Sei sulla pagina 1di 188

USER INTERFACE DESIGN

Unit-1
Chapter1 Usability of Interactive Systems
INTRODUCTION

 Human-Computer interaction or User Interfaces are products of


Interdisciplinary design science that combines data-gathering methods with
computer science tools. It involves
o Psychologists (Educational and industrial psychologists)
o Instructional & Graphic Designers
o Technical Writers
o Human Ergonomics experts
o Computer Scientists & Information architects
o Anthropologists and Sociologists
 User interfaces produces the following Business Ramifications
o Overnight Success Stories - Netscape, America Online, Lycos
o Intense Competition - Everyone vs. Microsoft
o Copyright Infringement Suits - Apple vs. Microsoft (Windows )
o Mergers - Bell Atlantic and NYNEX
o Corporate Takeovers - IBM's seizure of Lotus
o International Liaisons - working relationship between MCI and British
Telecom
 User interfaces changes Individual User Level
o Effective user interfaces for professionals like doctors help in accurate
diagnosis
o Children can learn more efficiently
o Pilots can learn to fly airplanes more effectively
o Graphic artists can explore more creative possibilities
 International Influences and other impacts
o In Business settings, better decision support & desktop publishing tools
support entrepreneurs.
o In Home settings, digital photos & voice messaging enhances family
relationships.
o Association for Computing Machinery - Computer Human Interaction
special interest group has 6000+ members as of 1996
 Plasticity of design to ensure smooth conversion across display-size variations.
Designers face the challenge to provide services on varied size displays like small
portable devices like cell-phones to wide displays like projected displays.
 Privacy and Security issues: identification theft, medical information, viruses,
spam, pornography, national security is critical in user interfaces.
 Context-aware, attentive, user feedback providing designs are required.
USABILITY REQUIREMENTS

The interface should have inherent quality like usability, universality and usefulness.

Following are the functional purposes put forward by US Military standards for Human
Engineering Design criteria.

 Achieve required performance by operator, control and maintenance personnel.


 Minimize skills and personnel requirements and training time.
 Achieve required reliability of personnel-equipment/software combinations.
 Foster design standardization within & among systems.

Goals of Requirement Analysis or System Engineering Goals or Steps For


User-interface Engineering

1. Ascertain the user’s needs


 Define what tasks and subtasks must be carried out.
 Frequent tasks are easy to determine, but occasional tasks,
exceptional tasks for emergency & repair tasks to cope with errors
are difficult to define.
 Functionality must complete, or else users will reject or under
utilize the product.
 Providing excessive functionality is danger because clutter &
complexity will make implementation maintenance, learning &
usage difficult.
2. Ensure proper reliability
 Actions must function as specified, data displayed must reflect the
actual database contents, update must be applied correctly
 User’s trust of system is fragile. Appease the user's sense of
mistrust
 System must be error free
 Software architecture, hardware components, network support
must be highly available.
 Ensure privacy, security and data integrity
 Ensure the user's privacy by protecting against unwarranted access,
destruction of data, and malicious tampering
3. Promote appropriate Standardization, Integration, Consistency, and
Portability
 Standardization: It refers to common user interface features across
multiple applications. Usage of pre-existing industry standards like
ISO (International Organization for standardization), world wide
Web Consortium etc.
 Integration: product should be able to run across different software
tools, multiple application packages, hardware platforms.
 Consistency: It refers to common action sequences, terms, units,
layouts, colors, typography within an application.
 Compatibility across application programs
 compatibility across different product versions
 compatibility with related non-computer based systems
 Portability: It refers to the potential to convert data and share user
interfaces across multiple software and hardware systems.
4. Complete projects on Schedules and within Budgets
Delayed delivery or cost overruns can create serious pressure within a
company and potentially mean dissatisfied customers and loss of business
to competitors.

USABILITY MEASURES

 If adequate user interface requirements are defined, reliability is ensured,


standardization, scheduling & budgeting are completed, then design and testing
process is started.
 Defining the user community & benchmark set of tasks is the basis for
establishing usability goals & measures.

Goals of User Interface Design OR usability measures OR 5 measurable


factors in UI design

 ISO 9241 standard focuses on following 5 human factors central to community


evaluation:
1. Time to learn
How long does it take for typical members of the community to learn the
actions relevant to task?
2. Speed of performance
How long does it take to perform relevant benchmarks?
3. Rate of errors by users
How many and what kinds of errors are commonly made by people while
carrying out tasks.
4. Retention over time
How well do users maintain their knowledge after an hour, a day or week?
Time to learn , frequency of use and ease of learning makes better user
retention
5. Subjective satisfaction
Allow for user feedback about various aspects of user interface via
interviews, free-form comments and written surveys.
 Trade-offs in design options frequently occur. Changes to the interface in a new
version may create consistency problems with the previous version, but the
changes may improve the interface in other ways or introduce new needed
functionality.
 Design alternatives can be evaluated by designers and users via mockups or high-
fidelity prototypes.
 The basic tradeoff is getting feedback early and perhaps less expensively in the
development process versus having a more authentic interface evaluated.
 Use tools such as macros, abbreviations and shortcuts to ease some burdens
 User manuals, online help should be written.
 Acceptance test certifies that the delivered interface confirms the goals of
designers & customers.

USABILITY MOTIVATIONS

Most of today's systems are poorly designed from a human-interaction standpoint

Motivations for Human Factors in Design OR 5 human factors in UI


design

1. Life-critical systems
o Air traffic control, nuclear reactors, power utilities, police & fire dispatch
systems
o High costs, reliability and effectiveness are expected
o Length training periods are acceptable to provide error-free performance
o Subject satisfaction is less an issue due to well motivated users.
o Retention via frequent use of common functions and practice sessions for
emergency actions.
2. Industrial and commercial uses
o Banking, insurance, order entry, inventory management, reservation,
billing, and point-of-sales systems
o Lower cost may sacrifice reliability. Costs shape many judgments.
o Operator training time is expensive, learning must be easy
o Translation to multiple languages & adaptations to local cultures are
necessary due to international business market.
o Speed and error rates are relative to cost, however speed of performance is
the supreme concern.
o Subjective satisfaction is of modest importance, retention via frequent use.
3. Office, home, and entertainment applications
o Personal computing applications like word processing, e-mail, search
engines, educational packages, computer conferencing, video games, cell
phones & mobile devices.
o Ease of learning, low error rates, subjective satisfaction is important.
o Competition is fierce hence clear easy-to-remember procedures needed.
o Choosing functionality is difficult because the population has a wide range
of both novice and expert users.
o One approach is usage of Layered or level-structured design which
evolves from novice to expert usage.(basic or advanced interface)
o Another approach is to trim the features to make a simple interface for
novice users.
o Competition leads to the need for low cost.
4. Exploratory, creative, and collaborative interfaces
o Exploratory applications like WWW browsing, search engines, scientific
simulation etc.
o Creative applications include writing workbenches, architectural design
systems, artists, programmer workstations etc.
o Collaborative applications like video conferencing, email, groupware,
remote logins etc.
o Benchmark tasks are hard to describe due to the wide range of application
tasks
o With these applications, design should be such that the computer should
"vanish" so that the user can be absorbed in their task domain.
o Computer to provide direct-manipulation representation with keyboard
shortcuts, immediate feedbacks and new set of choices.
o User to focus on their tasks with minimal distractions in operating the
interface.
5. Sociotechnical systems
o Complex systems involving many people over long time periods like
Voting systems, health support, identity verification, crime reporting etc
o Such interfaces need to deal with trust, privacy, responsibility, limiting
malicious tampering, deception, and incorrect information.
o Users need access to verifiable sources, adequate feedback, status checks.
o Users with diverse level of expertise (novice and experts) need to be
supported.
o Ease of learning for novice users is required , provide feedback that builds
trust
o Professional administrators and investigators should be provided with
rapid performance of complex procedures with visualization tools to
detect unusual patterns and fraud in usage logs.

UNIVERSAL USABILITY

Universal Usability or Accommodation of Human Diversity

 Diversity in human abilities, backgrounds, motivations, personalities, culture,


work styles challenges interface designers.
 Addressing the needs of all the users is the ultimate aim.
 Challenges of physical, cognitive, perceptual, personality and cultural differences
needs to be addressed.

1. Variations in physical abilities and physical workplaces

 Based on the diverse static data from anthropometry, there is no concept of an


average user. Either compromises must be made or multiple versions of a system
must be constructed. For example, keyboard design parameters (distance between
the keys, key size, required pressure), screen brightness preferences accommodate
the diverse physical abilities of users.
 Physical measurement of human dimensions are not enough, take into account
dynamic measures such as reach distance while seated, speed of finger presses,
strength of lifting etc.
 Human perceptual abilities vary. Vision factors like flicker, contrast, motion
sensitivity, depth perception which allows for 3d viewing, eye disorders must be
considered.
 Other senses like Touch: keyboard and touchscreen sensitivity; Hearing: audio
clues, tones, speed input or output also influence the user interface design.
 Workplace design can both help and hinder work performance. Incorrect table
heights, uncomfortable chairs, inadequate light, etc can hinder performance.
 Physical-environment factor involves room layout and sociology of human
interaction. Programmers, artists etc need quiet and privacy while multiple
workstations encourage social interaction, cooperative work.

2. Diverse cognitive and perceptual abilities

Human ability to interpret sensory input rapidly and initiate actions makes
modern computer systems possible. Below is the classification of human
cognitive process.

 cognitive process
o short-term and working memory
o long-term and semantic memory
o problem solving and reasoning
o decision making and risk assessment
o Language communication and comprehension
o Search, imagery and sensory memory
o Learning, skill development, knowledge acquisition
 factors affecting perceptual and motor performance
o arousal and vigilance
o fatigue and sleep deprivation
o perceptual (mental) load
o knowledge of results and feedback
o monotony and boredom
o sensory deprivation
o nutrition and diet
o Fear, anxiety, mood and emotion
o drugs, smoking and alcohol
o Physiological rhythms

3. Personality differences

 Clear understanding of personality and cognitive styles help in designing the user
interface.
 There is no set taxonomy for identifying user personality types
 Designers must be aware that populations are subdivided and that these
subdivisions have various responses to different stimuli.
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on Carl Jung’s theories of
personality types. It defines the relationship between professions and personality
types and between people of different personality types. Four important theories
o extroversion versus introversion : Extroverts focus on external stimuli
and like variety & action. Introverts prefer familiar patterns, rely on their
inner ideas and work alone.
o sensing versus intuition : Sensing types like established routines, applies
known skills, and good at precise work. Intuitive types like solving new
problems, discovering new relations but dislikes taking time for precision.
o perceptive versus judging : Perceptive types like to learn new situations,
but trouble in making decisions. Judging types like to make careful plan
and execution of plan even if new facts change the goal.
o feeling versus thinking : Feeling types are aware of other people’s
feelings, try to please others, relate well to most people. Thinking types
are unemotional, treats people impersonally, prefer logically ordering of
things.
 MBTI approach is adopted in many other techniques like Big Five Test, OCEAN
model.
 Another approach to personality assessment is by studying of user behavior.

4. Cultural and international diversity

 The user interface design also deeply depends on cultural, ethnic, racial or
linguistic background.
 Customized local versions of user interface should be emphasized.
 User-Interface design for internationalization includes the following:
o characters, numerals, special characters, and diacriticals
o Left-to-right versus right-to-left versus vertical input and reading
o Date and time formats
o Numeric and currency formats
o Weights and measures
o Telephone numbers and addresses
o Names and titles (Mr., Ms., Mme.)
o Social-security, national identification, and passport numbers
o Capitalization and punctuation
o Sorting sequences
o Icons, buttons, colors
o Pluralization, grammar, spelling
o Etiquette, policies, tone, formality, metaphors

5. Users with disabilities

 Designers must plan early to accommodate users with disabilities like visual,
hearing and motor disabilities.
 Screen magnification, text-to-speech conversion, spatial information to spoken
text conversion, telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) are some of the
techniques that can be used to support users with disabilities.
 Businesses must comply with the "Americans With Disabilities" Act for
applications.

6. Old adult Users

 Making the interfaces adapted to old adult user’s usage helps to share their
experience and make profit from their participation.
 Interfaces can be designed with control over font sizes, color, brightness, display
contrast and audio levels.
 Redesigning with easier-to-use pointing devices, clearer navigation paths,
consistent layouts, simpler command languages to improve access for older
adults.

7. Designing for and with children

 Designs for children should include educational acceleration, socialization with


peers, self-confidence, constructive activities and motivations.
 Designing for teenagers should help them in interactive engagements with
feedback.
 Design should include creativity in art, music, writing and educational activities
in science and math.
 Designs with high quality images, photos, songs, poems would increase children’s
personal and social development.
 Providing programming and simulation-building tools enables older children to
take up challenges and construct complex artifacts.

8. Accommodating hardware and software diversity

 Designers need to support a wide range of hardware and software platforms.


 New OS, we browsers, e-mail clients etc should provide backward compatibility
in user-interface design.
 Three main technical challenges are:

a. Producing satisfying & effective internet interaction on high speed


(broadband) and slower (dial-up, wireless) connections: Support for
compression algorithms to reduce file size of images, music, animation.
Support for pre-fetching or scheduled downloads. User control of
downloadable amount.
b. Enabling access to web services from large displays (1200*1600 or
larger) and smaller mobile devices (640*480 and smaller): Support for
automatic conversions of designers across different display ranges.
c. Supporting easy maintenance of or automatic conversion to multiple
languages.
GOALS FOR OUR PROFESSION

Three broad goals are attainable

1. Influencing academic and industrial researchers

Researchers in information science, business management, education, sociology and


other disciplines are benefitted by study of human-computer interactions. Potential
research topics are

 Reducing anxiety and fear of computer usage: Test can be run to determine the
effectiveness of redesigned interfaces and of improved training procedures.
 Graceful Evolution: Design should be able to support both novice and expert
users in the field of prompting, error messages, online assistance, display
complexity, informative feedback, control panels etc.
 Specification and implementation of interaction: Use of User-interface building
tools can reduce the implementation time when compared to extensive coding in
programming languages.
 Direct manipulation: Visual languages, information visualization, telepresence
and virtual reality are some of the means of direct manipulation.
 Input devices: Support for high – precision touchscreen, mouse, stylus, voice
input devices for various speed, accuracy, fatigue, error correction, subjective
satisfaction.
 Online help: Online aids for novices, knowledgeable users and experts.
 Information exploration: User need to filter, select , explore, restructure
information (text, images, graphics, sound) rapidly with minimum effort.

2. Providing tools, techniques, and knowledge for commercial developers

 Rapid prototyping & interface development with design consistency, universal


usability is easy when using user-interface building tools.
 Use general or self-determined guideline documents written for specific audiences
 Iterative usability studies and acceptance testing are appropriate during interface
development.
 To refine systems, use feedback from individual or groups of users via online or
printed surveys, interviews.
 Online user consultants and fellow users can provide prompt assistance and
support.

3. Raising the computer consciousness of the general public

 Many novice users are fearful to use computers due to experience with poor
product design which displays SYNTAX ERROR, complex sequence of actions.
 Good designs help novices come out of these fears by being clear, competent, and
nonthreatening computer interfaces which provides user competence and
satisfaction.
Unit-1
Chapter 2: Theories, Principles, and Guidelines
INTRODUCTION

Guidance for designers is available in the form of

1. Specific and practical guidelines


2. Middle-level principles
3. High-level theories and models

GUIDELINES

 A guidelines document helps by developing a shared language and prompting


consistency among multiple designers in terminology, appearance, action sequences.
 Best practices from practicial experiements with examples are recorded.
 Critics complain that guidelines can be too specific, incomplete, hard to apply, and
sometimes wrong.
 Proponents argue that experience from design leaders contributes to steady
improvements.

1. Navigating the interface

 Providing clear rules is helpful for navigation. Sample of the National Cancer
Institutes guidelines:

– Standardize task sequences : Allow the users to follow same sequence of


tasks across similar conditions.
– Ensure that embedded links are descriptive : Embedded links
destination should be clearly defines.
– Use unique and descriptive headings :Heading should be unique and
related to the contents.
– Use check boxes for binary choices : Users to be provided with checkbox
– Develop pages that will print properly
– Use thumbnail images to preview larger images

W3C adapted the guidelines to promote accessibility for users with disabilities.
Few of the accessibility guidelines are:

– Provide a text equivalent for every non text element.


– For any time-based multimedia presentation synchronize equivalent
alternatives like captions with the presentations.
– Information conveyed with color should also be conveyed without color.
– Title each frame to facilitate from frame identification and navigation.
2. Organizing the display

Below are the five high level goals as a part of display design guidelines given by Smith
and Mosier. Or What the display design guidelines

1. Consistency of data display: All the terminology, abbreviations, formats, colors,


capitalization should be standardized and controlled by use of written dictionary.
2. Efficient information assimilation by the user: Format should be familiar with
operator and data oriented. Proper formatting with left justification for
alphanumeric data, right justification for integers, proper spacing, lining up of
decimal points should be done.
3. Minimal memory load on user: Users should not be required to remember
information from one screen for use on another screen. User friendly design with
few actions to complete the task, proper label and common formats should be
done.
4. Compatibility of data display with data entry: Format of displayed data should
be linked with format of data entry. Output fields should act as editable input
fields wherever possible.
5. Flexibility for user control of data display: User should be able to fetch the
information from display in the most convenient format. Example: Order of
columns and row sorting should be easily changeable by users.

Example: electric-power utility control room design guidelines

 Be consistent in labeling and graphic conventions


 Standardize abbreviations
 Use consistent format in all displays
 Present a page number on each display page
 Present data only if they assist the operator
 Present information graphically where appropriate
 Present digital values only when knowledge of numerical value is
necessary and useful
 Use high-resolution monitors and provide maximum display
quality
 Design a display in monochromatic form, then add color
judiciously
 Involve users in development of new displays and procedures

3. Getting the user’s attention

Display should be designed such that exceptional conditions or time-dependent


information are presented to attract user attention. Below are the techniques to get
user attention

 Intensity: Use 2 levels only, with limited use of high intensity.


 Marking: Underline the item, enclose it in box, point it with arrow, or indicators
like bullet, asterisk, dash, plus sign etc.
 Size: Use up to 4 sizes with larger sizes attracting more attention.
 Choice of fonts :Use up to 3 fonts
 Inverse video : Use inverse coloring
 Blinking : Use blinking displays (2-4 Hz)
 Color : Use up to 4 standard colors, additional colors for occasional use
 Audio: Use soft tones for regular positive feedback and harsh tone for rare
emergency cases.

4. Facilitating data entry

Smith and Moiser offer 5 high level guidelines for data entry.

1. Consistency of data-entry transactions: Similar sequences of actions,


abbreviations, delimiters should be used under all conditions.
2. Minimal input actions by user: Few input action reduces errors, improves
productivity. Single key stroke selection, mouse selection,, selection form a
list of choices is better for user. Redundant data entry at different locations
should be avoided.
3. Minimal memory load on users : User should not be required to remember
lengthy list of codes and complex syntactic command strings while doing data
entry.
4. Compatibility of data entry with data display: Format of the data-entry
information should be linked closely with format of displayed information.
5. Flexibility for user control of data entry: Experienced data-entry operators
prefer to enter information in a sequence that they can control.

PRINCIPLES

Principles are more fundamental, widely applicable, enduring when compared to


guidelines which are narrowly focused. Principles also need more clarification with
respect to the diverse user-skill levels and profiling tasks and needs.

1. Determine users skill levels

“Know thy user” is the first principle in Hansen’s user engineering principles. All design
should begin with understanding intended users and their profiles.

