Business Analyst and User Interface Design By Narain Balchandani & Radhika Panicker V

Business analyst must know the process by which user interfaces are designed. He should be aware for design constraints and plan accordingly. User Interface Design deals the way in which users interact with the system. The three fundamental parts of the system are Na igation mechanism Input mechanism and !utput mechanism. Principles of User Interface Design The goal of interface design is to make it simple to use. The fundamental interface design principles are common for all the na igation" input and output mechanisms. Principle Description #ayout It refers to the area on the screen used. $ostly the top area is used for na igation" middle area for input or output and bottom area for status information. User should know where they are and what is being displayed with less effort. %esthetics Interface should be designed in such a way that it is pleasing without loosing much space. Designing the user interface keeping users le el of computer e&perience in mind. 'onsistency It helps predict the result of a function and is an important element to ease learning. $inimi(e User )ffort Interface should be designed to minimi(e the effort by using fewest mouse clicks or key strokes to finish a task. User Interface Design Process It is a fi e step process which is not se*uential and is iterati e. Use Scenario Development enables users to *uickly and smoothly perform the scenario. Interface Structure Design helps analysts de elop the Interface +tructure Diagram ,I+D- or the basic structure of the interface. This diagram shows the connections. Interface Design Standards or the basic design elements on which interface in the system are based. Interface Design Prototype is used for all the indi idual interfaces like na igation control" input screen" output screen etc. The indi idual interfaces are sub.ected to Interface Evaluation to e aluate the impro ements needed and satisfaction.

Use Scenario Development It is one commonly used path by the user to accomplish a task among many use cases and data flow diagrams that consists of many ways to complete a task. Interface Structure Design ISD! It defines how the basic components of the interface work together to pro ide functionality to the user. I+D/s show how the screens and forms

are used by the system and se eral I+D/s are used one for each ma.or part of the system. Interface Standards Design Different applications need different sets of interface standards for different parts of the system. Interface "etaphor %n interface metaphor defines the working of the interface and is used as a model for the computer system. $etaphor can be explicit or implicit. In e&plicit metaphor users type information into an onscreen form that looks like a real form. In other cases metaphor is implicit or unstated.Interface #emplates It defines the general appearance of screens and forms that are used. The design of the templates and the order of the actions are specific. Interface $%&ects This template defines the interface ob.ects that form the entities and data stores. Interface Action This template specifies the na igation and the command language style. )&ample 0Buy1 ersus 02urchase1 etc. Interface Icon Interface icons represent ob.ects" actions" and their status. Interface Design Prototyping Interface Design 2rototyping shows how the computer screen looks for a form or a report or it simply mocks. The most common approaches to Interface Design 2rototyping are Story Board In story board the hand drawn pictures of the flow of screens from one to other is depicted. '#"( Prototype HT$# 2rototype which is ery common is built using web pages created in HT$# ,Hyperte&t $ark3up #anguage-. Designer creates a series of web pages that show the fundamental parts of the system the user can interact with. HT$# 2rototypes are superior to story boards. They enable us to gain better sense of na igation among different screens. The only limitation is that they ne er appear like the real screen. (anguage Prototype #anguage 2rototype is built using the language tool which is used to build the system. It is designed the same way as HT$# 2rototype. Disadvantage It takes longer to build than story board or HT$# 2rototype. Advantage It shows e&actly how the screens look like. Selecting the Appropriate #echni)ue Different Design 2rototyping techni*ues are used for different parts of the system. +tory Boarding is fastest" least e&pensi e and is a least detail approach. #anguage 2rototype is slowest" more e&pensi e and is most detail approach. HT$# 2rototype falls between the two e&tremes. +tory Boarding is used when interface is well understood. HT$# 2rototype and #anguage 2rototype is used when the interface is not well understood. Interface *valuation Interface design is sub.ecti e and e aluation is all about impro ing its design. %t least 45 potential users are in ol ed in the e aluation process. ) aluation is performed before building the system i.e. while it is being designed so that problems can be identified and corrected. 6our common approaches for e aluation are 'euristic *valuation In Heuristic ) aluation the interface is compared with a set of principles for interface design. %t least three members in ol e in the pro.ect. %fter

