usability is also used to describe the quality of user experience across websites, software, products and environments. There is no consensus about the relation of the terms ergonomics (or human factors) and usability. Some think of usability as the software specialization of the larger topic of ergonomics. Others view these topics as tangential, with ergonomics focusing on physiological matters (e.g., turning a door handle) and usability focusing on psychological matters (e.g., recognizing that a door can be opened by turning its handle). Usability is also very important in website development. Studies of user behavior on the Web find a low tolerance for difficult designs or slow sites. People do not want to wait. They do not also want to learn how to use a home page. There is no such thing as a training class or a manual for a Web site. People have to be able to grasp the functioning of the site immediately after scanning the home page—for a few seconds at most. Otherwise, most casual users will simply leave the site and continue browsing—or shopping—somewhere else. 92
3.2 USABILITY CONCEPTS AND GUIDELINES The major concepts of usability are:- Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they re establish proficiency? Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? Usability is often associated with the functionalities of the product, in addition to being solely a characteristic of the user interface (cf. framework of system acceptability, also below, which separates usefulness into utility and usability). For example, in the context of mainstream consumer products, an automobile lacking a reverse gear could be considered unusable according to the former view, and lacking in utility according to the latter view. When evaluating user interfaces for usability, the definition can be as simple as "the perception of a target user of the effectiveness (fit for purpose) and efficiency (work or time required to use) of the Interface". Each component may be measured subjectively against criteria e.g. Principles of User Interface Design, to provide a metric, often expressed as a percentage. It is important to distinguish between usability testing and usability engineering. Usability testing is the measurement of ease of use of a product or piece of software. In contrast, Usability Engineering (UE) is the research and design process that ensures a product with good usability. Usability is an example of a non-functional requirement. As with other non-functional requirements, usability cannot be directly measured but must be quantified by means of indirect measures or attributes such as, for example, the number of reported problems with ease-of-use of a system. The key principle for maximizing usability is to employ iterative design, which progressively refines the design through evaluation from the early stages of design. The evaluation steps enable the designers and developers to incorporate user and client feedback until the system reaches an acceptable level of usability. 93
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] NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGER
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National Open University of Nigeria
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Summary ...........................
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UNIT 3 - GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (
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Assignments File Tutor-Marked Assig
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2 DESIGN and DESIGNING GOOD USER IN
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need both the study unit you are wo
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CIT 711: USER INTERFACE DESIGN AND
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UNIT 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF USER INTERFA
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3.3 TYPES OF USER INTERFACES Curren
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3.5 USER INTERFACE MODALITIES AND M
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Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction
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3.1.1 DESIGNING A GOOD USER INTERFA
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widgets properly is to read and und
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Figure 1:- Showing that alignment o
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6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT a. How
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A graphical user interface is a typ
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Operating System. It is easy for a
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A list of items from which to selec
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collaborative work. For example, sc
Page 42 and 43: MODULE 1 UNIT 4 HUMAN COMPUTER INTE
Page 44 and 45: 3.3 DIFFERNCES WITH RELATED FIELDS
Page 46 and 47: window blinds to automobile braking
Page 48 and 49: Wickens, Christopher D., John D. Le
Page 50 and 51: The International Ergonomics Associ
Page 52 and 53: approach, the Gilbreths reduced the
Page 54 and 55: 3.6 BENEFITS OF ERGONOMICS The thre
Page 56 and 57: Another key to reducing lumbar disc
Page 58 and 59: MODULE 2 - USER INTERFACE DESIGN TE
Page 60 and 61: methods include inspection methods,
Page 62 and 63: Determine time of each operation (b
Page 64 and 65: unable to understand new informatio
Page 66 and 67: M cones, or, misleadingly, green co
Page 68 and 69: Motor skill which is a learned seri
Page 70 and 71: MODULE 2 UNIT 2 UNDERSTANDING USERS
Page 72 and 73: The users of a system must be ident
Page 74 and 75: This example brings up an important
Page 76 and 77: whether you want to have a palette
Page 78 and 79: Task analysis which includes identi
Page 80 and 81: MODULE 2 UNIT 3 USER CENTERED DESIG
Page 82 and 83: or small body text is also hard to
Page 84 and 85: Introduction to User-centered desig
Page 86 and 87: organizations themselves. Interacti
Page 88 and 89: After thorough analysis using vario
Page 90 and 91: Interaction design which is the dis
Page 94 and 95: The preferred method for ensuring u
Page 96 and 97: 3.4 ISO STANDARDS FOR USABILITY ISO
Page 98 and 99: In this unit, you have been introdu
Page 100 and 101: affect the way the command is execu
Page 102 and 103: • Guides the user via the predefi
Page 104 and 105: The term direct manipulation was in
Page 106 and 107: There are two important reasons for
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Page 110 and 111: UNIT 1 PROTOTYPING Table of Content
Page 112 and 113: Figure 12: The iterative steps of p
Page 114 and 115: select print Figure 13: An interfac
Page 116 and 117: Ambler, S.W. & Constantine, L.L. (2
Page 118 and 119: 3.2 LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPES Low-fid
Page 120 and 121: Figure 14:- Example of Sketching II
Page 122 and 123: Much more important for features th
Page 124 and 125: DENIM, an extension of SILK, is a t
Page 126 and 127: • Encourage menu & forms style, r
Page 128 and 129: Another problem is that native widg
Page 130 and 131: interfaces, so that a realistic sim
Page 132 and 133: UNIT 3 INPUT AND OUTPUT MODELS Tabl
Page 134 and 135: Recall that perceptual fusion means
Page 136 and 137: 3.2 OUTPUT MODEL There are basicall
Page 138 and 139: directly-mapped pixel image will no
Page 140 and 141: Most stroke models also include som
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UNIT 4 MODEL VIEW-CONTROLLER (MVC)
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3.3.2 AS A DESIGN PATTERN MVC enco
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The Views are XForms controls for s
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UNIT 5 LAYOUTS AND CONSTRAINTS Tabl
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3.5 CONSTRAINTS Constraints are rel
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MODULE 4 UNIT 1 TECHNIQUES FOR EVAL
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a. Card Sorting Card sorting is a w
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Rapid prototyping is a method used
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3.2.1 THE USE OF PROTOTYPES It is o
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Dumas, J.S. and Redish, J.C. (1999)
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the users' respect for you as a pro
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the users will be and what kind of
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speed whenever the average load was
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Table 4:- Table: Average times for
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phases: list the actions, and then
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Nielsen and Molich used their own e
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7.0 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
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users. If you do not, you can be ba
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If you are led to develop more and
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It's very easy to shape the comment
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a. Analyzing the Bottom-Line Number
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you use. But then you need some way
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ecruit test users with more similar
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MODULE 4 UNIT 4 OTHER EVALUATION IS
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3.2 CURRENT ISSUES CONCERNING EVALU
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2.0 OBJECTIVES By the end this unit
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It provides a real focal point for
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3.3.4 CONDUCTING THE TEST Having co
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The stages involved in usability te
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