User characteristics

 Age
 Gender
 Physical abilities
 Education
 Cultural or ethnic background , communities , countries
 Training
 Motivation
 Goals
 Personality

Design goals based on user skill or profiles

 Novice or first-time users: Sequence of actions for task completion should be


minimal, informative feedback, familiar vocabulary usage, consistency, user
manual, video demos and online tutorials are required.
 Knowledgeable intermittent users: Action sequence with minimum burden on
memories should be included. Orderly structure in menus, consistent terminology,
high interface appearance, meaningful messages, guide to frequent pattern of
usages will be helpful.
 Expert frequent users: Rapid response time, brief feedback, shortcuts to carry
out actions is the user demand. Macros are written to cut down the number of
action sequences. String of command, shortcut through menus, abbreviations are
required.

When multiple usage classes needs to be accommodated in one system, multilayer or


level-structured or spiral approach to learning is used.

 Novices can be taught minimal subset of actions to start with.


 Training –wheels interface to be provided.
 User control on the density of informative feedback

2. Identify the tasks

 High level tasks can be decomposed into multiple middle-level task actions,
which are refined into atomic actions.
 These atomic actions are executed with single command or menu selection.
 Measuring the relative task frequencies of use is important. Frequent tasks are
simple, quick to carry.
 Matrix of users and tasks is helpful. Frequencies of the task done is plotted in this
matrix

3. Choose an interaction styles

 Direct manipulation
o Visual représentation of objects and action is modified directly by user.
o This approach is simple, tasks can be performed rapidly and results can be
viewed immediately.
o Pointing devices are used instead of keyboard entry or menu choices.
o It is appealing to novice users, easy to remember to intermittent users and
rapid for frequent users.
o Example : desktop metaphor, air-traffic-control systems , games.
 Menu selection
o User to read a list of items, select the choice appropriate to their task and
observe the effect.
o Little learning, easy to remember, good for novice and intermittent users.
o Clear structure to decision making
 Form filling or Fill in the blanks
o Used when data entry is needed.
o User presented with display of related fields to enter the desired data.
o Appropriate for knowledgeable intermittent users or frequent users.
o Modest training is needed
 Command language
o Frequent users can get control over the interface with command language
o Complex possibilities with syntax can be presented by users.
o Simple macro creation and easy history keeping.
o Error rate is high, training is necessary, retention is poor.
 Natural language
o Meant for users with task domain knowledge.
o Eliminates the need to learn the language syntax.
4. Use the Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

1. Strive for consistency.


o Consistent sequences of actions in similar situations
o Identical terminology should be used in prompts , menus ,help screens
o Consistent color, layout, capitalization , fonts
2. Cater to universal usability
o Design the interface to support diverse users like novice and experts to
support plasticity.
o Features like explanation and online help to be included for novice users.
o Features like abbreviations, special keys, hidden commands, macro
facilities can be included for experts.
3. Offer informative feedback : For every user action, system feedback is needed
o For frequent and minor actions, modest response is needed.
o For infrequent and major actions, substantial feedback is needed.

4. Design dialogs to yield closure


o Sequences of actions should be organized into groups with beginning,
middle and end.
o Informative feedback at completion of a group of actions should be given.
5. Prevent errors: Interface should be designed such that user cannot make serious
mistakes.
o Interface should detect error and offer simple, constructive, specific
instructions to recover from error.
o Grey out the inappropriate menu items , don’t allow alphabetic
6. Permit easy reversal of actions
Actions should be reversible using single action, data-entry task.
7. Support internal locus of control
o User should be the initiators of action rather than the responders to action.
o Experienced operators desire to be the charge and controller of the
interface. Design should avoid acausality.

8. Reduce short-term memory load.


o Display should be kept simple, consolidated multiple-page display,
reduced window-motion frequency, sufficient training time will reduce the
load on memory.
o Online access to command-syntax forms, abbreviations, codes should be
provided.

5. Prevent Errors

To reduce errors by ensuring complete and correct actions:

 To reduce of productivity due to errors, better error messages which are specific,
constructive, positive tone should be provided by the interface.
 Errors can be avoided by organizing screens and menus functionally, designing
commands or menu choices distinctive.
 Correct actions:
o Prevent incorrect use of the interface
o Gray out inappropriate menu items (actions)
o Selection rather than freestyle typing , example, date selection on a
calendar.
o Automatic completion of the command to reduce error rate.
 Complete sequences
o Single abstract commands, example a single command to revise all section
titles consistently.
o Macros and subroutines to support users to define their own sequence of
actions to complete the task
o Designers to gather information about potential complete sequences by
studying the users and the sequence of complete commands issued by
them.
 Universal usability will also reduce errors.

6. Integrating automation while preserving human control or Balance of


Automation and Human Control

Relative capabilities of humans and machines


• Ultimate goal: simplify users task - eliminating human actions when no judgment
is required. Successful integration of automation and human control is important.
• Real world is an open system while computers are closed systems.
– With automation, users can avoid:
• Routine, tedious, and error prone tasks
– Users can concentrate on:
• Making critical decisions, coping with unexpected situations, and
planning future actions
• Human Supervisory control needed to deal with real world open systems
– E.g. air-traffic controllers with low frequency, but high consequences of
failure
– Federal Aviation Agency: design should place the user in control and
automate only to improve system performance, without reducing human
involvement
• Entire system should be designed, automated, tested not only for normal scenarios
but also for anomalous situations.

1. Knowbots or softbots: autonomous agents

– knows user's likes and dislikes


– makes proper inferences
– responds to novel situations
– performs competently with little guidance

 Controversy is whether to use Tool like interfaces versus autonomous agents


to carry out users needs.
 Knowledge navigator (Apple Computers’ 1987), Microdoft BOB program
Clippie character, Web based characters like Ananova have faded over the
time.
 Aviators representing human users, not computers, more successful.

2. Another approach would be computers employing a user model to guide an


adaptive interface. User modeling for adaptive interfaces

– keeps track of user performance


– adapts behavior to suit user's needs
• allows for automatically adapting system : response time, length of
messages, density of feedback, content of menus, order of menu
items, type of feedback, content of help screens
– User modeling can be problematic
• system may make surprising changes
• user must pause to see what has happened
• user may not be able to
• predict next change
• interpret what has happened
• restore system to previous state
3. An extension of user modeling is recommender systems or collaborative
filtering in distributed WWW applications.
4. Alternative to agents:

– User control at interface but agent-like or multi-agent programming to


automate processes like routing, disk allocation etc.
– expanded usage of control panels
• style sheets for word processors
• specification boxes of query facilities
• information-visualization tools

THEORIES
• Aim for discipline of human-computer interaction is to go beyond the specifics of
guidelines.
• Principles are used to develop theories
• Descriptions/explanatory theories: Develop consistent terminology for objects and
actions.
• Observing behavior
• Describing activity
• Conceiving of designs
• Comparing high-level concepts of two designs
• Training
• Predictive theories: Enable designers to compare proposed designs for execution
times or error rates.
• Motor task performance theories: It involves actions like pointing with a mouse
and helps in predicting key stroking or pointing time.
• Perceptual activities theories: It involves actions like finding an item on a display
and helps in predicting the reading times for free text, list, display etc.
• Cognitive aspects theories: It involves actions like boldfaced character conversion to
italic style. It focuses on short-term, working, long-term memory central to problem
solving and productivity depended on response time.
• Web designers use information architecture models with navigation as key to user
success. Information foraging theory is important.

Taxonomy (Explanatory theory)

 Taxonomy imposes order by classifying a complex set of phenomena into


understandable categories
 Example: Taxonomy for personality styles, technical aptitude, User Interface
styles, user experience levels etc
 It facilitate useful comparisons , Organize a topic for newcomers, Guide designers
 It indicates opportunities for novel products.
 Two challenges
o Theories should be more central to research & practice
o Theories should lead rather than lag behind practice

1. Levels of analysis theories

Foley and van Dam four-level approach for descriptive theories

 Conceptual level: User's mental model of the interactive system is involved.


Example: Two mental models for image creation are paint program, drawing
programs. Paint program focuses on sequence of actions on pixels and group of
pixels. Drawing program applies operators to alter and group objects.
 Semantic level: Describes the meanings conveyed by the user's command input
and by the computer's output display. Eg: Deleting an object in a drawing
program invokes delete-object action.
 Syntactic level: Defines how the user actions that convey semantics are
assembled into a complete sentence that instructs the computer to perform a
certain task. Eg: Delete-files action invokes multiple –object selection, followed
by a keystroke and followed by a confirmation.
 Lexical level: Deals with device dependencies and with the precise mechanisms
by which a user specifies the syntax. Eg function key or mouse click within
200millisec.

This Approach is convenient for designers

 Top-down nature is easy to explain


 Matches the software architecture
 Allows for useful modularity during design
 Less relevant in modern GUI standards as less need to implement syntactic &
lexical levels.

2. Stages of action models

Another approach to form theories is to portray the stages of actions that users go through
using interactive products.
Norman's seven stages of action, arranged in cyclic pattern.

1. Forming the goal


2. Forming the intention
3. Specifying the action
4. Executing the action
5. Perceiving the system state
6. Interpreting the system state
7. Evaluating the outcome
Norman's contributions

 These 7 stages are placed in context of cycles of action and evaluation.


 These stages identify Gulf of execution: Mismatch between the users intentions
and the allowable actions
 These stages identify Gulf of evaluation: Mismatch between the system's
representation and the users' expectations

Norman’s Four principles of good design

 State and the action alternatives should be visible


 Should be a good conceptual model with a consistent system image
 Interface should include good mappings that reveal the relationships between
stages
 User should receive continuous feedback

A stages-of-action model helps to describe user exploration of an interface. There are


four critical points where user failures can occur

 Users can form an inadequate goal


 Might not find the correct interface object because of an incomprehensible label
or icon
 May not know how to specify or execute a desired action
 May receive inappropriate or misleading feedback

3. GOMS and the keystroke-level model

Goals, operators, methods, and selection rules (GOMS) model

 Goals, operators, methods, and selection rules (GOMS) model (CMN Card,
Moran, Newell)
 It is a model for different level analysis which is achieved by decomposing user
actions into small measurable steps.
 GOMS model postulated
 User begins by formulating goals (edit document) and subgoals (insert word).
 User then thinks in terms of operators (elementary perceptual, motor, cognitive
acts).
 User achieves goals by using methods. Selection rules are the control structures
for choosing between several methods for achieving the goals.
 GOMS helps in decision making while carrying out interaction tasks like text
editing in a manuscript.
 Extending GOMS with if-then rules describes conditions & actions.
 Keystroke-level model
 Simplified version of GOMS
 Predicts performance times for error-free expert performance of tasks (keystroke,
pointing, drawing, thinking waiting for system response )
 Transition diagrams : Helpful during design ,for instruction, as a predictor of
learning time, performance time and errors.
 Natural GOMS Language (NGOMSL) : An analysis method for writing down
GOMS model. It helps in making judgment call, user assumptions, bypassing a
complex task, consistency check.
 CPM-GOMS(cognitive, perceptual, motor and critical path method) models the
overlapping (multitasking) behavior displayed by extremely skilled users.
 Several alternative methods to delete fields, e.g.
o Method 1 to accomplish the goal of deleting the field:
1. Decide: If necessary, then accomplish the goal of selecting the
field
2. Accomplish the goal of using a specific field delete method
3. Report goal accomplished
o Method 2 to accomplish the goal of deleting the field:
1. Decide: If necessary, then use the Browse tool to go to the card
with the field
2. Choose the field tool in the Tools menu
3. Note that the fields on the card background are displayed
4. Click on the field to be selected
5. Report goal accomplished
o Selection rule set for goal of using a specific field-delete method:
 If you want to past the field somewhere else, then choose "Cut
Field" from the Edit menu.
 If you want to delete the field permanently, then choose "Clear
Field" from the Edit menu.
 Report goal accomplished.

4. Consistency through grammars

Consistent user interface goal

 Definition is elusive - multiple levels sometimes in conflict


 Sometimes advantageous to be inconsistent (to draw attention to dangerous
operations).
 Inconsistent action verbs can take longer to learn, cause more errors , slow down
users, harder for users to remember

Consistent Inconsistent A Inconsistent B


delete/insert character delete/insert character delete/insert character
delete/insert word remove/bring word remove/insert word
delete/insert line destroy/create line delete/insert line
delete/insert paragraph kill/birth paragraph delete/insert paragraph
Task-action grammars (TAGs) try to characterize a complete set of tasks. Full set of
task-action mappings should be available, grammar of the command language can be
tested against it to demonstrate completeness & consistency.

Example: TAG definition of cursor control

Dictionary of tasks:

move-cursor-one-character-forward [Direction=forward,Unit=char]
move-cursor-one-character-backward [Direction=backward,Unit=char]
move-cursor-one-word-forward [Direction=forward,Unit=word]
move-cursor-one-word-backward [Direction=backward,Unit=word]

High-level rule schemas describing command syntax:

1. task [Direction,Unit -> symbol [Direction] + letter [Unit]


2. symbol [Direction=forward] -> "CTRL"
3. symbol [Direction=backward] -> "ESC"
4. letter[Unit=word] -> "W"
5. letter[Unit=char] -> "C"

Generates a consistent grammar:


move cursor one character forward CTRL-C
move cursor one character backward ESC-C
move cursor one word forward CTRL-W
move cursor one word backward ESC-W

5. Widget-level theories

• Follow simplifications made in higher-level, user-interface building tools.


• Instead of dealing with atomic level features, creation of a model based on
widgets (interface components) supported in the tool is efficient.
• Potential benefits:
– Possible automatic generation of performance prediction based on task
frequencies.
– A measure of layout appropriateness available as development guide
– Estimates generated automatically and amortized over many designers and
projects
– perceptual complexity
– cognitive complexity
– motor load
– Higher-level patterns of usage appear
6. Context-of-use theories

• Design cannot be separated from patterns of use.


• Distributed cognition: Knowledge is not always in the users mind, but
distributed in their environments- some knowledge is stored in paper
documents, computers or with colleagues.
• Emphasize social environment, motivations of users, role of experience.
• Context-of-use theories are relevant to mobile devices, ubiquitous computing
innovations.
• Taxonomy of mobile device applications:

o Monitor stock prices, blood pressures etc and give alert when normal
ranges are exceeded.
o Gather information from meetings or rescue team and spread the action
plan or current status.
o Participate in a large group activity by voting and relate to specific
individuals by sending private messages
o Locate the nearest landmarks and identify the details of current location
o Capture information or photos left by others and share yours with future
visitors.

Object/Action Interface Model


 OAI model is a descriptive and explanatory model that focuses on task and
interface objects and actions.
 It is a syntactic-semantic model of human behavior which is used to describe
programming, data base-manipulation facilites, direct manipulation.
 Semantic concepts of user’s tasks are well-organized and stable in memory.
However, Syntactic details of command languages arbitrary and required frequent
rehearsal.
 With introduction of GUIs, emphasis shifted to simple direct manipulations
applied to visual representations of objects and actions.
 Because syntactic details are minimal, users who know the task-domain objects
and actions can learn the interface relatively easily.
 OAI model goes well with object oriented design concepts.
 Under object-action design, real world objects at high level like stock-market
listing, photo library can be decomposed into intermediate goals and individual
steps.
 Actions include the common activities which are described as part of a model of
user activity.

Object-action design:

1. Understand the task.


o real-world objects
o actions applied to those object
2. Create the metaphoric representations of interface objects and actions. Interface
objects are pixels that can be moved or copied that represents real-world task
objects with feedback to guide users.

3. Designer makes interface actions visible to users, so that users can decompose
their plans into a series of intermediate actions like opening a dialog box, to
details of keystrokes, clicks etc.

1. Task hierarchies of objects and actions

• Decomposition of real-world complex systems in hierarchical manner until each


sub problem is manageable.
• Real world objects have similar decomposition. For Example human body,
buildings, cities, symphonies ,baseball game. Some objects have easily
understandable and hence decomposable, while others are not.
• Computer system designers must generate a hierarchy of objects and actions to
model users' tasks.
• OAI model forms a basis for designing the interface objects and actions as well as
their representation, example
o Representations in pixels on a screen
o Representations in physical devices
o Representations in voice or other audio cue
• OAI model, tasks include hierarchy of objects and actions at high and low levels.
2. Interface hierarchies of objects and actions

• Interface includes hierarchies of objects and actions at high and low levels

E.g. A computer system:

 Interface Objects
o directory
 name
 length
 date of creation
 owner
 access control
o files of information
 lines
 fields
 characters
 fonts
 pointers
 binary numbers
 Interface Actions
o load a text data file
o insert into the data file
o save the data file
 save the file
 save a backup of the file
 apply access-control rights
 overwrite previous version
 assign a name
 Designers’ craft interface objects and actions based on familiar examples, then
tune those objects and actions to fit the task.
 Users learn interface objects and actions by:
o seeing a demonstration
o hearing an explanation of features
o conducting trial-and-error sessions
 OAI model can be applied to systematize designers work.
 Where possible, task objects should be made explicit, and users task action should
be laid out clearly.
 It provides comprehensibility to users and independence from specific hardware.

3. The disappearance of syntax

 Users must maintain a profusion of device-dependent details in their human


memory.
o Which action erases a character
o Which action inserts a new line after the third line of a text file
o Which abbreviations are permissible
o Which of the numbered function keys produces the previous screen.
 Learning, use, and retention of this knowledge is hampered by two problems
o Details vary across systems in an unpredictable manner
o Greatly reduces the effectiveness of paired-associate learning
 Syntactic knowledge conveyed by example and repeated usage
 Syntactic knowledge is system dependent
 Minimizing these burdens is the goal of most interface designers
o Modern direct-manipulation systems
o Familiar objects and actions representing their task objects and actions.
o Modern user interface building tools
o Standard widgets
User Interface design
Unit 2 Managing Design Processes

Organizational Design to Support Usability

 Usability engineering is vital for product acceptance.


 In organizations, instead of centralized usability laboratory, each project should
have user-interface architects who manage work, prepare budgets and schedules,
corporate with internal or external human factors professionals for better growth
of UI area.
 Role specialization like consultants for graphic, book designing, animation,
sociologists for evaluating organizational impact, education psychologists for
refined training procedures are required.
 U-I building tools is vital for iterative design/test/refine cycle.
 Guideline documents reduce development cost, maintenance cost, higher
customer satisfaction, user efficiency and productivity.
 Usability should be kept in mind right at the beginning of the project
development.
 Usability test followed be error correction helps in user satisfaction.
 Usability engineers and U-I architects must gain experience in managing
organizational change with respect to UI design.

Design is inherently creative and unpredictable. Interactive system designers must blend
knowledge of technical feasibility with a mystical esthetic sense of what attracts users.

Carroll and Rosson design characterization:

 Design is a process, not a state. Design can’t be adequately represented statically.


 The design process is nonhierarchical. It can’t be neither strictly top-down nor
bottom-up.
 The process is radically transformational. It involves development of partial and
interim solutions that may ultimately have no role in final design.
 Design intrinsically involves the discovery of new goals.
The Three Pillars of Design

1. Guidelines documents and processes

Each project has different needs, but guidelines should be considered for:

 Words and icons

 Terminology (objects and actions), abbreviations, and capitalization


 Character set, fonts, font sizes, and styles (bold, italic, underline)
 Icons, graphics, line thickness, and
 Use of color, backgrounds, highlighting, and blinking

 Screen-layout issues

 Menu selection, form fill-in, and dialog-box formats


 Wording of prompts, feedback, and error messages
 Justification, white space, and margins
 Data entry and display formats for items and lists
 Use and contents of headers and footers
 Strategies for adapting to small and large displays

 Input and output devices

 Keyboard, display, cursor control, and pointing devices


 Audible sounds, voice feedback, touch input, and other special devices
 Response time for a variety of tasks
 Alternatives for users with disabilities

 Action sequences

 Direct-manipulation clicking, dragging, dropping, and gestures


 Command syntax, semantics, and sequences
 Programmed function keys
 Error handling and recovery procedures

 Training

 Online help and tutorials


 Training and reference materials

Guideline creation should be a social process. Procedures should be established to


distribute, enforce guidelines, permit exemptions and enhancements. Guideline
document should be created at beginning of the implementation.