each member has gone through the prototype separately then impro ements re*uired are e aluated. It is the weakest e aluation. +alk,through *valuation In this e aluation meeting is conducted with the end users. The pro.ect team shows the story board or demonstrates HT$# or language prototype and e&plain the usage and the users identify impro ements. Interactive *valuation Here the users work with the HT$# or language prototype in one3on3one sessions with the pro.ect team. Then the user alone interacts. During this session all the mistakes and misinterpretations that the user performs with the interface components are recorded. If mistakes recur with se eral users then it indicates that those parts of the interface need impro ements. -ormal Usa%ility #esting In this testing is done in one3on3one sessions by users who work with the software. +pecial lab e*uipped with ideo cameras and software tools that record each and e ery key stroke are used. User is gi en a specific set of tasks to complete. %fter instructions from the pro.ect members" the user must work with the software without help. It can be hard if the user becomes confused with the system. The goal is to test the interface and an incomplete task indicates that the interface has failed. This testing is e&pensi e. Navigation Design Na igation Design helps making a system as simple as possible. %ll the controls need to be clear and understandable so that they can anticipate users work and simplify it. Prevent "istakes $istakes are reduced by limiting the choices and by labeling commands and actions appropriately. Simplify Recovery from "istakes $aking it easy to correct the mistakes., #ike using the 0Undo1 button in $+ word-. Use .onsistent /rammar $rder The interface re*uires the user to first choose the ob.ect and then the action ,ob.ect3action order#ypes of Navigation .ontrols De ices like keyboard and mouse are always used for na igation. Basic software approaches for defining user commands are (anguage In Command Languages user uses languages like UNI7 and +8# to enter commands. They pro ide fle&ibility but it is a burden on the user to learn synta& and type commands. Natural language interfaces understand the user/s language ,e.g. )nglish-. "enus $enus gi e the user a list of choices to select. Broad and shallow menu presents the user with more information than narrow and deep one. )&cept for comple& systems menus don/t generally contain more than eight items. 'ommon types of menus include menu bars" drop down menus" pop3up menus etc. Direct "anipulation In Direct $anipulation" the user works directly with the interface ob.ects. In $+2ower2oint ob.ects can be made big by clicking on the ob.ects and mo ing the sides. Direct $anipulation is simple but the two problems are Users familiar with menu based interfaces don/t e&pect it Not all commmands are intuiti e. "essages % system responds to a user through messages informing of the status of interaction. $essages should be clear" concise and should be grammatically correct. Types of messages include )rror messages

These messages pro ide a number which makes the help desk easy to identify the problems. 'onfirmation messages %cknowledgement messages Delay messages Help messages Input Design It allows entry of data into the computer system. The goal is to capture accurate information. 6undamental principles for input design are Use $nline and Batch Processing Appropriately 9eneral process of entering input into a computer system is through !nline processing or entering each input item indi idually. It is mostly used for updating real3time information. Batch processing or updating inputs collected o er a period of time. Batching simplifies data communication and cuts cost. .apture Data at the Source Data is captured in an electronic format at the source. Source Data Automation refers to using special hardware de ices to automatically capture data without re*uiring any one to type it. +imilar technologies include Optical C aracter !ecognition or reading printed numbers and te&t" "agnetic Strip !eaders or reading information from a strip of magnetic material similar to a diskette. !#ID$!adio #re%uency Identification& combines microprocessor chip with an antenna to broadcast its information to electronic readers. "inimi0e 1eystrokes +ystem should ne er ask for information that can be obtained in another way. ).g. retrie ing data from a database #ypes $f Inputs Input is linked to a field on the form into which the alue is typed. )ach field has a field label which is similar to the name of the data element. Different types of inputs are Te&t bo& It is used to enter te&t Number bo& It is used to enter numbers +election bo& Types of selection bo&es are 'heck bo&" :adio button" !n3screen list bo&" Drop3down list bo&" 'ombo bo& etc. Input Validation or *dit .hecks 'omputer systems do not accept data that fail alidation checks. #ypes of Validation .hecks *2planation 'ompleteness 'heck )nsures the entry of re*uired data 6ormat 'heck )nsures data is of right type and format :ange 'heck )nsures numeric data are within the minimum and ma&imum alues 'heck digit 'heck 'heck digits are added to numeric code 'onsistency 'heck )nsures combinations of data are alid

Database 'heck 'ompares data with data base to ensurethey are correct. $utput Design !utputs are the reports produced by the system. Its goal is to make the user understand with least effort. 6undamental principles for output design areUnderstand Report Usage :eports are designed depending on their usage. ;eb reports are long and scrollable. :eports to find specific information should be broken into multiple pages with separate links. !eal time reports are accurate where as 'atc reports report historical information. :eal time reports are e&pensi e and the e&tra cost is not worth unless they ha e a business alue. "anage Information (oad % well designed report pro ides all the information re*uired for the task. #oad is well managed by presenting the most important information in the top left corner of the screen."inimi0e Bias Data is sorted depending on the situation and the order of presentation should match the way information is used to minimi(e bias. 6or e&ample a monthly sales report is arranged in descending order by the amount sold and not in alphabetical order. #ypes of $utputs 2aper and electronics are the two mostly used types of media to produce reports. Types of outputs or reports are as follows Detail report #ists the detailed information about all the items re*uired. Summary report #ists summary information about all items. #urnaround document !utputs that turn around and become inputs /raphs 'harts used in addition to and instead of tables and numbers