Four E’s provide basis for creating document

1. Education: User needs training and discussion on guidelines.


2. Enforcement: Timely and clear process to verify that interfaces follow the
guidelines.
3. Exemption: When creative ideas or new technologies are used, a rapid process
for gaining exemption is needed.
4. Enhancement: Annual review process will keep guidelines uop-to-date.
Recommendations for guidelines documents

2. User-interface software tools

Customers and users may not have a clear idea of what the system will
look like when it is done

• At an early stage, customers and users can be provided a realistic


impression of the final systems look.
• Create several early prototypes for client approval. Allow client to modify
as desired.
• Simple drawing or word-processing tools, graphical environments like
Macromedia’s Director, Flash can be used.
• Microsoft VB/C++, Sun’s Java can be used for development
environment.

2. Expert reviews and usability testing

Web designers recognize they must carry out many small and some large
pilot tests of components before release to the customer

• Schedule usability tests and surveys


• Automated analysis tools
• expert review evaluations with the intended users
• procedure may vary depending on usability study goals, number of
expected users , danger of errors, level of investment.
Developmental Methodologies
 User centered design helps in better user understanding, fewer problems during
development, easier to learn, low maintenance cost, faster performance, helps
align system functionality with business needs.

 Logical User-Centered Interactive Design Methodology (Kreitzberg): Six


stages are (refer page 138 for more details)
o Stage 1: Envision
 Align the agendas of all stakeholders, balancing the needs
to meet business goals.
 Develop clear, shared product vision with the need for
“extreme usability
 Identify and deal with potential problems affecting the
development team efficiency.
 Begin the design process at a concept sketch level.
o Stage 2: Discovery
 Study the characteristics of distinct segments of product
users.
 Understand the tasks users perform, information they need,
terminologies, priorities, their mental models.
 Analyze the data gathered to determine high-level user
requirements.
o Stage 3: Design Foundation
 Develop and validate the conceptual design.
 Create key screen prototype to convey visual style
 Develop visual look, perform usability test and redesign.
o Stage 4: Design Detail
 Complete a style guide containing graphic design and UI
policy decisions.
 Determine complete specifications from high level design.
 Perform usability evaluation of specific screens.
 Create detailed layout for each screen and detailed
specification for each element of each screen.
o Stage 5: Build
 Answer the developers queries and provide support during
coding, redesigning screen.
 Conduct usability test for critical screens.
 Support build process through review and late-changes
o Stage 6: Release
 Develop roll-out plan to support new product.
 Conduct final usability test and document the lessons
learned and assess them.
 Measure user satisfaction.
The Twelve areas of the Lucid Management Strategy

1. Product Definition : high concept for managers and marketers


2. Business Case : pricing, expected revenues, return on investment, competition
3. Resources : duration, effort levels, team members, backup plans
4. Physical Environment : ergonomics design, physical installation, communication
lines
5. Technical Environment : hardware and software for development and integration
6. Users : multiple communities for interviews, user testing, marketing
7. Functionality : services provided to users
8. Prototype : early paper prototypes, key screens, running prototypes
9. Usability : set measurable goals, conduct tests, refine interface and goals
10. Design Guidelines : modify existing guidelines, implement review process
11. Content Materials : identify and acquire copyrighted text, audio, video
12. Documentation, Training, and Help : specify, develop, test paper, video, online
versions.

Ethnographic Observation
 User Interface (UI) designers employ ethnographic methods for observing
interface users in the workspace
 Ethnographic observation helps to collect necessary data, learn the complexities
of the organization firsthand, increase trustworthiness.
 Personal presence of the designers at workplace helps in developing the
relationship with interface users.
 Users will be active participants in the design of their new interface.

UI designers differ from traditional ethnographers

1. UI designers not only understand the subject but also focus on interfaces for
the purpose of changing and improving those interfaces.
2. Traditional ethnographers may take weeks or months but UI designers that a
period of days or even hours.

Guidelines for ethnographic observation

Preparation

o Understand organization policies and work culture.


o Familiarize yourself with the system and its history.
o Set initial goals and prepare questions.
o Gain access and permission to observe/interview.
Field Study

o Establish rapport with managers and users.


o Observe/interview users in their workplace and collect
subjective/objective quantitative/qualitative data.
o Follow any leads that emerge from the visits.
o Record your visits

Analysis

o Compile the collected data in numerical, textual, and multimedia


databases.
o Quantify data and compile statistics.
o Reduce and interpret the data.
o Refine the goals and the process used.

Reporting

o Consider multiple audiences and goals.


o Prepare a report and present the findings.

Participatory Design
Participatory design strategy is controversial.

 more user involvement brings


o more accurate information about tasks
o more opportunity for users to influence design decisions
o a sense of participation that builds users' ego investment in successful
implementation
o potential for increased user acceptance of final system
 on negative side, extensive user involvement may
o be more costly
o lengthen the implementation period
o build antagonism with people not involved or whose suggestions rejected
o force designers to compromise their design to satisfy incompetent
participants
o build opposition to implementation
o exacerbate personality conflicts between design-team members and users
o show that organizational politics and preferences of certain individuals are
more important than technical issues

PICTIVE : Plastic interface for collaborative technology initiatives through video


exploration : In this approach , users sketch interfaces, use slips of paper, pieces of
plastic, tape to create low fidelity early prototypes. Scenario walkthrough is then recorded
on videotape for presentation to mangers, users etc. New ideas can be generated and can
be fun filled.

Careful competitive selection of users helps in successful participatory design.

Druin’s model shows four levels of user participation. It involves testers for trying out
novel designs, informants to provide comments to designers through interview and focus
groups, design partners are active members of design team.

Druin’s model of user participation

Scenario Development
When current interface is redesigned or automation of manual system is done,
reliable information about user task frequencies and sequenced is important for
UI design.

Day-in-the-life scenarios:

 characterize what happens when users perform typical tasks


 can be acted out as a form of walkthrough
 may be used as basis for videotape
 useful tools used are
o Table of user communities list across top, tasks listed down the side. Each
box filled with task frequency.
o Table of task sequences, shows which task follow next.
o Flowchart or transition diagram: sequences of actions and thickness of
connecting lines indicates the frequency of transitions.

Social Impact Statement for Early Design Review


• Social impact statement is a thoughtful statement of anticipated impacts which is
circulated among stakeholders in the early stages of development
• Productive suggestions can be obtained which may impact project schedule,
system requirements and budgeting. So changes can be done early in development
when it is easy.
• Developed by system design team and include end users, managers, software
developers, clients etc.
• It should not be of huge size and complexity
• Proper review of social impact statement
• Once adopted, it must be enforced.

Describe the new system and its benefits.

 Convey the high level goals of the new system.


 Identify the stakeholders.
 Identify specific benefits

Address concerns and potential barriers.

 Anticipate changes in job functions and potential layoffs.


 Address security and privacy issues.
 Discuss accountability and responsibility for system misuse and failure.
 Avoid potential biases.
 Weigh individual rights vs. societal benefits.
 Assess trade-offs between centralization and decentralization.
 Preserve democratic principles.
 Ensure diverse access.
 promote simplicity and preserve what works.

Outline the development process.

 Present and estimated project schedule.


 Propose process for making decisions.
 Discuss expectations of how stakeholders will be involved.
 Recognize needs for more staff, training, and hardware.
 Propose plan for backups of data and equipment.
 Outline plan for migrating to the new system.

Legal Issues
1. Privacy protection in user-interface mechanism involves controlling password
access, identify checking, data verification.
2. UI for real time systems like aircraft, automobiles, medical and military systems
should be safe and reliable and should not display confused results.
3. Copyright or patent protection for software. Open source initiative enforces on
read, redistribute, modification of source code, so that software evolves.
4. Copyright protection for online information, images, music.
5. Freedom of speech in electronic environment is a serious issue.

Potential Controversies

 What material is eligible for copyright?

 Are copyrights or patents more appropriate for user interfaces?

 What constitutes copyright infringement?

 Should user interfaces be copyrighted?


Unit 3
Chapter 4: Evaluating Interface Design

INTRODUCTION

 Designers can become so entranced with their creations that they may fail to
evaluate them adequately.
 Experienced designers have attained the wisdom and humility to know that
extensive testing is a necessity.
 If Feedback is “breakfast of champions”, then Testing is the “dinner of the gods”.
 Correct choices should be selected to form a balanced evaluation plan.
 The factors determining the evaluation plan include:
o stage of design (early, middle, late)
o novelty of project (well defined vs. exploratory)
o number of expected users
o criticality of the interface (life-critical medical system vs. museum exhibit
support)
o costs of product and finances allocated for testing
o time available
o experience of the design and evaluation team
 The range of evaluation plans might be from an ambitious two-year test for an air-
traffic-control-system to a few days test for an internal website.
 The range of costs might be from 20% of a project down to 5%.
 Usability testing and document testing is critical for any project involving
interface designs.
 Troubling aspects of testing for user interface include:

o Uncertainty about the perfection and quality of the product even after
execution of exhaustive multiple tests.
o Timeline setting for prototype testing completion.
o Performance testing for air-traffic –controller, nuclear-reactor-controllers
is difficult.
o Stress testing and partial-equipment testing for life-critical applications.
EXPERT REVIEWS

 While informal demos to colleagues or customers can provide some useful


feedback for evaluating interfaces, more formal expert reviews have proven to be
effective.
 Expert reviews should be conducted on short notice and rapidly.
 Expert reviews can occur early or late in design phase with formal reports on
problem identified as outcome.
 Expert reviews entail one-half day to one week effort, although a lengthy training
period may sometimes be required to explain the task domain or operational
procedures.
 There are a variety of expert review methods to chose from:
o Heuristic evaluation: The expert reviewers check the conformance of the
interface with a short-list of design heuristics like 8 golden rules. Experts
should be familiar with rules, interpret and apply them.
o Guidelines review: The expert reviewers check the conformance of the
interface with the organizational guideline document. Expert reviewers
need to master the large guidelines documents and may take days or
weeks) to review large interface.
o Consistency inspection: Experts verify the consistency of interfaces.
Consistency of terminology, color, fonts, layout, input/output formats etc
is verified across interfaces, training materials and online help. Software
tools to automate the process and creation of abbreviations.
o Cognitive walkthrough: Experts simulate users walking (usage) through
the interface to carry out tasks. High-frequency tasks and critical tasks are
walked through. Cognitive walkthrough developed for interfaces that are
learned by exploratory browsing and training. Discussion with designers,
users, mangers should be done to conduct the walkthrough. Linguistic
analysis to estimate link labels and destination similarity should be
conducted in website navigations.
o Formal usability inspection: Experts hold a courtroom-style meeting
with moderator or judge, to present interface, discuss merits and demerits.
Design team members present the problems in an adversarial format.
Educational for novice designers. Review process takes longer time.
 Expert reviews can be scheduled at several points in the development process
when experts are available and when the design team is ready for feedback.

 Different experts tend to find different problems in an interface, so 3-5 expert


reviewers can be highly productive, as can complementary usability testing.
 Expert reviewers should take training courses, read manuals, tutorials, try to study
the interface in a realistic environment.
 Study the bird’s-eye view of an interface to quickly see if the fonts, colors and
terminology are consistent or not.
 The dangers with expert reviews are that the experts may not have an adequate
understanding of the task domain or user communities.
 To strengthen the possibility of successful expert reviews it helps to chose
knowledgeable experts who are familiar with the project situation and who have a
longer term relationship with the organization.

 Moreover, even experienced expert reviewers have great difficulty knowing how
typical users, especially first-time users will really behave.

USABILITY TESTING AND LABORATORIES

 The emergence of usability testing and laboratories since the early 1980s is an
indicator of the profound shift in attention to user needs.
 The remarkable surprise was that usability testing not only speeds up many
projects but that it produced dramatic cost savings.
 The movement towards usability testing stimulated the construction of usability
laboratories.

USABILITY LABORATORIES

o A typical modest usability lab would have two 10 by 10 foot areas, one for
the participants to do their work and another, separated by a half-silvered
mirror, for the testers and observers (designers, managers, and customers).
o Usability laboratories staff should be expert in testing and UI design,
serving 10-15 projects per year.
o Laboratory staffs meet UI architect or manager at start of project to make
test plan with schedules and budget.
o They participate in early task analysis; provide information on software
tools, references to develop usability tests.
o 2-6 weeks before usability test, test plan is created.
o Pilot test of procedures, tasks, questionnaires with 1-3 participants is
conducted a week ahead to incorporate changes.
o After changes are approved, participants should be chosen to represent the
intended user communities, with attention to background in computing,
experience with the task, motivation, education, and ability with the
natural language used in the interface.
o Participation should always be voluntary, and informed consent should be
obtained. Professional practice is to ask all subjects to read and sign a
statement like this one:
 I have freely volunteered to participate in this experiment.
 I have been informed in advance what my task(s) will be and what
procedures will be followed.
 I have been given the opportunity to ask questions, and have had
my questions answered to my satisfaction.
 I am aware that I have the right to withdraw consent and to
discontinue participation at any time, without prejudice to my
future treatment.
 My signature below may be taken as affirmation of all the above
statements; it was given prior to my participation in this study.
 Videotaping participants performing tasks is often valuable for later review and
for showing designers or managers the problems that users encounter.
 Field tests attempt to put new interfaces to work in realistic environments for a
fixed trial period. Field tests can be made more fruitful if logging software is used
to capture error, command, and help frequencies plus productivity measures.
 Variant forms of usability testing
o Paper mockups: Paper mockups of screen displays to assess user
reactions to wording, layout, sequencing. Test administrator acts the role
of computer by flipping the pages while participants carry out task. This
testing is inexpensive, rapid and productive.
o Discount usability testing: This is a quick and dirty approach which can
be used as formative evaluation. It lowers the barriers to newcomers. More
extensive usability testing can be used summative evaluation. Formative
evaluation can guide redesign while summative evaluation can be used for
product announcements and trainings needs.
o Competitive usability testing: It compares a new interface to previous
versions or similar products of competitors. It is like controlled
experimental study and staff must construct parallel sets of task. Fewer
participants are needed but for longer timer.
o Universal usability testing: It tests interfaces with highly diverse users,
hardware, software platforms, and networks. Trials with small and large
displays, slow/fast networks, various OS, browsers will help in increasing
customer success.
o Field tests and portable labs: This testing approach puts new interfaces
to work in realistic environment for a fixed period of time. Portable
usability labs with videotaping and logging facilities are developed.
Supplying users with test versions (beta versions) of new software or
consumer products for comments.
o Remote usability testing: Usability tests for Web-based applications can
be conducted online, avoiding the need to bring participants to lab. Large
number of participants with diverse background is included in this test.
Less control over user behavior and less chance to observe their reactions.
o Can you break this tests: Game designers pioneered the can-you-break-
this approach to usability testing by providing energetic teenagers with the
challenge of trying to beat new games. This destructive testing approach,
in which the users try to find fatal flaws in the system, or otherwise to
destroy it, have been used in other projects and should be considered
seriously.
 For all its success, usability testing does have at least two serious limitations: it
emphasizes first-time usage and has limited coverage of the interface features.
 These and other concerns have led design teams to supplement usability testing
with the varied forms of expert reviews.

SURVEY INSTRUMENTS

 Written user surveys are a familiar, inexpensive and generally acceptable


companion for usability tests and expert reviews. Usually a pretest with a pilot
sample is performed to improve results.
 The keys to successful surveys are clear goals in advance and then development
of focused items that help attain the goals.
 Survey goals can be tied to the components of the Objects and Action Interface
model of interface design. Users could be asked for their subjective impressions
about specific aspects of the interface such as the representation of:
o task domain objects and actions
o Interface domain metaphors and action handles
o Syntax of inputs and design of displays.
 Other goals would be to ascertain the user’s
o background (age, gender, origins, education, income)
o experience with computers (specific applications or software packages,
length of time, depth of knowledge)
o job responsibilities (decision-making influence, managerial roles,
motivation)
o personality style (introvert vs. extrovert, risk taking vs. risk aversive, early
vs. late adopter, systematic vs. opportunistic)
o reasons for not using an interface (inadequate services, too complex, too
slow)
o familiarity with features (printing, macros, shortcuts, tutorials)
o their feeling state after using an interface (confused vs. clear, frustrated vs.
in-control, bored vs. excited).
 Online and web-based surveys avoid the cost of printing and the extra effort
needed for distribution and collection of paper forms.
 Many people prefer to answer a brief survey displayed on a screen, instead of
filling in and returning a printed form, although there is a potential bias in the
sample.
 Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction(QUIS) is based on OAI model and
covers interface details like icons, actions, shortcuts, task issues, screen
sequencing.

ACCEPTANCE TESTS

 For large implementation projects, the customer or manager usually sets objective
and measurable goals for hardware and software performance.
 If the completed product fails to meet acceptance criteria like response time
requirements, meantime between failures then the system must be reworked until
success is demonstrated.
 Rather than the vague and misleading criterion of "user friendly," measurable
criteria for the user interface can be established for the following:
o Time to learn specific functions
o Speed of task performance
o Rate of errors by users
o Human retention of commands over time
o Subjective user satisfaction
 In a large system, there may be eight or 10 such tests to carry out on different
components of the interface and with different user communities.
 System response time, installation procedures, documents, output is considered in
acceptance tests of complete product.
 Goal of acceptance testing is not to detect flaws but to verify adherence to
requirements.
 Once acceptance testing has been successful, there may be a period of field testing
before national or international distribution.
 The goal of early expert reviews, usability testing, surveys, acceptance testing,
and field testing is to force as much of the evolutionary development as possible
into the prerelease phase, when change is relatively easy and inexpensive to
accomplish.

EVALUATION DURING ACTIVE USE

 A carefully designed and thoroughly tested system is a wonderful asset, but


successful active use requires constant attention from dedicated managers, user-
services personnel, and maintenance staff.
 Perfection is not attainable, but percentage improvements are possible and are
worth pursuing.
 Various approaches for evaluating during active use involves:
o Interviews and focus group discussions
 Interviews with individual users can be productive because the
interviewer can pursue specific issues of concern.
 After a series of individual discussions, group discussions are
valuable to ascertain the universality of comments.
 Interviews are time consuming & costly, so small numbers of users
are involved.
 Direct contact with users lead to specific, constructive suggestions.
o Continuous user-performance data logging
 The software architecture should make it easy for system managers
to collect data about the patterns of system usage, speed of user
performance, rate of errors, or frequency of request for online
assistance.
 If logging data is available, then human-computer interface can be
made to simplify access to frequently used features.
 A major benefit of usage-frequency data is the guidance they
provide to system maintainers in optimizing performance and
reducing costs for all participants.
o Online or telephone consultants
 Online or telephone consultants are an extremely effective and
personal way to provide assistance to users who are experiencing
difficulties.
 Many users feel reassured if they know there is a human being to
whom they can turn when problems arise.
 On some network systems, the consultants can monitor the user's
computer and see the same displays that the user sees while
maintaining telephone voice contact.
 This service can be extremely reassuring; the users know that
someone can walk them through the correct sequence of screens to
complete their tasks.
o Online suggestion box or trouble reporting
 Electronic mail can be employed to allow users to send messages
to the maintainers or designers.
 Such an online suggestion box encourages some users to make
productive comments, since writing a letter may be seen as
requiring too much effort.
o Online bulletin board or newsgroup
 Many interface designers offer users an electronic bulletin board or
newsgroups to permit posting of open messages and questions.
 Bulletin-board software systems usually offer a list of item
headlines, allowing users the opportunity to select items for
display.
 New items can be added by anyone, but usually someone monitors
the bulletin board to ensure that offensive, useless, or repetitious
items are removed.
o User newsletters and conferences
 Newsletters that provide information about novel interface
facilities, suggestions for improved productivity, requests for
assistance, case studies of successful applications, or stories about
individual users can promote user satisfaction and greater
knowledge.
 Printed newsletters are more traditional and have the advantage
that they can be carried away from the workstation.
 Online newsletters are less expensive and more rapidly
disseminated
 Conferences allow workers to exchange experiences with
colleagues, promote novel approaches, stimulate greater
dedication, encourage higher productivity, and develop a deeper
relationship of trust.
CONTROLLED PSYCHOLOGICALLY-ORIENTED EXPERIMENTS

 Scientific and engineering progress is often stimulated by improved techniques


for precise measurement.
 Rapid progress in the designs of interfaces will be stimulated as researchers and
practitioners evolve suitable human-performance measures and techniques.
 The outline of the scientific method as applied to human-computer interaction
might comprise these tasks:
o Deal with a practical problem and consider the theoretical framework
o State a lucid and testable hypothesis
o Identify a small number of independent variables that are to be
manipulated
o Carefully choose the dependent variables that will be measured
o Judiciously select subjects and carefully or randomly assign subjects to
groups
o Control for biasing factors (non-representative sample of subjects or
selection of tasks, inconsistent testing procedures)
o Apply statistical methods to data analysis
o Resolve the practical problem, refine the theory, and give advice to future
researchers
 Classic experimental methods of psychology are enhanced to deal with complex
cognitive tasks of human performance.
 Managers of actively used systems are coming to recognize the power of
controlled experiments in fine tuning the human-computer interface.
 Proposed improvements can be given to limited population for a limited time, and
then performance could be compared with the control group.
 Dependent measures could include performance times, user-subjective
satisfaction, error rates, and user retention over time.
Unit 3 Chapter 5: Software Tools

INTRODUCTION

New software tools must support the software for greater plasticity, flexible control over
window size, fonts, colors, background, text to foreign language conversion, universal
usability and device-independent programming.

SPECIFICATION METHODS

First asset in making designs is a good notation to record and discuss alternate
possibilities:

 default language for specifications in any field is the designer's natural language
like English
 Initial specifications are drawn up on sketchpad, or blackboard

Disadvantages of Natural-language specifications

 Natural language specification tends to be lengthy, vague, and ambiguous.


 Natural language specification often are difficult to prove correct, consistent and
complete.

Formal and semiformal languages like grammars are employed. For graphical user
interface design (GUI), a grammar is used to describe sequences of actions. These
grammars tend to be short making transition diagrams and graphical specifications more
appealing.

Main Specification Methods

1. Grammars
2. Menu Selection and dialog-box trees
3. Transition diagrams
4. State charts
5. User-action notation (UAN)

1. Grammars
 Grammars are useful to specify textual commands or expressions that a
program should understand. They are used in verifying the validity of
spreadsheet calculators, telephone-book entries.
 Backus-Naur Form (a.k.a. Backus Normal Form or BNF) is used to
describe programming languages. High-level components are described as
nonterminals and specific strings are described as terminals.
Grammars Example for telephone-book entry

<Telephone book entry>::= <Name><Telephone number>


<Name> ::= <Last name>, <First name>
<Last name> ::= <string>
<First name> ::= <string>
<string> ::= <character>|<character><string>
<character> ::=
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
<Telephone number>::= (<area code>) <exchange>-<local number>
<area code>::= <digit><digit><digit>
<exchange>::= <digit><digit><digit>
<local number>::= <digit><digit><digit><digit>
<digit>::= 0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9

Examples of acceptable entries


- WASHINGTON, GEORGE (301) 555-1234
- BEEF, STU (726) 768-7878
- A, Z (999) 111-111

The nonterminals describe a person’s name (composed of a last name


followed by a comma and a first name) and a telephone number (composed of
an area code, exchange, local number). Names consist of strings of characters.
The telephone number has 3 components: a three-digit area code, a three-digit
exchange, and a four-digit local number.

BNF Example for Unix Command For Copying Files (cp)


cp [ -ip ] filename1 filename2
cp -rR [ -ip ] directory1 directory2
cp [ -iprR ] filename ... directory

 The square brackets indicate that zero or more options can be included, and
the -rR indicates that one of these options for recursive copying is required for
copying directories.

Multiparty grammars

 Multiparty grammars are used to accommodate the richness of interactive


software.
 The nonterminals are labeled by the party that produces the string(user U,
computer C).
 Nonterminals acquire values during parsing for use by other parties; hence
error-handling rules can be included easily.
 They are effective for text-oriented command sequences that have repeated
exchanges, like bank terminal.
 They are used in voice-recognition systems
 2-dimensional styles like form fillin, direct manipulation, graphical layouts
are difficult to be described using multiparty grammars.
 Menu selection can be described by multiparty grammars.

Grammar for opening steps in a login process

<session> ::= <U: Opening> <C: Responding>


<U: Opening> ::= LOGIN <U: Name>
<U: Name> ::= <U: string>
<C: Responding> ::= HELLO [<U: Name>]
Here square brackets indicate that the value of the user’s name should be produced by the
computer in responding to the login command.

“go from Paris to Bangkok and Singapore” is specified using JSpeech grammar
import <com.acme.cities.*>
Public <travel> = go from <city> ( to <city> )+;

2. Menu Selection and dialog-box trees


 Menu selection tree has a simple structure that guides designers and users alike.
 Menu trees are powerful specification tools as they show users, managers,
implementers, other interested parties complete and detailed coverage of the
system.
 A menu tree shows high level relationships and low level details.
 The complete menu tree should be visible at once to check for consistency,
completeness, lack of ambiguity or redundancy.
 Dialog-box trees are used to check for consistency and completeness.
 Menu trees can’t show all possible user actions, like return to previous menus,
jumps to starting menu, help screens, error handling etc.

3. Transition Diagram

 Transition diagram is a design notation where more precise specification of every


possible state and their transition is included.
 It is a set of nodes that represents system states and a set of links between
the nodes that represents possible transitions.
 Each link is labeled with the user action that selects that link and possible
computer responses.
 Tools for creating transition diagrams, dataflow diagrams, graphical displays are
part of software design tools like IBM Rational Suite of products.
 Transition diagram get unwidely as system complexity grows and many
transitions make the diagram clumsy.
 Transition diagrams translate directly into finite-state automata. Properties like
reachability, liveliness can be verified automatically.
Transition diagram for a simple menu system

4. State Charts

• Statecharts provide the grouping feature through nested roundtangles, repeated


transitions can be factored out to surrounding roundtangle.
• Concurrency, external interrupt events, user actions can be represented using
statecharts.
• UML (Unified Modelling Language ) also supports statecharts.
• Statecharts can be extended with dataflow and constraint specification, embedded
screen prints.
• Permitted and forbidden scenarios can be represented in statecharts allowing
specifications to be tested against the final implementation.

Statechart of a bank transaction system showing grouping of states


5. User Action Notation (UAN)

UAN are used for direct-manipulation interface specification.

Task : Select an icon

User Actions Interface Feedback


~[icon] Mv icon!
M^
~[icon] represents the icon movement, Mv represents mouse-button motion (depress)
followed by M^ (mouse-button release).The system response to highlight the icon is
represented by icon!

Task : select an icon


User Actions Interface Feedback Interface State
~[file] Mv file!, forall(file!): file-! selected = file
~[x,y]* outline(file) > ~
~[trash] outline(file) > ~ , trash!
M^ erase(file) , trash!! selected = null

file-! Indicates dehighlight the file, outline(file) > ~ means that the outline is dragged by
the cursor.

 UAN is a compact, powerful, high-level approach to specifying behavior and


describing user actions.

INTERFACE-BUILDING TOOLS

 Interface building tools must support cross-platform development, so that it can


run on multiple platforms.
 Cross-platform support on various browsers.
 User-interface independence: the decoupling of user-interface design from
complexities of programming.
 User-interface prototypes can serve as specifications from which user manuals
can other tools can be developed.

Features of Interface-Building Tools.

User Interface Independence

o Separate interface design from internals


o Enable multiple user interface strategies
o Enable multiple platform support
o Establish user interface architect role
o Enforce standards
Methodology & Notation

o Develop design procedures


o Find ways to talk about design
o Create project management

Rapid Prototyping

o Try out ideas very early


o Test, revise, test, revise,...
o Engage end users, managers, and others

Software Support

o Increase productivity
o Offer some constraint & consistency checks
o Facilitate team approaches
o Ease maintenance

1. Interface mockup tools

• User-Interface mockups can be created with paper and pencil, word processors,
presentation software, multimedia construction tools like Macromedia Director,
Flash MX, Dreamweaver.
• Prototypes aid to design discussions and effective in winning contracts.
• Visual development tools like Microsoft Visual Studio.NET, Borland Jbuilder
have easy-to-use design tools for dragging buttons, labels, data-entry fields,
combo boxes onto a workspace to assemble visual interface.
• Reduction in design time for user interfaces if supplied widgets like labels, data-
entry boxes, scrollbars, text areas are used.
• Jbuilder has huge library of widgets for sale, good access to database, faster code
interpreters can be used.

2. Software-engineering tools

Four software layers available to build a user interface, related visual tools,
examples of popular tools at each level.
Layer4: The higher-level tools are interface generators, called user-interface
management systems or model-based building tools. Most of the applications can
be built quickly using these visual tools.

Level3: Specialized languages or application frameworks are included. These are


software architectures designed specially for building GUI. No support is
provided for non-graphical part of the application. Convenient visual
programming, simple scripting language, more powerful general-purpose
programming language is provided at this level.

Level2: It comprises of GUI toolkits from various vendors. Rapid Prototyper,


Rapid Application Developer, User Interface Builder, User Interface
Development Environment are included in toolkit. Software libraries, widgets are
building blocks but require extensive programming to connect to these
components to each other and to non-GUI part of the application.

Layer1: This windowing system tools require extensive programming by


experienced software engineers and offers little support from interactive
tools.X11 Windowing system is one such example.

Finding the right tool is a tradeoff between six main criteria:

1. Part of the application built using the tool: some tools support building
presentation part , low-level interaction part, interaction to other parts of
the application
2. Learning time
3. Building time
4. Methodology imposed or advised : top down or bottom up (front end and
then backend development)
5. Communication with other subsystems: Communication with database,
files located on web, other resources
6. Extensibility and modularity: Reusability of the software application

Comparison between six features of design tools depending on software layer.


3. The windowing-system layer or level1 in software layer

 Some platforms are too new to offer high-level building tools, forcing software
engineer to work at a low level.
 Interfaces for mobile devices should be done at windowing –system level.
 Programming at this level is required when no higher-level tool exists or memory
or performance is critical.
 Higher-level tool all rely on this level but provide programming abstractions and
interactive tools to simplify the programming.
 Since no visual tools exists at this level, designers use drawing programs to
express graphical intents to software engineers.
 All programs have below form:

2. The GUI toolkit layer or level2 in software layer

 GUI toolkits are user-interface program libraries that offer common widgets like
windows, scroll bars, pull-down, pop-up menus, data-entry fields, buttons and
dialog boxes.
 Programmers have extensive control, flexibility in creating interfaces using
toolkits.
 Toolkits without interactive support like Microsoft Windows Forms, Apple
Macintosh toolkit, Unix X Toolkit require extensive training and is ideal for
experienced programmers.
 Cross-platform toolkits like ILOG Views, GTK, Qt emulate GUIs on Macintosh,
Windows and other platforms. They provide rich object-oriented libraries, tools
for managing network services, file directories, rich visual-editors.
 Sun Microsystem (Oracle now) developed Java which is based on Java Runtime
environment (JRE),portable virtual machine and low-level libraries.
 Java supports ‘Write once, run everywhere’.
 Applet are java program fragments which can be stored on a web server ,
downloaded from a web page and executed on user’s machine. It is used for
dynamic web page.
 Java provided Abstract Widget Toolkit (AWT) which is not consistent with style
guides of platform. Swing supports portability across windows application,
X/Motif application or macintosh applications.
 IBM Standard widget toolkit (SWT) is an abstraction layer between java and
standard GUI toolkits, has smaller memory footprint, faster than swing, richer
than AWT.
 Microsoft .NET includes compilers for C++,C#,Visual Basic supporting network-
aware languages and standard GUI toolkit.
 Gtk,Qt toolkits, Gnu compiler suite providing compilers for languages like
C,C++,Java,Fortran,Java,Ada. These compilers are portable across a wide range
of platforms.
 WIMP toolkits manage windows, icons, menus, a pointer. Post-WIMP toolkits are
diverse exploring new visual or interaction paradigm. Examples include Jazz,
Piccolo for building zoomable user interfaces, SATIN for building informal ink-
based applications.

4. The Application Framework and Specialized Language Layer

Programming of user interfaces is simplified through

1. Application framework
2. Specialized languages

Application framework is based on object-oriented programming.

 Can quickly build sophisticated interfaces.


 Require intensive learning.
 For Example MacApp, an extended toolkit written in Object Pascal. Structure of
UI programs are translated into classes, objects, methods. This framework can be
completed instead of coding from scratch.
 Examples include NextStep, Cocoa, Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC).

Programming languages specially to build user interfaces.

 Lighten the burden of programming.


 Simple scripting language Tcl and a toolkit Tk is successful in interface
development.
 Tcl/Tk, Phython/Tk, Visual Basic are specialized languages for UI coding.
 Javascript (ECMAScript) is combined with HTML to interactively modify web
pages.
 HyperTalk scripting languages enables users to create useful interfaces with
moderate training. Programs in easy-to-understand terms:
 Macromedia Director with its scripting language Lingo helps in programming UI.
 Flash file formats are identified for multimedia applications.
 Visual programming tools (scripting language itself made visual) can build
interactive applications interactively.
 LabVIEW enables users to develop virtual instruments in a visual programming
environment in electronics and electrical engineering domain.

Designers can write programs with easy-to-understand terms:

on mouseUp
play "boing"
wait for 3 seconds
visual effect wipe left very fast to black
click at 150,100
type "goodbye"
end mouseUp

Software engineering tools - Tcl / Tk


#First make a menu button

menubutton.menu1 -text "Unix Commands" -menu.menu1.m


-underline 0

#Now make the menu, and add the lines one at a time

menu.menu1.m
.menu1.m add command -label "List Files" -command {ls}
.menu1.m add command -label "Get Date" -command {date}
.menu1.m add command -label "Start Calendar" -command {xcalendar}

pack.menu1

Software engineering tools - Java


Class Test {
public static void main (String[] args) {
for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++)
System.out.print(i == 0 ? args[i] : " "
+ args[i]);
System.out.println();

}
}
Software engineering tools - JavaScript
<HEAD>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- to hide script contents from old browsers
function square(i) {
document.write("The call passed ", i ," to
the function."<BR>")
return i * i
}
document.write("The function returned ", square(5),".")
// end hiding contents from old browsers -->
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<BR> All Done. </BODY>
Upon loading the web page it produces this output:
The call passed 5 to the function.
The function returned 25.
All Done.

Evaluation and Critiquing Tools

 Simple metrics that report number of displays, widgets, and links between
displays capture the size of UI projects are required.
 Run-time logging software captures the user’s patterns of activity. Report on
frequency of each error message, menu-item selection, dialog-box appearance,
help invocation, form-field usage, webpage access should be captured.
Performance data for alternative designs to guide decision making is required.
 Tullis' Display Analysis Program, Version 4.0: Takes alphanumeric screen
designs and produces display-complexity metrics plus some advice:

Upper-case letters: 77% The percentage of upper-case letters is high.

Consider using more lower-case letters, since text printed in normal


upper- and lower-case letters is read about 13% faster than text in
all upper case. Reserve all upper-case for items that need to attract
attention.
Maximum local density = 89.9% at row 9, column 8.
Average local density = 67.0%
The area with the highest local density is identified...you can
reduce local density by distributing the characters as evenly as
feasible over the entire screen.
Total layout complexity = 8.02 bits
Layout complexity is high.
This means that the display items (labels and data) are not well
aligned with each other...Horizontal complexity can be reduced by
starting items in fewer different columns on the screen (that is, by
aligning them vertically).

 Task-independent measurement and evaluation tools are applied at low cost early
in development process. Number of widgets per dialog box, widget density,
aspect ratio are computed.
 Webpage analyzer tools like HTML Tidy, WebCAT.
 Standardization of web formats and languages has led to improvements in
automated evaluation and critiquing tools. Extensible Markup Language (XML),
UML (Use Interface Markup Language), XUL XML User Interface Language are
some initiatives.
Unit 5
Chapter 8: Command and Natural Languages
Introduction

The Basic Goals of Language Design

 Precision
 Compactness
 Ease in writing and reading
 Speed in learning
 Simplicity to reduce errors
 Ease of retention over time

Higher-Level Goals of Language Design

 Close correspondence between reality and the notation


 Convenience in carrying out manipulations relevant to user's tasks
 Compatibility with existing notations
 Flexibility to accommodate novice and expert users
 Expressiveness to encourage creativity
 Visual appeal

Constraints on a Language

 The capacity for human beings to record the notation


 The match between the recording and the display media (for example, clay
tablets, paper, printing presses)
 The convenience in speaking (vocalizing)

Functionality to Support User's Tasks

Users do wide range of work:

 text editing
 electronic mail
 financial management
 airline or hotel reservations
 inventory
 manufacturing process control
 gaming
Designer should

 determine functionality of the system by studying users' task domain


 create a list of task actions and objects
 abstract this list into a set of interface actions and objects
 represent low-level interface syntax
 Create a table of user communities and tasks, with each entry indicating the
expected use frequency.
 High volume tasks must be made easy.
 determine hierarchy of importance of user communities (i.e. prime users ,their
knowledge of computers, frequency of system use)
 Evaluate destructive actions (e.g. deleting objects) to ensure reversibility of the
actions or prevention from accidental invocation.
 Identify error conditions and prepare error messages.
 Record histories, review, save, send, search, edit, replay and annotate them.
 Help and tutorial feature should be provided.
 Allow shortcuts for expert users, such as macros and customizing system
parameters.
 A macro facility can be a full programming language that might include
specification of arguments, conditionals, iteration, integers, strings, screen-
manipulation primitives, plus library and editing tools.
 Common error is to provide excessive number of objects and actions leading to
more code to maintain, more bugs, slower execution speed, requires more help
screens, error messages, user manuals. Users also get confused with more options.
 Insufficient objects or actions make users frustrated due to lack of support for
desired functions.

Command-Organization Strategies

• Many strategies for command organization have emerged.


• A unifying interface concept or metaphor aids
– learning
– problem solving
– retention
• Designers often err by choosing a metaphor closer to machine domain than to the
user's task domain.
• After adopting an interface concept or metaphor for actions and objects, the
designer must then choose a strategy for command syntax.
• Three main options for command organization include

1. Simple command set


2. Command plus arguments/options
3. Hierarchical command structure
Simple command set

– Each command is chosen to carry out a single task. The number of commands match
the number of tasks.
– For small number of tasks, this can produce a system easy to learn and use.
– MUD commands are simple like look, go, who, quit etc but large number of
commands creates confusion.
– E.g. the vi editor of Unix. Vi Commands employ single letters , shifted single letters,
CTRL key plus single letters.
0 got to start of line
H go to home position
L go to last line
M go to middle line
+ next line
- previous line
$ go to end of line

Command plus options and arguments

• Follow each command by one or more arguments that indicate objects to be


manipulated, e.g.
– COPY FILEA, FILEB
– DELETE FILEA
– PRINT FILEA, FILEB, FILEC
• Commands may be separated from the arguments by a blank space or other delimiters
and arguments may have blanks or delimiters between them.
• Keyword labels for arguments are helpful for some users,

COPY FROM=FILEA TO=FILEB.

Labels require extra typing and thus increase chances of a typo, but readability is
improved, order dependence is eliminated.

• Commands may also have options to indicate special cases, e.g.:


– PRINT/3,HQ FILEA
– PRINT (3, HQ) FILEA
– PRINT FILEA -3, HQ
• to produce 3 copies of FILEA on the printer in the headquarters building.
• Error rates and the need for extensive training increase with the number of possible
options.

Hierarchical command structure

• The set of command is organized into a tree structure, like a menu tree.
• First level can be command action, second can be object argument, third might be
a destination argument.
•Hierarchical structure imposes a meaningful structure to a large number of
commands. 5x3x4 = 60 tasks with 5 command names and 1 rule of formation
• Command-menu approach can be developed to aid the novice or intermittent user.
Action Object Destination
CREATE File File
DISPLAY Process Local printer
REMOVE Directory Screen
COPY Remote printer
MOVE

The Benefits of Structure

• Human learning, problem solving, and memory are greatly facilitated by


meaningful structure.
• If command language are well organized , then users can recognize the structure
and can easily encode it in their semantic-knowledge storage.
• Meaningful structure is beneficial for
– task concepts
– computer concepts
– syntactic details of command languages
• An explicit list of design conventions in a guidelines document can be an aid to
designers and managers.
• Users can learn systems that contain inconsistencies but at a slower rate.
– Consistent argument ordering
– Symbols versus keywords
– Hierarchical structure and congruence

1. Consistent Argument Ordering

• There are benefits associated with using a consistent order for arguments.
• Users perform faster with consistent argument ordering.

Inconsistent order of arguments Consistent order of arguments

SEARCH file no, message id SEARCH message id, file no

TRIM message id, segment size TRIM message id, segment size

REPLACE message id, code no REPLACE message id, code no

INVERT group size, message id INVERT message id, group size


2. Symbols Versus Keywords

• Command structure affects performance.


• It is shown that keyword editors are more favored compared to symbol editor

Symbol Editor Keyword Editor

FIND:/TOOTH/;-1 BACKWARD TO "TOOTH"

LIST;10 LIST 10 LINES

RS:/KO/,/OK/;* CHANGE ALL "KO" TO "OK"

3. Hierarchical Structure and Congruence

 Problem-solving tasks are best with congruent forms (meaningful pair of


opposites, symmetry) and error rates are reduced drastically
 Congruence helps subjects to remember the natural pairs of concepts and terms.
 Sources of structure that have proved advantageous include:
o Positional consistency
o Grammatical consistency
o Congruent pairing
o Hierarchical form
 A hierarchical structure can accommodate the full set of commands.
 Better retention rate

Naming and Abbreviations


• There is often a lack of consistency or obvious strategy for construction of
command abbreviations.
• Usual strategies include first few letters, first few consonants, first and final letter
or first letter of each word in a phrase. Eg: mkdir, cd, rm, ls, pwd etc
• Abbreviations with no perceivable pattern are even worst.
• Rules for naming and abbreviations:

– Specificity versus generality


– Abbreviation strategies
– Guidelines for using abbreviations
– Command menus and keyboard shortcuts

1. Specificity Versus Generality

• Command Names are important for learning, problem solving and retention over
time.
• Specificity versus generality: Specific terms can be more descriptive than
general ones are, and if they are more distinctive, they may be more memorable.
General terms may be more familiar and therefore easier to accept.
• Below table, 2 commands: for inserting and deleting text are shown in 7 versions.
“Infrequent, discriminating” command set resulted in faster learning and superior
recall. General words were correlated with least performance, nonsense words did
well.

Infrequent, discriminating words insert delete


Frequent, discriminating words add remove
Infrequent, nondiscriminating words amble perceive
Frequent, nondiscriminating words walk view
General words (frequent, nondiscriminating) alter correct
Nondiscriminating nonwords (nonsense) GAC MIK
Discriminating nonwords (icons) abc-adbc abc-ab

2. Six Potential Abbreviation Strategies

• Command names should be in harmony with the mechanism for expressing the
commands to the computer.
• Brevity of commands is preferred for speed and error rate reduction.
• Abbreviations are preferred by experienced users compared to novice users.
• Six potential abbreviation strategies are employed:

1. Simple truncation: The first, second, third, etc. letters of each command
are used. This strategy requires that each command be distinguishable by
the leading string of characters. Abbreviations can be of same length or
different.
2. Vowel drop with simple truncation: Eliminate vowels and use some of
what remains. If first letter is a vowel, it may or may not be retained.
H,Y,W may/may not be considered as vowels.
3. First and last letter: Since the first and last letters are highly visible, use
them. Example, ST for SORT
4. First letter of each word in a phrase: Use the popular acronym
technique, for example: with a hierarchical design plan.
5. Standard abbreviations from other contexts: Use familiar
abbreviations. For example: QTY for QUANTITY, XTALK for
CROSSTALK,PRT for PRINT.
6. Phonics: Focus attention on the sound. For example: ZQT for execute.
3. Guidelines for using abbreviations

Ehrenreich and Porcu (1982) offer this set of guidelines:

1. A simple primary rule should be used to generate abbreviations for most


items; a simple secondary rule should be used for those items where there is a
conflict.
2. Abbreviations generated by the secondary rule should have a marker (for
example, an asterisk) incorporated in them.
3. The number of words abbreviated by the secondary rule should be kept to a
minimum.
4. Users should be familiar with the rules used to generate abbreviations.
5. Truncation should be used because it is an easy rule for users to comprehend
and remember. However, when it produces a large number of identical
abbreviations for different words, adjustments must be found.
6. Fixed-length abbreviations should be used in preference to variable-length
ones.
7. Abbreviations should not be designed to incorporate endings (ING, ED, S).
8. Unless there is a critical space problem, abbreviations should not be used in
messages generated by the computer and read by the user.

4. Command menus and keyboard shortcuts

 Command menu is a format where a brief prompt of available commands


are presented to the users to relieve the burden of memorization of
commands.
o Experienced users: do not read the prompts or help screens due to
familiarity with commands.
o Intermittent users: Refer prompt to jog the memories for syntax
retention.
o Novice users: Do not benefit much from prompt, need training
course.
 Keyboard shortcuts in GUI are a kind of command menu for experienced
users. For example: Windows XP supports keyboard shortcuts for all
operations.

H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit

/=search [delete]=history list


 Command-language guidelines

Natural Language in Computing


• Lot of research is happening in the field of machine interaction through natural
language. Discover the users, tasks, interface designs for which natural language
applications are most beneficial.
• Structured text like weather reports are translatable, technical papers are
marginally translatable, complete documents like novels etc are not easily
translatable.
• Machine translation software help in quick translation of web pages but not so
accurate.
• Multilingual search engines: users type the query keywords in one language and
gets appropriate search results in many language.
– Natural-language interaction
– Natural-language queries and question answering
– Text-database searching
– Natural-language text generation
– Adventure games and instructional systems

Natural-language interaction

• Natural language interaction (NLI) is defined as the operation of computers by


people using a familiar natural language (like English) to give instructions and
receive responses.
• With NLI users don’t have to learn command syntax or to select from menus.
• The problems with NLI is not only implementation on computer but also
desirability for large numbers of users for a wide variety of tasks.
• OAI models can be used for habitability of the user interface ie how users can
know what objects and actions are appropriate.
• NLI can be effective for intermittent users who are knowledgeable about specific
tasks and interface concepts but have difficulty retaining the syntactic details of
the interface.
• Linguistic analysis where extraction of keywords and sentences happens to give
the result for the query given in a language.
• NLI work has turned to automatic speech recognition and speech generation to
reduce the barriers to acceptance.

Natural-language queries and question answering

• Natural-language queries (NLQ) has limited advantage compared to relational


databases.
• The relational schemes that contain attribute names, database contains attribute
values both are helpful in disambiguating queries.
• Study of NLQ and SQL database showed advantages of SQL in real systems.
• INTELLECT in 1980s was used to search databases on a regular basis. It had a
parser that used the contents of the database to parse queries. System
administrator could conveniently include guidance for handling domain-specific
request, by indicating fields related to where, when, why, how, who, what queries.
INTELLECT rephrased the user queries and displayed responses such as PRINT
THE CHECK NUMBERS WITH PAYEE= XYZ. So response was structured and
helps knowledgeable intermittent users.
• Q&A from Symantec, provided rapid, effective query interpretation and execution
on IBM PCS in late 1980.It was packaged with word-processors, database, form-
fillin facilities.
• Microsoft’s 1999 SQL Server, called English Query allowed natural-language
database queries, provided a restatement to help users interpret the results,
presented a tabular output.
• Natural language question answering (NLQA) is a variant notion where users
prepare fact questions and later systems provided a set of web pages in which
users can hunt for answer.

Text-database searching

• Text-database searching is a growing application for natural language enthusiasts


who have developed filters and parsers for queries expressed in natural language.
• More realistic and typical scenarios are for parsers to eliminate noise words ( the,
of, in) providing stemming (plurals or alternate endings) and produce a relevance-
ranked list of documents based on term frequencies.
• Many search tools on world wide web (Lycoa,Google,AltaVista) use natural-
language techniques , such as stemming, relevance ranking by word-frequency
analysis, latent semantic indexing, filtering of common words.
• Another application with textual database is extraction, in which natural language
parser analyzes the stored text and creates a more structured format, such as
relational database. Parsing can be done once in advance to structure the entire
database and to speed searches when users pose relational queries.
• Extraction is easier than the task of writing a natural-language summary of a long
document as summaries must capture the essence of the content and convey it
accurately in a compact manner.
• A variant task is to make categories of documents based on contents .Only a
modest rate of errors would be tolerable.

Natural-language text generation

• Natural-language text generation (NLTG) includes simple tasks, such as


preparation of structured weather reports as well as generation of complex full-
length stories with rich character development.
• Generated reports from structured databases can be sent out automatically, while
timely spoken reports can be made available over the telephone in multiple
languages.
• NLTG are applied in preparation of reports of medical laboratories or
psychological tests.
• Computer generates not only the readable reports but also warnings,
recommendations.
• Also NLTG is applied in creation of legal contracts, wills, business proposals.
• Computer generation of poems and novels are also the points of discussion.

Adventure games and instructional systems

• NLI are found its widespread application in variety of computer-based adventure


games.
• Users may indicate directions of movement for example or type commands such
as TAKE ALL OF THE KEYS, OPEN THE GATE,PICK UP THE SWORD,
DROP THE CAGE etc.
• The system in such adventure games is unpredictable and some exploration is
necessary to discover the proper incantation.
• Natural language is used for instructional tutorials, providing feedback and
guidance.
• Advanced instructional systems have been developed to teach and guide students
through the learning process by presenting challenges and providing feedback in
conversational natural language.
• Example includes AutoTutor system where the instructional conversation happens
between an onscreen anthropomorphic character and a student.
Unit 5 Chapter 9: Interaction Devices
Introduction

 The remarkable progress in computer-processor speeds and storage capabilities


are matched by improvements in many input/output devices.
 QWERTY keyboards are primary device for text input, pointing devices like
mouse and touchscreen improve user performance.
 More gestural input, two-handed input, three-dimensional pointing devices, voice
input/output, wearable devices like data gloves, eye-trackers are the future of
computing.
 Speech recognizers are increasingly being used in telephone-based applications.
 Color displays for desktop, laptops, mobile devices, digital cameras with LCD are
latest technologies for small and large displays.
 Low-cost color printers are in great demand.
 Multimodal interfaces which combine several modes of input and output will
contribute to universal usability.
 Context-aware computing in mobile devices will use the location information
from GPS satellites, cell phone sources, and wireless connections. This
information will allow users to receive information about nearby venues like
restaurant, museum or printers to connect to.

Keyboard and Keypads

 The primary mode of textual data entry is keyboard.


 Beginners speed is less than 1 keystroke per second, average office worker has
rate of 5 keystrokes per second and may achieve up to 15 keystrokes per second.
 Contemporary keyboards permit only one key press at a time , dual key presses
are used to produce capital (SHIFT plus a letter) and special functions like (CTRL
or ALT plus a letter).
 For rapid data entry, chord keyboards can be used that allows several keys to be
pressed simultaneously to represent several characters or word.
 Keyboard size and packaging influence user satisfaction and usability. Large
keyboards give professionalism and complexity but threaten novice users. Small
keyboards lack power to some users but its compact size attracts mobile devices.
 One-handed keyboards help in simultaneous data entry and physical object
manipulations. Handkey Twiddler combines chord keyboard and track point
pointing devices and can be used with one hand.
 Adjustable keyboards that tilt forward or back, that split in the middle to reduce
stressful ulnar abduction.
 Tiny keyboards on mobile devices with combinations of static and dynamically
labeled keys help in foldable or virtual keyboards.
Keyboard Layouts

QWERTY layout

 In 1870, by Christopher Latham Sholes


 good mechanical design and a clever placement of the letters that slowed down
the users enough that key jamming was infrequent
 put frequently used letter pairs far apart, thereby increasing finger travel distances

Dvorak layout

 In 1920
 reduces finger travel distances by at least one order of magnitude
 Increases the typing rate of expert typists form 150 to more than 200 words per
minute, while reducing errors.
 Acceptance has been slow despite the dedicated efforts.
 it takes about 1 week of regular typing to make the switch with Dvorak layout, but
most users have been unwilling to invest the effort.

ABCDE style

 In this style, 26 letters of the alphabet are laid out in alphabetical order.
 Non-typists will find it easier to locate the keys
 Not much advantageous compared to QWERTY style.

Additional keyboard issues

 Placement of non-alphabetic keys on full size keyboards: Overall size is important


compared to consistent placement of less often keys like HOME, INSERT.
 Number pad layout to follow telephone layout (1-2-3 keys on top row) or
calculator layout (7-8-9 keys on top row).
 IBM PC keyboard was widely criticized because of the placement of a few keys
o backslash key where most typists expect SHIFT key
o placement of several special characters near the ENTER key
 Wrist and hand placement for ergonomic factors led to new redesigned keyboards.
These keyboards had separated keys for left and right hands which led to lower
reported tension, better posture. However, visual scanning is disrupted in such
cases.
 For disabled people, KeyBowl’s orbiTouch keyless keyboard replaces the keys
with 2 inverted bowls, so no finger or wrist movement is required.
 Dasher which predicts probable characters and words as users make their
selections in a continuous 2-dimensional stream of choices.

KEYS

 1/2 inch square keys


 1/4 inch spacing between keys
 slight concave surface
 matte finish to reduce reflective glare and finger slippage
 40- to 125-gram force to activate
 3 to 5 millimeters displacement
 tactile and audible feedback important
 certain keys should be larger (e.g. ENTER, SHIFT, CTRL) to allow easy ,
reliable access.
 some keys require state indicator, such as lowered position or light indicator (e.g.
CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK)
 key labels should be large, meaningful, permanent
 Large –print keyboards for vision-impaired users, discrete color coding of keys
for pleasant, informative layout.
 some "home" keys may have additional features, such as deeper cavity or small
raised dot, to help user locate their fingers properly (caution - no standard for this)

Function keys

 Function keys are for special functions or programmed functions.


 Simply labeled F1…F10, though some may also have meaningful labels, such as
CUT, COPY, etc.
 users must either remember each key's function, identify them from the screen's
display, or use a template over the keys in order to identify them properly
 can reduce number of keystrokes and errors
 lights next to keys used to indicate availability of the function, or on/off status
 frequent movement between keyboard home position and mouse or function keys
can be disruptive to use
 alternative is to use closer keys (e.g. ALT or CTRL) and one letter to indicate
special function

Cursor movement keys

 usually 4 keys: up, down, left, right ,


 some keyboards also provide diagonal movements using 8 cursor movement keys.
 inverted-T positioning allows users to place their middle three fingers in a way
that reduces hand and finger movement
 cross arrangement better for novices than linear or box
 important for form-fillin and direct manipulation
 other movements may be performed with other keys, such as TAB (larger jumps),
END(cursor to bottom right), HOME(cursor to top left), etc.
 Accelerators like CTRL with up, down, left, right key presses to jump a word or
paragraph.
 Auto-repeat features, repetition occurs automatically with continued depression, is
useful for adults, young users, users with motor impairments.
Keyboards and keypads for small devices

 Wireless or foldable keyboards: Keyboards with small size and can be


disconnected from main device using wireless or foldable keyboards.
 Virtual keyboards: A projector displays the image of the keyboard on a flat
surface and a sensor tracks finger movements. It accommodates a variety of
keyboard size and international variations.
 Cloth keyboards: Introduced by ElekSen, they can take any shape, folded easily,
lack adequate tactile feedback for touch typing.
 Softkeys: These dynamic keys functions are dependent on status and
context.They are located immediately below display (SELECT or EXIT keys).
 MultiTap requires users to hit a number key multiple times to specify a letter and
to pause between letters using same key.
 Predictive techniques like T9 by Tegic Commn. And LetterWise use dictionary
based disambiguation and use probabilities of prefixes and facilities the entry of
non-dictionary words like abbreviations.
 Pen and TouchScreens: Handheld devices completely abandon keyboards and
rely on pointing and drawing devices for all text entry. Users tap on virtual
keyboard using pen. Touch-sensitive surface is used to write using stylus, but
character recognition is error prone. Palm Graffiti employs gesture data-entry
methods using unistroke recognition.
 EdgeWrite: Designed for people with disabilities, old adult, young children,.It
relies on use of a physical border to frame the drawing area and uses a modified
character set that can be recognized by identifying the series of corners being hit
instead of the pattern of the pen stroke.

Pointing Devices

Pointing devices are mainly used in direct manipulation approaches. The main
advantages include

– User can avoid learning command


– Reduces the typographic errors on a keyboard
– User attention on the display only
– Faster performance
– Few errors, easier learning
– Higher satisfaction

Pointing devices are applicable in six types of interaction tasks:

1. Select:

 user chooses from a set of items.


 used for traditional menu selection, identification of a file in a directory, or
marking of a part in an automobile design.
2. Position:

 user chooses a point in a one-, two-, three-, or higher-dimensional space


 used to create a drawing, to place a new window, or to drag a block of text in a
figure.

3. Orient:

 user chooses a direction in a two-, three-, or higher-dimensional space.


 direction may simply rotate a symbol on the screen, indicate a direction of motion
for a space ship, or control the operation of a robot arm.

4. Path:

 user rapidly performs a series of position and orient operations.


 may be realized as a curving line in a drawing program, the instructions for a
cloth cutting machine, or the route on a map.

5. Quantify:

 user specifies a numeric value.


 usually a one-dimensional selection of integer or real values to set parameters,
such as the page number in a document, the velocity of a ship, or the amplitude of
a sound.

6. Text:

 user enters, moves, and edits text in a two-dimensional space. The


 pointing device indicates the location of an insertion, deletion, or change.
 more elaborate tasks, such as centering; margin setting; font sizes; highlighting,
such as boldface or underscore; and page layout.

Pointing devices are grouped into Direct and Indirect pointing devices.
o Direct control devices
 direct control on screen surface
 Easy to learn and use, but hand may obscure display
 Lightpen, Touchscreen, stylus
o Indirect control devices
 indirect control away from screen surfaces
 It eliminates the hand-fatigue and hand-obscuring-the-screen
problems.
 However, they require the hand to locate the device and demand
more cognitive processing, hand/eye coordination to bring the
onscreen cursor to the desired target.
 Takes time to learn
 mouse, trackball,joystick,trackpoint, graphics tablet, touchpad
o Novel devices and strategies (Special purpose)
 Foot controls, Eye tracking, 3D trackers, Data gloves, Boom
Chameleon, Haptic feedback ,Bimanual input, Tangible user
interfaces, Digital paper
o Criteria for success
 Speed and accuracy
 Efficiency for task
 Learning time
 Cost and reliability
 Size and weight

Direct-control pointing devices

1. Lightpen
– enabled users to point to a spot on a screen and the press a button to
perform a select, position, or other task
– Lightpen has three disadvantages
• users' hands obscured part of the screen
• users had to remove their hands from the keyboard to pick up the
Lightpen
• Lightpen was too fragile for public-access environments.
2. TouchScreen
– It is robust and does not require picking up an external device.
– It allows users to make direct-control touches on the screen with a finger.
– Arm fatigue problem can be addressed with good kiosk design by tilting
the screen , providing surface to rest the arm.
– Early touch screen were implemented based on land-on strategy which had
low precision, imprecise pointing.
– Later implementations are based on lift-off strategy that enables users to
point at a single pixel.
– Lift-off strategy has 3 steps: User touch the surface, then see a cursor that
they can drag to adjust its position; when satisfied, they lift their fingers
off the display to activate.
– Touch Screen can produce varied displays to suit the task and can be
fabricated integrally with display surfaces .
– Touch screen are good for novice users, highly durable in high-use
environments, easy for disabled and aged people.
– Multiple-touch touch screens that allows users to use both hands, multiple
users to work together on a shared surface are the future.
3. Stylus
– Tablet PCs and Mobile Devices make it natural to point on the LCD
surface, which can be held in arm or hand, placed on desk, rested on lap.
– Stylus is a familiar device and comfortable for users to select the desired
location.
– Stylus keeps the context in view.
– However, user needs to pick up & put down stylus
– Stylus interfaces (pen based interfaces) support gestures and handwriting
recognition.
– Popular mobile devices like Palm Pilot, Pocket PC employ stylus for pull-
down-menu and direct manipulation strategies.

Indirect pointing devices

Mouse

 It is appealing due to its low cost and wide availability.


 the hand rests in a comfortable position, buttons on the mouse are easily pressed,
even long motions can be rapid, and positioning can be precise with small finger
movement.
 Users must grab the mouse to start the work, desk space is consumed, pickup and
replace actions with mouse require more training.
 Mouse technologies like physical, optical, acoustic, number of buttons, placement
of sensor, weight, size have led to many mouse designs .
 Mouse may incorporate a wheel, additional buttons to support scrolling, web
browsing or special purpose task like adjusting the focus of microscope etc.

Trackball

 Upside-down mouse
 usually implemented as a rotating ball 1 to 15cm in diameter that moves a cursor
on the screen as it is moved.
 Trackball is wear resistant, can be firmly mounted in a desk to allow users to hit
the ball vigorously and to make it spin.
 Trackballs are embedded in control panels for air-traffic-control or video-game
controllers.

Joystick

 Initially used in aircraft-control devices, computer games.


 Many models available with varying stick lengths, thickness, displacement forces
and distances, anchoring etc.
 Joysticks are appealing for tracking purposes because of the relatively small
displacements needed to move a cursor, ease of direction changes, combination of
joystick with additional buttons, wheels and triggers.

Trackpoint

 It is a small isometric joystick, embedded in keyboards between the letters G and


H.
 Sensitive to pressure and does not move. It has rubber tip to facilitate finger
control.
 Easy to train and are useful in word processors that require constant switches
between the keyboards and pointing devices.
 Small size helps in combining with other devices like chord keyboards, mouse for
2d scrolling etc.

Graphics tablet

 a touch-sensitive surface separate from the screen ,usually laid flat on the table or
the user’s lap.
 It is appealing s users hands can remain with the device for long periods without
switching to a keyboard.
 Useful for novice users with its larger surface support to print all available
choices to users.
 Limited data entry can be done with graphics tablet.
 Operated by placement of a finger, pencil, puck or stylus, using acoustic,
electronic, contact position sensing.
 Wireless pens allow a higher freedom and is used for drawing programs.

Touchpad

 Touchpad is a touchable surface of about 5 by 8cm, built-in near the keyboard.


 It offers the convenience and precision of a touch screen while keeping the user's
hand off the display surface.
 Users can make quick movements for long distance traversals and can gently rock
their fingers for precise positioning before lifting off.
 Touchpad can be used with thumbs, normally built in below the keyboard.
 Appealing for portable computers due to its thin profile and immobile parts.

Comparisons of pointing devices

Human-factors variables
 speed of motion for short and long distances
 accuracy of positioning
 error rates
 learning time
 user satisfaction

Other variables
 cost
 durability
 space requirements
 weight
 left- versus right-hand use
 likelihood to cause repetitive-strain injury
 compatibility with other systems
Some results

 Direct pointing devices like lightpen , touch-screen are faster, but less accurate.
 Mouse is appealing due to its speed and accuracy and faster than track point. But
cant be useful for vision impaired users.
 Trackballs and touchpad fall in between. They are durable in public-access,shop-
floor, lab applications.
 Graphics tablets are appealing when user can remain with device for long periods
without switching to keyboard
 Isometric joystick mounted on a mouse improves the performance for web
browsing tasks which involves both scrolling and pointing tasks.
 for tasks that mix typing and pointing, cursor keys a faster and are preferred by
users to a mouse
 muscular strain is low for cursor keys
 Joysticks and trackballs are preferred over mice by motor disabled users.
 Touch-sensitive devices are useful when applying forces is a problem.
 Mouse, trackball, trackpoint, graphictablets, touchpad are effective in pixel-level
pointing.
 Pens are appreciated fro drawing and handwriting.
 Indirect –control pointing devices require more learning than direct-control
devices but offer many useful options.

Fitts's Law

 Fitts’s law is a predictive model of time for the human hand movement,
developed by Paul Fitts in 1954 and has found its great application in user
interface design.
 Fitts’s law would help to decide the location and size of the buttons and other
elements when laying out screens and would indicate which pointing devices are
best suited to perform common tasks.
 Paul Fitts noticed that the time for hand movements was dependent on the
distance users had to move D, the target size, W. Farther away and smaller targets
take longer to point to. Hence
Index of difficulty = log2 (2D / W)
where Index of difficulty is a unitless number but traditionally measured in bits.

 Time to point = C1 + C2 (index of difficulty)


where C1 and C2 and constants that depend on the device

 In addition to gross arm movement predicted by Fitts, there is a fine-tuning


motion of the fingers to move in on small targets such as single pixel. A three-
component equation was thus more suited for the high-precision pointing task:

Time for precision pointing = C1 + C2 (index of difficulty) + C3 log2 (C4 / W)


Time for precision pointing at an object consists of a time for initiation of action
C1, a time for gross movement, time for fine adjustment.
 Effective equation for movement time (MT) for a given device, such as mouse
MT=a + b log2(D/W+1)
where a approximates the start/stop time in seconds for a given device and b
measures the inherent speed of the device, distance users had to move D, the
target size, W.

 Several version of Fitt’s law are used due to differences in direction of motion
(horizontal or vertical), device weight (heavier devices are harder to move),
device grasp, shape of targets, arm position (on a table or in the air).

 In addition to gross arm movement predicted by Fitts, there is a fine-tuning


motion of the fingers to move in on small targets such as single pixel. A three-
component equation was thus more suited for the high-precision pointing task
(PPMT):
PPMT = a + b log2 (D/W+1) + c log2(d/W)
where PPMT consist of start/stop time a, a time for gross movement, and a time
for fine adjustment.

 Fitt’s law is well established for adult users. It models children well for the first
time they enter the target used in performing point and click, but can’t model for
the time of final selection.

Novel Devices

The quest for new ways to engage diverse users for diverse tasks has led to many
innovations. The main aim is to match the task and device, refine the input plus feedback
strategies.

1. Foot controls (foot mouse): Computer users can get benefit from foot mouse for
activating switches and pedals and when the hands are busy with keyboards.
2. Eye-tracking: Gaze-detecting controllers use video-camera image recognition of
the pupil position to give 1 or 2 degree accuracy. It is useful for motor disabled
people.
3. Multiple-degrees-of-freedom devices: Devices can sense multiple dimensions of
spatial position and orientation. Support for virtual reality required 3d input or 6
degrees of freedom to indicate a position and an orientation. Commercial tracking
devices include Logitech 3Dconnexion SpaceBall, Space Mouse, Isotrack etc.
4. DataGlove: The displayed feedback shows the relative placement of each finger,
commands like closed fist, open hand, index-finger pointing, thumbs-up gesture
can be recognized. Combined with hand-tracker complete 3d placement and
orientation can be recorded. Used in games, cyberspace adventures, virtual-
reality. They are made of sleek black spandex with attached fiber-optic sensors to
measure angles of finger joints.
5. Haptic feedback: These technologies enable the user to feel the haptic feedback
of sound and vibrations to feel resistance. It is used mainly in training surgeons
for heart surgery.
6. Bimanual input: It enables multitasking or compound tasks. Theory suggest that
the non dominant hand sets a frame of reference in which the dominant hand
operates in a more precise fashion. An application of bimanual operation for
desktop applications is that the non dominant hands selects actions (fill command
of a paint program) while dominant hand precisely selects the objects of the
operation.
7. Ubiquitous computing and tangible user interfaces: It involves embedding
sensing technologies into the environment. Example Active badges can sense
when a user enters a room which can trigger the loading of personal files into the
room’s computer. Positioning of physical objects can specify modes or trigger
actions.
8. Handheld devices: Mobile devices can be used to communicate with personal
computers, other home appliances, automobiles, etc. Mobile devices can act as
intelligent universal remote controls. Measurand’s ShapeTape, which provides
bend, twist information along a meter tape, allowing the shape of the tape to be
reconstructed in 3d for creating or manipulating curves or for tracking angles of
arms and legs in motion capture applications.

Speech Recognition, Digitization, and Generation

Speech recognition still does not match the fantasy of science fiction:

 demands of user's working memory : Need to support users need to work rapidly
with low cognitive load and low error rates. Speech requires limited resource
usage compared to eye/hand coordination which requires more parallel processing
by brain.
 background noise problematic for speech recognition.
 variations in user speech performance impacts effectiveness for speech
recognition
 most useful in specific applications, such as to benefit handicapped users

1. Speech System

Opportunities

 When users have vision impairments


 When the speaker’s hands are busy
 When mobility is required
 When the speaker’s eye are occupied
 When harsh or cramped conditions preclude use of keyboard

Technologies

 Speech store and forward


 Discrete-word recognition
 Continuous-speech recognition
 Voice information systems
 Speech generation

Obstacles to speech recognition

 Increased cognitive load compared to pointing


 Interference from noisy environments
 Unstable recognition across changing users, environments and time

Obstacles to speech output

 Slow pace of speech output when compared to visual displays


 Ephemeral nature of speech
 Difficulty in scanning/searching

2. Discrete word recognition

 recognize individual words spoken by a specific person; can work with 90 to 98%
reliability for 20 to 200 word vocabularies
 Speaker-dependent training, in which the user repeats the full vocabulary once or
twice. It is highly accurate system.
 Speaker-independent systems are beginning to be reliable enough for certain
commercial applications due to elimination of training.
 been successful in enabling bedridden, paralyzed, or otherwise disabled people to
broaden the horizons of their life
 also useful in applications with at least one of the following conditions:
o speaker's hands are occupied
o mobility is required
o speaker's eyes are occupied
o harsh or cramped conditions preclude use of keyboard
 voice-controlled editor versus keyboard editor
o lower task-completion rate
o lower error rate
 use can disrupt problem solving

3. Continuous-speech recognition

Problem in recognizing continuous speech involves:

 difficulty in recognizing boundaries between spoken words because normal


speech patterns blur boundaries
 diverse accents, variable speaking rates, disruptive background noise, changing
emotional intonation.
 Continuous speech recognition systems enable users to dictate letters and
compose reports verbally for automatic transcription. Review, correction and
revision are usually accomplished with keyboards and displays.
 Continuous speech recognition systems also enable automatic scanning and
retrieval from radio or television programs, court proceeding.
 Indexing of audio and video archives are also facilitated by continuous speech
recognition.
 Voice recognition can be used for identification purposes for security systems.

4. Voice information systems


 Voice information systems like interactive Voice Response (IVR) can provide
good customer service at low cost.
 Slow pace of voice output, ephemeral nature of speech and difficulty in
scanning/searching remain great challenge.
 Voice information systems are used in popular personal voicemail systems. The
telephone based speech systems enable storing forwarding of spoken messages
with user commands entered with keypads.
 Audio recorders are heading towards digital approaches. Audio tours in museums
and audio books are great success.
 Speech store and forward: Voice mail users can receive messages, replay
messages, reply to caller, forward messages to other users, delete messages and
archive messages. Such systems are low cost and reliable.

5. Speech Generation

 Speech Generation is a successful technology with widespread application in


consumer products and on telephones.
 Inexpensive, compact, reliable systems using digitized speech segments (canned
speech) have been used in automobile navigation systems, internet systems,
utility-control rooms, games etc.
 When algorithms are used to generate the sound (synthesis), the intonation may
sound like robotlike and distracting.
 Text-to-speech utilities like Microsoft Windows Narrator can be used to read
passages of text in web browsers and word processors.
 Speech generation for GUI and web based voice applications are useful for vision
–impaired users.
 Standard for voice tagging of web pages (VoiceXML and Speech Application
Language Tags SALT) are developed.
 Michaelis and Wiggins (1982) suggest that speech generation and digitized
segments is "frequently preferable" under these circumstances:

 The message is simple.


 The message is short.
 The message will not be referred to later.
 The message deals with events in time.
 The message requires an immediate response.
 The visual channels of communication are overloaded.
 The environment is too brightly lit, too poorly lit, subject to severe vibration,
or otherwise unsuitable for transmission of visual information.
 The user must be free to move around.

6. Non-speech auditory interfaces

 Apart from speech, auditory outputs, individual audio tones and more complex
information presentation by combinations of sound and music are available.
 Warning or audio alerts to warn the users. Auditory icons like door opening,
liquid pouring etc help reinforce the visual metaphors in GUI.
 Earcons are the abstract sounds such as rising set of tones or sharp loud sound to
draw attention are effective for mobile devices or in control rooms.
 Other sound usage categories include “cartoonified” sounds that exaggerate
aspects of familiar sounds are used in novel ways.
 Auditory web browsers for blind users or telephonic usage have been developed.
Users can hear text and link labels and make selections by key entry.
 Adding music to the user interfaces to heighten drama, draw attention etc.
 Music composition expanded as musical-instrument digital-interface (MIDI)
hardware and software are widely available.

Displays-Small and Large

The display has become the primary source of feedback to the user from the
computer.The display has many important features, including:
• Physical dimensions (usually the diagonal dimension and depth)
• Resolution (the number of pixels available)
• Number of available colors, color correctness
• Luminance, contrast, and glare
• Power consumption
• Refresh rates (sufficient to allow animation and video)
• Cost
• Reliability

Usage characteristics distinguish display devices:


– Portability
– Privacy
– Saliency (need to attract attention)
– Ubiquity (likelihood of being able to locate and use display)
– Simultaneity (number of simultaneous users)
• Mobile phones provide displays for portable and private interaction with the
device.
• Ubiquitous television displays allow social interaction between, multiple users
controlling characters in video games.
• Salient information displays at malls or museums.
• Whiteboard display are used by collaborators to share information, brainstorming
and in make decisions.

1. Display technology

1. Monochrome displays: They are adequate and are attractive because of their lower
cost.
2. RGB shadow-mask displays: These display system consist of small dots of red,
green, and blue phosphors packed closely.
3. Raster-scan cathode-ray tube (CRT): These devices have an electron beam sweeping
out lines of dots to form letters and graphics. They are similar to television monitor.CRT
display have size ranging from 2 inches to 30 inches, refresh rates 30 to 70 per
second.CRT are bulky and are less portable.
4. Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs): In LCDs, voltage changes influence the polarization
of tiny capsules of liquid crystals, turning some spots darker when viewed by reflected
light. LCDs are flicker-free, light weight, thin form and low electricity consumption.
5. Plasma display panels (PDPs): In PDPs, rows of horizontal wires are slightly
separated from vertical wires by small glass-enclosed capsules of neon-based gases.
When horizontal and vertical wires on either side of the capsule receive high voltage, the
gas glows. They have flat profile, consumes more electricity, very bright, visible from
side locations. Hence they are used for wall mounted displays, public displays etc.
6. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs): In LEDs, certain diodes emit light when a voltage is
applied. In this approach, arrays of these small diodes can be assembled to display
characters. Organic LEDs are actively being developed and are energy efficient, can be
laid on flexible plastic or metallic foil.
7. Electronic ink: It has paper like resolution of 80 dots per inch (dpi).It uses tiny
capsules containing negatively charged black particles and positively charged white
particles that can be selectively made visible. Display rate allows animation but no video
displays.
8. Braille displays: These refreshable displays for blind users provide up 80 cells, each
displaying a character. A couple of cells can be mounted on mouse and small displays
can fit above the keyboard.

Health concern
1. Visual fatigue
2. Stress
3. Radiation exposure

2. Large displays

Three main types of large displays:


1. Informational wall displays: Provide shared views to users standing far away
from the display. Used in control rooms to provide overviews of the system being
monitored, details can be retrieved on individual consoles. Wall displays employ
rear-projection techniques. Improved calibration and alignment techniques are
leading to seamless tiled displays
2. Interactive wall displays: Allows users to walk up to the display and interleave
interaction. Simpler digital whiteboards systems like SMART board provide a
large touch-sensitive screen on which a computer image is projected. Colored
pens and digital eraser are used. Collaboration between local or remote users,
managing the recording and reuse of brainstorming information methods using
mobile devices are the opportunities created by interactive wall displays.
3. Multiple desktop displays: Computers to display multiple large number of
windows and documents visible at the same time and within the reach of the
mouse. It is useful for personal creative applications. Also used to facilitate side-
by-side comparisons of documents, software debugging, information visualization
and analysis. Direct manipulation on large displays can become a challenge due to
the distance between the objects. Strategies for automatic windows layout,
coordination among windows, rapid focus switching between windows are
important.

3. Heads-up and helmet-mounted displays

 A heads-up display projects information on a partially silvered windscreen of an


airplane or car, eg so that the pilots or drivers can keep their attention focused on
the surroundings while receiving computer-generated information.
 It consist of small portable monitors made of LCDs in monochrome or color.
 Helmet or Head-mounted displays (HMH) are used in virtual-reality or
augmented-reality applications and allows the user to see information even while
turning their heads. Different models provide varying levels of visual-field
obstruction, audio capabilities, resolutions.
 3D displays are produced using vibrating surfaces, holograms, polarized glasses,
red/blue glasses etc.

4. Mobile device displays

 Mobile devices are usually used for brief, routine tasks except for video games.
Hence it is critical to optimize the design of repetitive tasks like hiding or
eliminating less important tasks.
 Five important actions
o Monitor the dynamic information sources and alert when appropriate
o Gather information from many sources and then spread out information to
many destinations
o Participate in a group and relate to individuals
o Locate services or items that are visible and identify objects that are seen
o Capture information from local resources and share your information with
future users.
 Reading on small screens are improved with rapid serial visual presentation
(RSVP), which displays text dynamically at a constant speed
 Modality translation services, can provide remote service to instant translation
from on e presentation mode to another, anywhere, anytime via mobile devices.
This permits text-to-speech, sign-language, international-language, language-level
translation, print recognition, image/video description services.

5. Animation, image and video

 Accelerated graphics hardware has lead to increasing use of animation, motion


pictures, computer graphics. Many television commercial, station-identification
segments have been constructed by computer animation.
 More information shared and downloaded on the web.
 Scanning of images and OCR: Increased use of images has simulated the need to be
able to scan photos, maps, documents, handwritten notes. Optical character
recognition (OCR) software is included.
 Digital video: First generation of interactive video applications was based on
videodisk sources.
 CDROMS and DVDs are the successors to videodisks. Digital versatile disks (DVDs)
allow storage of high resolution videos.
 Compression and decompression through MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) has
made digital-video internet servers a workable reality.MPEG algorithm can compress
1 second of full-motion video into 150KB.Music compression standards like MPEG
Audio Layer 3 (MP3) is very effective.
 Computer-based video conferencing systems allow users to send images over normal
telephone lines in compressed data formats in a fraction of a second for low-
resolution images and 5-30 sec for high resolution images. Increasing availability of
technology like DSL, cable TV etc enables good-quality images and video to be used
in a wide range of applications.

Printers
These are the important criteria for printers:

 Speed
 Print quality
 Cost
 Compactness
 Quiet operation
 Use of ordinary paper (fanfolded or single sheet)
 Character set
 Variety of typefaces, fonts, and sizes
 Highlighting techniques (boldface, underscore, and so on)
 Support for special forms (printed forms, different lengths, and so on)
 Reliability
 dot-matrix printers
o print more than 200 characters per second, have multiple fonts, can print
boldface, use variable width and size, and have graphics capabilities
 inkjet printers
o offer quiet operation and high-quality output
 thermal printers or fax machines
o offer quiet, compact, and inexpensive output on specially coated papers. It
is still used in fax machines.
 laser printers
o operate at 30,000 lines per minute
 color printers
o allow users to produce hardcopy output of color graphics, usually by an
inkjet approach with three colored and black inks
 photographic printers
o allow the creation of 35-millimeter or larger slides (transparencies) and
photographic prints
 Plotters
o enable output of graphs, barcharts, line drawings, maps on rolls of paper
or sheets up to 100-50cm.
 Braille embossers
o allows printing of text documents, while tactile graphics can be produced
by using thermal paper-expansion machines.
 3-dimensional printers
o allow custom objects to be printed in 3 dimensions. They have been used
to develop prototypes of new devices, to individually adapt existing
devices to users with physical disabilities, to create custom shapes fro
tangible interface.
Unit 6 Chapter 11: Quality of Service

INTRODUCTION

• In 1960s, user perception of computer speed was determined by response time for
mathematical computations, program compilations, database searches.
• With emergence of World Wide Web, graphics, & network congestion affect
response time. Multiple sources of dropped connections, unavailable web sites,
network outages are the main concerns.
• These complex set of concerns are discussed under Quality of Service (QOS).
• Quality of Service stems from the following basic human value
– Time is precious
– Harmful mistakes should be avoided
– Reduce user frustrations
• Lengthy or unexpected system response time can produce:
– Frustration ,Annoyance, Eventual anger
• Speedy and quickly done work can result in users:
 learning less
 reading with lower comprehension
 making more ill-considered decisions
 committing more data-entry errors
 Balancing rapid performance with low error rates is required.
 Long delays cause user frustrations leading to more mistakes.
 Main experience of Quality of Service is computer systems response time.

MODELS OF RESPONSE-TIME IMPACTS

• Response time is the number of seconds it takes from the moment users initiate
an action (usually by pressing an ENTER key or mouse button) until the computer
begins to presents results on the display, printer, loudspeaker, or mobile device.
When the response is completed, user begin formulating the next action.
• User think time is the number of seconds the users think before initiating the
next action.
• According to the simple stages of action model, users 1) initiate 2) wait for the
computer to respond 3) watch while the results appear 4) think for a while and
initiate again.

Simple stages of action model of system response time &user think time
• According to the realistic model of system response time, users plan while
interpreting results, while typing/clicking, and while the computer is generating
results or retrieving information across the network.

Realistic model of system response time, user planning time and user think time.

• Designers of response times and display rates in seeking to provide QOS in


HCI must consider:
– complex interaction of technical feasibility
– cost
– task complexity
– user expectations
– speed of task performance
– error rates
– error handling procedures
– User’s personality differences, fatigue
– User’s familiarity with computers , experience
– motivation
• Overall Productivity not only depends on speed of the interface but also on
human error rate and easy of recovery from those errors.
• Overall majority of users prefer rapid interactions
– Lengthy response times (more than15 seconds) are detrimental to
productivity , increasing error rates and decreasing satisfaction
– Rapid response times (1 second or less) are preferable with increased
productivity but can increase errors for complex tasks
• Display Rate
– Alphanumeric displays: The speed in characters per second (cps) at
which characters appear for the user to read
– World Wide Web Applications: Display rate may be limited by network
transmission speed or server performance.
– Graphics: Are measured in bytes per second. Faster communication lines
with cable modems, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), satellite
connections has reduced the download time
• Reading textual information from a screen is a challenging cognitive and
perceptual task. Users relax when the screen fills instantly- beyond a speed where
someone may feel compelled to keep up.
• Cognitive model of human performance that accounts for the experimental results
in response time would be useful for:
– making predictions
– designing interfaces
– formulating management policies

Limitations of short-term and working memory


• Any cognitive model must emerge from an understanding of human problem-
solving abilities and limitations of short-term and working memory.
• Magic number seven - plus or minus two
– Average person can rapidly recognize 7 chunks of information at a time
– This information can be held for 15-30 seconds in short-term memory
– Size of the chunks depends on the person' s familiarity with the material
• Short-term memory and working memory are used in conjunction for
processing information and problem solving
– Short-term memory processes perceptual input
– Working memory generates and implements solutions
• People learn to cope with complex problems by developing higher-level concepts
using several lower-level concepts brought together into a single chunk.
• Novice at any task tend to work with smaller chunks until they can cluster
concepts into larger chunks. Experts rapidly decompose a complex task into a
sequence of smaller tasks that they can perform.
• Short term and working memory are highly volatile
– Disruptions cause loss of information
– Delays require that memory be refreshed
– Visual distractions or noisy environments interfere with cognitive process
– Anxiety reduces size of available memory
• Solutions to problems must be recorded to memory or implemented , otherwise
chance of error, delay increases when solutions are recorded in long-term
memory , on paper , or devices.
• When using an interactive computer system users may formulate plans and have
to wait for execution time of each step. If a step produces an unexpected result or
if delays are long, then users may forget part of the plan or be forced to review the
plan continually. So a given user and task, there is a preferred response time.
– Longer response time leads to wasted effort , error because the solution
plan must be reviewed repeatedly.
– Shorter response time may cause generate a faster pace in which solution
plans are prepared hastily and incompletely.
• Speed/accuracy tradeoff is apparent in interface design
Paced tasks: Computer forces decisions within a fixed time period,
adding pressure, stress. Appropriate for trained users in life critical
systems where productivity is needed.
• Unpaced tasks: Users decide when to respond and can make relaxed decisions.
• Progress indicators shorten perceived elapsed time and heighten satisfaction:
– graphical indicators
– blinking messages
– numeric seconds left for completion
Conditions for optimum problem solving
• Rapid task performance, low error rates, and high satisfaction can come from:
– Users have adequate knowledge of the objects and actions necessary for
the problem-solving task
– The solution plan can be carries out without delays
– Distractions are eliminated
– User anxiety is low
– There is feedback about progress toward solution
– Errors can be avoided or handled easily
• Other conjectures in choosing the optimum interaction speed
– Novices may exhibit better performance with slower response time
– Novices prefer to work at slower speeds
– With little penalty for an error, users prefer to work more quickly
– When the task is familiar and easily comprehended, users prefer more
rapid action
– If users have experienced rapid performance previously, they will expect
in future situations

Response-time guidelines

• Users prefer shorter response times.


• Longer response times (>15 sec) are disruptive
• Users change usage profiles with response time
• Shorter response time leads to shorter user think time
• A faster pace may increase productivity, but may also increase error rates.
• Error-recovery ease and time influence optimal response time.
• Response time should be appropriate to the task:
– Typing, cursor motion, mouse selection: 50-150millisec
– Simple, frequent tasks:1 sec
– Common tasks:2-4 sec
– Complex tasks:8-12 sec
• Users should be advised of long delays
• Strive to have rapid start-ups
• Modest variability in response time is acceptable.
• Unexpected delays may be disruptive
• Offer users a choice in the pace of interaction.
• Empirical tests can help to set suitable response time

EXPECTATIONS AND ATTITUDE

• Related design issues may clarify the question of acceptable response time
– E.g. how long will users wait for the computer to respond before they
become annoyed
• Two-second limit (Miller, 1968) appropriate for many tasks
• But users have adapted a working style and expectation based on responses within
a fraction of a second
• People can detect 8% changes in a 2-4 second response time
• Three main factors influence users’ expectations and attitudes regarding response-
time:
– Previous experiences
– Individual personality differences
– Task complexity

1. First factor that influences acceptable response time is that people have
established expectations based on their past experience of the time required
to complete a given task.
• If a task is completed more quickly than expected, people will be pleased; but
if task is completed much more quickly than expected, they may become
concerned that something is wrong. If the task is completed much more
slowly than expected, users become frustrated.
• A system is slowed down when the load is light and potential performance
high. When load increases, system response time increases and performance
decreases. Response-time choke makes the response time more uniform over
time and across users, avoiding expectations that can’t always be met.
• Variations in response time can be disruptive to users who have developed
expectations and working styles based on a specific response time.
• Rapid start-up and rapid usage is a important tradeoff.
2. Second factor influencing response-time expectations is the individual’s
tolerance for delays.
• Novice computer users may be willing to wait much longer than an
experienced user.
• The waiting time will vary depending on user personality, cost, age, mood,
cultural context, time of day, noise, perceived pressure to complete work.
3. Third factor influencing response time are the task complexity and users
familiarity with the task.
• Response time across web sites varies and may effects user interest and
quality assessment.

Three conjectures regarding users expectations and attitudes for HCI.


• Individual differences are large and users are adaptive. They will work faster as
they gain experience and will change their working strategies as response time
change. It may be useful to allow people to set their own pace of interaction.
• For repetitive tasks, users prefer and will work more rapidly with short response
time.
• For complex tasks, users can adapt to working with slow response times with no
loss of productivity, but their dissatisfaction increases as response time lengthen.

USER PRODUCTIVITY

• Shorter response times usually lead to higher productivity, but in certain cases,
users who receive longer response time perform concurrent processing or
shortcuts to reduce effort and time to accomplish a task
• Repetitive tasks: Nature of the task has a strong influence on whether changes
in response time alter user productivity. A repetitive control task involves
monitoring a display and issuing commands in response to changes in the display.
• Shorter response time means users responds more quickly, but decisions may not
be optimal.
• Goodman and Spence (1981) experiments for repetitive tasks proved that reduced
response time lead to more productivity.
• Teal and Rudnecky (1992) proved that slower response time lead to more
accuracy
• Problem solving tasks: Users will adapt their work style to the response time.
Users will change their work habits as the response time changes .
• Error rates are a function of response time for complex telephone-circuit layout
task by Barber and Lucas (1983).
• Error rates were lowest with long response time (12 sec) , productivity increased
with shorter times because the system could detect errors and thus users could
rapidly correct them.
• With shorter response time, workers made hasty decisions; with longer response
times, frustration of waiting burdened short-term memory.
• Number of productive transactions (total minus error) increased almost linearly
with reductions in response time.

• Summary
– Users pick up the pace of the system to work more quickly with shorter
response time
– Higher throughput of work demands more attention must be paid to
minimizing the cost of delay of error recovery

VARIABILITY IN RESPONSE TIME

• People are willing to pay substantial amounts of money to reduce the variability
in their life, e.g. insurance
• Unusual fast and slow response of extreme variations in computers should be
prevented or acknowledged by the interface.

• Goodman and Spence (1981)


– Subjects took more advantage of fast response time by making their
subsequent commands immediately and balancing the time lost in waiting
for slower responses
– As variability increased, participants took advantage of fast responses by
entering subsequent commands immediately, balancing the time lost in
waiting for slower responses.
• Modest variations in response time (plus or minus 50% of the mean) appear to be
tolerable and have little effect on performance.
• Frustration merges only if delays are unusually long. Anxiety about an erroneous
command emerges only if the response time is unusually short.
• It may be useful to slow down unexpected fast responses to avoid surprising
users.

FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCES

• QOS is defined in terms of network performance, but another perspective is


think about the quality of user experience. (Ceaparu et al., 2004) shows that
46% to 53% of users’ time was seen as being wasted
• Recommendations for reducing frustration include
– interface redesign
– software quality improvement
– network reliability increase
– increased user learning
– careful use of services
– self-control of user attitudes.
• Three initial strategies can reduce user frustration:
– Reduce short-term and working memory load
– Provide information abundant interfaces
– Increase automaticity
• Automaticity in this context is the processing of information (in response to
stimuli) in a way that is automatic and involuntary, occurring without conscious
control.
• An example is when a user performs a complex sequence of actions with only a
light cognitive load, like a driver following a familiar route to work with little
apparent effort.

Reducing user frustration


1. Increase server capacity, network speed, modem reliability to improve
infrastructure.
2. Improve user training, online help and online tutorials.
3. Redesign instructions and error messages.
4. Protect against spam, viruses and pop-up advertisements: Networked services like
Email have become a common source of frustrating spam. User-controlled spam
filters are not so successful to limit the spam. Users wish to see some limitations
on right to send bulk emails, unsolicited pop-ups tec.
5. Organize consumer protection groups.
6. Increase research on user frustration.
7. Catalyze public discussion to raise awareness.
8. Malicious viruses can destroy data, disrupt the usage and spread the viruses to
other recipients through email. Antivirus software needs to be installed and
updated on the system for effective protection.
Unit 6 Chapter 12. Balancing Function and Fashion
Introduction

User experiences with computer-system prompts, explanations, error diagnostics and


warnings play a critical role in influencing software acceptance.

• Conversational messages modeled by human-human communications have their


limits as computers and people are different.
• Design needs to be comprehensible, predictable, and controllable
• Information layout on display is important for design improvement.
• Multi window coordination can lead to improvement in window management.
• Large, fast, high-resolution color displays have possibilities and challenges for
designers.

Error Messages

• Phrasing of error messages or diagnostic warnings is critical, especially when


dealing with novices.
• Avoid
– Error messages with imperious tone that condemns user can heighten
anxiety leading to more user errors.
– messages that are too generic (e.g. WHAT? or SYNTAX ERROR) offer
little help to most users.
– messages that are too obscure (e.g. FAC RJCT 004004400400)
• For expert users inadequate error messages can create frustrations as experts in
one interface or part of an interface are still novices in many situations.
• Improving error messages is one of the easiest and most effective ways to
improve an existing interface.
• Error-frequency distributions enable interface designers, maintainers to revise
error-handling procedures, improve documentation and training manuals , alter
online help, change permissible actions.

Error Messages guidelines


Product
• Be as specific and precise as possible
• Be constructive: Indicate what the user needs to do.
• Use a positive tone: Avoid condemnation
• Choose user-centered phrasing
• Consider multiple levels of messages
• Maintain consistent grammatical forms, terminology, and abbreviations.
• Maintain consistent visual format and placement.
Process
• Increase attention to message design
• Establish quality control
• Develop guidelines
• Carry out usability tests
• Record the frequency of occurrence for each message.

Bases or Recommendations for preparing error messages


• Specificity
• Constructive guidance and positive tone
• User-centred phrasing
• Appropriate physical format
• Development of effective messages

Specificity

Messages that are too general make it difficult for the novice to know what has gone
wrong.
• Simple, condemning message are frustrating as they don’t provide enough
information about what went wrong nor knowledge to set things right.
• Interfaces that offer an error-code number leading to a paragraph-long explanation
in a manual is annoying because manual may not be available or consulting it may
be disruptive and time-consuming.

Constructive guidance and positive tone

• Messages should, where possible, indicate what users should do to correct the
problem
• Unnecessarily hostile messages using violent terminology can disturb non-
technical users:
– FATAL ERROR, RUN ABORTED
– CATASTROPHIC ERROR: LOGGED WITH OPERATOR
– Negative terms such as ILLEGAL, ERROR, INVALID, BAD should be
eliminated or used infrequently
• Inform the users of the possible alternatives and let them decide. Automatic error
correction would make the user dependent on system alternations and they may
fail to learn to learn syntax.

User-centered phrasing

• “User-centered” suggests that the user controls the interface - initializing more
than responding.
• Designers should avoid negative and condemning tone but should be courteous to
users.
• Brevity of display is required but users should also have control over amount of
information system provides e.g. If standard message is just one line, by keying a
? In command-language interface, users should be able to obtain a few lines of
explanation by keying in ??.
• Other controls include a graphical user interface (GUI) for progression of screen
tips; a HELP button for context-sensitive help or an extensive online user manual.
Appropriate physical layout

• Most users find it easier to read mixed uppercase and lowercase messages.
• Designers should use uppercase-only messages for brief, serious warnings.
• Avoid code numbers; if required, include at end of message, enclosed in
parenthesis
• There is debate over best location of messages. E.g. Message could be placed:
– near where problem arose
– placed in consistent position on bottom of screen
– near to the position where problem arose, but not obscuring relevant
information
• Audio signals like ring or bell can be useful to inform the user about the error that
occurred, but can be embarrassing when other people are in room. Hence audio
signals should be placed under user control.
• Designers should provide control over alternatives

Development of effective messages

• Messages should be evaluated by several people and tested with suitable


participants.
• Messages should appear in user manuals and be given high visibility.
• Users may remember the one time when they had difficulties with a computer
system rather than the 20 times when everything went well

Recommendations to system developers for effective message development

1. Increased attention to message design


2. Establish quality control
3. Develop guidelines
4. Carry out usability tests
5. Record the frequency of occurrence for each message

1. Increased attention to message design: Wording of the messages should be


considered carefully to improve clarity and consistency.
2. Establish quality control: Quality-control committee consisting of programmers,
users and human factors specialists should approve messages. Changes or
additions should be monitored and recorded.
3. Develop guidelines: Be specific and precise as possible.
 Have a positive tone
 Be specific and address the problem in the user's terms
 Place the users in control of the situation
 Have a neat, consistent, and comprehensible format
4. Carry out usability tests: System messages should undergo usability testing.
Tests can range from rigorous experiments with realistic situations to an informal
reading and review by interested users. Iterative testing and evolutionary
refinement should be conducted.
5. Record the frequency of occurrence for each message: Frequency counts
should be collected for each error condition. This count can be used to revise error
messages, improve training, modify manual or change the interface. Error-
counting option is useful for internal systems and can be a marketing feature for
software products.

Nonanthropomorphic Design

Reasons for using nonanthropomorphic phrasing:


• Attributions of intelligence, autonomy, free will, etc can deceive, confuse, and
mislead users.
• It is important to clarify differences between people and computers. Relationships
with people are different from relationships with computers.
• users and designers must accept responsibility for misuse of computers
• Although anthropomorphic interface may be attractive to some people, but it can
produce anxiety in other users.
• computers can make people feel dumb
• computers should be transparent and support concentrating on the task in hand
• Anthropomorphic interfaces may distract users from their tasks and waste
their time as they consider how to please or be socially appropriate to the
onscreen character.
• The mature technology should avoid Mumford's obstacle of animism.
• Microsoft’s ill-fated Clippet character was intended
to provide help suggestions. Some got amused, but many got annoyed. It had
disruptive interference and lacked appropriate emotional expressions.
• Web-based news reader Ananova fell into disuse.
• Elaborate computer-generated face was compared with 3d arrows in guiding user
attention in card games. Face was entertaining but arrows were useful.
• Animated characters increase anxiety and reduce performance especially for users
with an external locus of control.
• The issue of pronoun usage can be resolved with alternative solutions like using 3rd-
person singular pronouns or to avoid pronouns altogether.
• Advocates of anthropomorphic interfaces suggest that they may be most useful as
teachers, salespeople, therapists, or entertainment figures
• An alternative design is to present a human author of a package through prerecorded
audio or video
Guidelines for avoiding anthropomorphism
• Be cautious in presenting computers as people either with synthesized or
cartoon characters.
• Design comprehensible, predictable, and controllable interfaces.
• Use appropriate humans for audio or video introductions or guides.
• Use cartoon characters in games or children’s software, but usually not
elsewhere
• Provide user-centered overviews for orientation and closure.
• Do not use 'I' pronouns when the computer responds to human actions.
• Use "you" to guide users, or just state facts.
Display Design

• Effective display designs must provide all the necessary data in the proper
sequence to carry out the task.
• Dense or cluttered displays can provoke anger, inconsistent formats can inhibit
performance.
• Meaningful groupings of items ( with labels suitable to the users knowledge),
consistent sequences of groups, orderly formats all support task performance.
• Groups can be surrounded by blank spaces or boxes.
• Related items can be indicated by highlighting, background shading, color, or
special fonts.
• Within a group, orderly formats can be made by left or right justification.
• Field Layout
• Empirical results
• Display-complexity metrics

Mullet and Sano's 6 categories of principles that reveal the complexity of designer’s task
or design principles:
1. Elegance and Simplicity: unity, refinement and fitness
2. Scale, Contrast, and Proportion: clarity, harmony, activity, and restraint
3. Organization and Visual Structure: grouping, hierarchy, relationship,
and balance
4. Module and Program: focus, flexibility, and consistent application
5. Image and Representation: immediacy, generality, cohesiveness, and
characterization
6. Style: distinctiveness, integrity, comprehensiveness, and appropriateness

1. Field layout

 Exploration with a variety of layouts can be a helpful process. The design


alternatives should be developed directly on a display screen.
 Blank spaces and separate lines can distinguish fields.
 Names in chronological order, alignment of dates, familiar date separators would
help in recognition of data.
 Labels are helpful for all but frequent users.
 Mixed upper and lower case letters can be used for labels to distinguish them
from record information. Boldfacing can be used.
 If boxes are available they can be used to make a more appealing display, but they
consume screen space.
 Specify the date format (Month-Day-Year) for international audiences
 Other coding categories – background shading, color, and graphic icons
 Pilot testing with prospective users can yield subjective satisfaction scores,
objective times to complete tasks and error rates for a variety of proposed
formats.
2. Empirical results

 Structured form is superior to narrative form.


 Early studies with alphanumeric displays gave way to display guidelines and
predictive metrics.
 Improving data labels, clustering related information, using appropriate
indentation and underlining, aligning numeric values, and eliminating extraneous
characters improves performance.
 performance times improve with fewer, denser displays for expert users .
 screen contents should contain only task-relevant information .
 consistent location, structure, and terminology across displays important .
 sequences of displays should be similar throughout the system for similar tasks.

3. Display-complexity metrics

• Although knowledge of the users’ tasks and abilities is key to designing effective
screen displays, objective and automatable metrics of screen complexity are
attractive aids
• Tullis (1997) developed four task-independent metrics for alphanumeric displays:
– Overall Density
– Local Density
– Grouping
– Layout Complexity

• Overall density: The number of filled character spaces as a percentage of total


spaces available.
• Local density: The average number of filled character spaces in a 5-degree visual
angle around each character, expressed as a percentage of available spaces in the
circle and weighted by distance from the character.
• Grouping:
– The number of groups of “connected” characters, where a connection is
any pair of characters separated by less than twice the mean of the
distances between each character and its nearest neighbor.
– The average visual angle subtended by groups and weighted by number of
characters in the group.
• Layout Complexity: It is the complexity of the distribution of horizontal and
vertical distances of each label and data item from a standard point on the display.
• Sears (1993) developed a task-dependent metric called layout appropriateness to
assess whether the spatial layout is in harmony with the users’ tasks
• If users can accomplish frequent tasks by moving through a display in a top-to-
bottom pattern, then faster performance is likely compared to that with a layout
that requires numerous jumps around widely separated parts of the display.
• Layout appropriateness is a widget-level metric that deals with buttons, boxes and
lists.
Window Design

• Users need to consult multiple sources rapidly


• Must minimally disrupt user's task
• With large displays, eye-head movement and visibility are problems
• With small displays, windows too small to be effective
• Need to offer users sufficient information and flexibility to accomplish task, while
reducing window housekeeping actions, distracting clutter, eye-head movement
– opening, closing, moving, changing size
– time spent manipulating windows instead of on task
• Can apply direct-manipulation strategy to windows
• Rooms - a form of window macro that enables users to specify actions on several
windows at once
– Coordinating multiple windows
– Image browsing
– Personal role management
1. Coordinating multiple windows
– Designers may break through to the next generation of window managers
by developing coordinate windows, in which windows appear, change
contents, and close as a direct result of user actions in the task domain.
– Such sequences of actions can be established by designers, or by users
with end-user programming tools.
– Coordination is a task concept that describes how information objects
change based on user actions.A careful study of user tasks can lead to
task-specific coordination based on sequences of actions.
– Important coordination:
• Synchronized scrolling
• Hierarchical browsing
• Opening/closing of dependent windows
• Saving/opening of window state
• Synchronized scrolling: A simple coordination is synchronized scrolling in
which the scroll bar of one window is coupled to another scroll bar and action on
one scroll bar causes the other to scroll the associated window contents in parallel.
It compares 2 versions of a document, synchronizes line-for-line basis.
• Hierarchical browsing: Coordinated windows can be used to support
hierarchical browsing. It is implemented in Windows Explorer to browse the
hierarchy of directories, in outlook to browse folders of emails.

2. Image browsing
 A two-dimensional cousin of hierarchical browsing enables users to work
with large images, circuit diagrams, photos etc.
 Users see the overview in one window (context), detail in another
window(focus).
 They can move a field-of-view box in the overview.
 Panning in the detail view should change the field of view box
 Matched aspect ratios between field of view box and the detail view
should be provided.
 The magnification from the overview to the detail view is called the zoom
factor. When zoom factors are from 5-30, coordinated overview and
detail view pair are effective; for larger suggests an intermediate view is
needed.
 Side by side placement of overview and detail views is the most common
layout.
 Zoom-and-replace approach is simple to implement and provides maximal
screen space for each view; but denies users from viewing overview and
detail view at the same time.
 Fisheye view , the focus area is magnified to show detail, while preserving
the context, all in a single display. This approach is visually appealing, but
can be disorienting and the zoom factor may not exceed 5 value.
 The design of image browsers should be governed by the users’ tasks,
which can be classified as follows:
• Image generation: Paint a large image.
• Open-ended exploration: Browse to gain understanding of image.
• Diagnostics: Scan for flaws
• Navigation: Knowledge of overview and details along.
• Monitoring: Watch overview, when problem occurs zoom in on
details.

• Personal role management


– A role centered design emphasizes the users’ tasks rather than the
applications and documents
• Vision statement
• Set of people
• Task hierarchy
• Schedule
• Set of documents
– It would improve support for individuals in managing their multiple roles.
– A personal role manager would improve performance and reduce
distraction while user is working in a given role. Each role has a set of
people, a task hierarchy, a schedule and a set of documents.
– Screen management is one of key functions of the personal role manager.
– The requirements for personal role management include:
– Support a unified framework for information organization according to
users' roles
– Provide a visual, spatial layout that matches tasks
– Support multi-window actions for fast arrangement of information
– Support information access with partial knowledge of its nominal, spatial,
temporal, and visual attributes and relationships to other pieces of
information.
– Allow fast switching and resumption among roles
– Free user's cognitive resources to work on task domain actions rather than
interface domain actions.
– Use screen space efficiently and productively for tasks.

Color

• Color displays are attractive to users and can often improve task performance.
• Color makes video games attractive, conveys more information on power-plant,
necessary for realistic images of people,3-dimensional objects etc.
• Color can
– Soothe or strike the eye
– Add accents to an uninteresting display
– Facilitate subtle discriminations in complex displays
– Emphasize the logical organization of information
– Draw attention to warnings
– Evoke string emotional reactions of joy, excitement, fear, or anger

Guidelines for using colors

• Use color conservatively: Use the same color for all menu items, title in second
color, instructions in third color, error messages in 4th color. Another approach is
to use black letters on a white background, with italics or bold for emphasis and to
reserve color for special highlighting.
• Limit the number and amount of colors: It is advised to use only 4 colors in a
single display, and upto 7 colors in the entire sequence of displays. Experienced
users may prefer large number of color codes, but for novice users too many color
codes can cause confusion.
• Recognize the power of color as a coding technique: Color speeds recognition
for many tasks. Example; in air-traffic control, high-flying planes might be coded
differently from low-flying planes to facilitate recognition. In programming
workstations, keywords are color-coded differently from variables.
• Ensure that color coding should support the task: Designers should attempt to
make a close linkage between user’s tasks and color coding, and offer users
control where possible
• Color coding should appear with minimal user effort: Color coding should
appear automatically instead of done manually by user every time they perform
the task.
• Color coding should be under user control: When appropriate, user should be
able to turn off color coding.
• Design for monochrome first: Primary goal of a designers is to layout the
contents in a logical pattern. Related fields can be shown by similar structural
pattern. It is better to design for monochrome because color displays may not be
universally available.
• Consider the needs of color-deficient users: Readability of colors by color
impaired and color blind people. ColorBrewer offers guidelines on color schemes
for color deficient users.
• Color can help in formatting: Similar colors can be used to group related items
and dissimilar colors can be used to distinguish physically close but logically
distinct fields.
• Be consistent in color coding: Use the same color-coding scheme throughout the
system. Users tend to apply meaning to each color change, hence it should be
consistent throughout for similar patterns.
• Be alert to common expectations about color codes: Designers need to talk to
users to determine what color codes are applied in the task domain. Indicate the
color-code interpretations on the display or in a help panel.
• Be alert to problems with color pairings: color pairing like saturated red and
blue display at the same time would be challenging for the users to read. Too little
contrast also is a problem. Careful test for various text and background colors are
necessary.
• Use color changes to indicate status changes: Color acts as a way to get
attention. It is valuable when there are hundreds of values displayed continuously.
• Use color in graphic displays for greater information density: In graphs with
multiple plots, color can be helpful in showing which line segments form the full
graph.

Benefits of using color

• Various colors are soothing or striking to the eye.


• Color can improve an uninteresting display.
• Color facilitates subtle discriminations in complex displays.
• A color code can emphasize the logical organization of information.
• Certain colors can draw attention to warnings.
• Color coding can evoke more emotional reactions to joy, excitement, anger.

Dangers of using color

• Color pairings may cause problems.


• Color fidelity may degrade on other hardware.
• Printing or conversion to other media may be a problem.
Unit 7
Chapter13 User Manuals, Online Help, and Tutorials
Introduction

• When it comes to learning about computer systems many people experience


anxiety, frustration, and disappointment
• Even though increasing attention is being paid to improving interface design,
complex systems can still benefit from both paper and online help

Many forms of traditional paper user manuals:

 Installation manual with step-by-step instructions to set up application


 Brief getting-started notes to enable eager first-time users to try out features
 Introductory tutorial to explain common features
 Thorough tutorial that covers typical and advanced features
 Quick reference card with a concise presentation of the syntax
 Conversation manual that introduces the features of the system to the
knowledgeable users
 Detailed reference manual

Some of the Online materials variations are

 Online manual : An electronic form of comprehensive paper manuals that cover


the interface features. Online manuals make the text more readily available,
searchable, up-to-date but may be difficult to read, annotate, absorb.
 Online help: Brief descriptions of specific topics to help users cope when
problems arise. It can provide indexes of terms, keyword searches, step-by-step
guidance, access to complementary web. information.
 Context-sensitive help: User-controlled interactive help, ranging from simple
balloon help explaining objects to system-initiated assistants that monitor users
activities and provide relevant information.
 Online tutorial: Uses electronic media to reach the novice by explaining objects
and actions through textual descriptions, graphical imagery. Scope of tutorial can
range from 2-minute introductions to week-long course.
 Animated demonstration: Appealing animated graphics as slide show, series of
screen captures, video with verbal explanation.
 Guides: Audio or video recordings of authoritative personalities that cover key
topics.
 FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) prepared by developers to answer common
questions and kept up to date, usually on web.
 Online communities, newsgroups, listservers, e-mail, chat, and instant
messaging to answer to specific questions from peer users.
 Personal human help from a telephone-accessible help desk
One way to classify paper and online materials (Duffy):

User's Goal Medium of Delivery


Paper Online
sales brochure, fact demonstration
I want to buy it.
sheet program
I want to learn it. tutorial manual guided tour
online help, online
I want to use it. user's manual
document

Paper versus online manuals

There are many reasons to have online manuals and the advantages include the following:

 Physical advantages:
• Information is available whenever the information appliance or computer
is available. No need to locate the correct manual.
• User don’t need to allocate physical workspace to open up manuals.
• Information can be electronically updated rapidly and at low cost.
 Navigation features:
• Specific information necessary for a task can be located rapidly if online
manuals offer indexes, table of contents, list of figures etc.
• Searching for one page in 100 pages manuals is easy.
• Linking within texts and to external materials like web resources,
dictionary can help in guiding users.
 Interactive services:
• Readers can bookmark and annotate the text, send text by email.
• Authors can use graphics, sound, color, animations that help in explaining
complex action for users.
• Readers can turn to newgroups, listservers, online communities, email,
chat and instant messages fro further help from other users.
• Blind users can use screen readers and listen to instructions.
 Economic advantage:
• Online manuals are cheaper to duplicate and distribute than paper
manuals.

However, these advantages can be compromised by potentially serious negative side


effects of online manuals

 Displays may not be as readable as paper manuals.


 Each display may contain substantially less information than a sheet of paper.
Display resolution is also lower than that for paper.
 The user interface of online help systems may be novel and confusing to novices
 The extra mental effort required for navigating through many screen may interfere
with concentration and learning, and annotation can be difficult.
 Splitting the display between work and help or tutorial windows reduces the space
for work displays. User switching to separate help or tutorial leads to larger
burden on short-term memory.
 Small devices such as cell phones do not have enough display space to provide
online help. They have to rely on paper manuals tutorials etc.

Reading from Paper versus from Displays

• Over past 500 years, paper surface, color, typeface, character width, letter sharpness,
text contrast with the paper , width of the text column etc are explored the most,
related to paper displays.
• Initial CRT tubes (Visual display unit or tube) became alternate medium for
presenting text. Due to its health concerns about CRT radiations led to LCD which
have a compact design, consumes less physical space.
• Visual fatigue and stress from reading computers displays are problems and are active
research areas.
• Numerous studies have found 15% to 30% slower task times for comprehension or
proofreading of text on computer displays, compared to on paper.
• High-resolution, larger displays are recommended if users are to read large amounts
of material online.
• Plasticity of documents is becoming a requirement: small, medium, large display
• Automatic conversion to foreign language, annotation, bookmarks, text-to speech
conversion, highlights for different classes of readers are some of the advanced
features available.

Potential Disadvantages to Reading from Displays

 Poor fonts, especially on low resolution displays: Dot composing the letters
may be so large that each is visible, making users difficult to recognize characters.
Inappropriate kerning, interletter, interline spacing, color, monospace fonts may
complicate recognition.
 Low contrast between characters and the background and Fuzzy character
boundaries can cause trouble.
 Emitted light from displays may be more difficult to read by than reflected light
from paper, Glare may be greater on displays.
 Screen flicker can be a problem.
 Curved display surface may be problem.
 Small displays require more frequent page turning, issuing page-turning
command is disruptive.
 Reading distance can be greater than for paper due to fixed in place display
systems. Display placement may be too high for comfortable reading.
 Layout and formatting can be problems – improper margins, line width, and
justification. Multicolumn layouts may require constant scrolling up/down, page
breaks may be distracting and waste space.
 Reduced hand and body motions with fixed-position displays as compared to
paper may be fatiguing.
 Unfamiliarity of displays and the anxiety of navigating the text can increase
stress.

Shaping the Content of the Manuals

• Traditionally, training and reference material often written by junior member of


development team
– manuals were often poorly written
– were not suited to the background of the users
– were delayed or incomplete
– were not tested adequately
• The system success is closely related to the documentation quality, hence testing
and revisions must be done before widespread dissemination.
• Well-designed manuals include shorter learning times, better user performance,
increased user satisfaction, fewer calls for support.
– Towards minimal manuals
– Use of the OAI model to design manuals
– Organization and writing style

1. Towards minimal manuals

 The “active user paradox”


o Users’ eagerness to conduct meaningful activities often stops them from
spending time “just” learning, and therefore their skills remain mediocre.
Learners prefer trying out actions on the computer, rather than reading
lengthy manuals. They apply real-world knowledge, experience with other
interfaces, guess work.
 It led to design of minimal manuals that encourage active involvement with
hands-on experience, promote guided exploration of system features, support
error recognition and recovery.
 Carroll's guided exploration
o choose an action-oriented approach
o anchor the tool in the task domain
o support error recognition and recovery
o support reading to do, study, and locate
 Complete sample tasks and interaction sessions are helpful in giving a portrait
of the interface features and interaction style. Many users will work through these
sessions to verify the interface match with the manuals.
 Show numerous well-chosen screen prints that demonstrate typical uses
(predictive model). Users mimic the examples in manual during first trails of the
software.
 Table of contents and index required
 Glossaries for clarifying technical terms
 Appendices for error messages
User-manual guidelines based on practice and empirical studies

2. Use of the OAI model to design manuals

The Object-Action interface (OAI) model offers insight into the learning process and
hence provides guidance to instructional-materials designers.

Introductory tutorial

 If users have only partial knowledge of the task objects and actions, then training
in the task is the first step.
 Once the users learn the hierarchy of objects, from high level down to the atomic
,recognize the range of high-level intentions down to specific action steps, then
learn about the interface representations
 start with familiar objects and actions
 link these concepts to high-level interface objects and actions
 show syntax needed to accomplish each task

Fig 2. A representation of partial knowledge user. Deeper knowledge of task objects and
actions will give them a framework for learning about the interface.
Conversion manual

 users knowledgeable about task domain, but unfamiliar with specific software
 need presentation showing relationship between metaphors and already known
plans and the new ones required by the new software

Fig 3. A representation of users who know the task adequately but don’t know the
interface. Educational materials for this community should explain the interface
objects and actions, starting with plans.

Quick reference

 user knowledgeable about task and interface objects and actions


 needs details to convert their plans into detailed actions

Fig 4. A representation of users who are knowledgeable about the task and high
level interface aspects and need to learn only specific visual representation and
syntactic details.

• OAI model help researchers to map the current levels of knowledge in learning
systems.
• Sample sessions extremely helpful in giving portrait of system features and
interaction styles
• Flow diagrams provide a map, visual overview that orients users to transitions
from one activity to another. Flow diagrams representing interface using a
complex model of data objects can depict the details.
3. Organization and writing style

 Author must be knowledgeable about the technical content, sensitive to the


background, reading level, intellectual ability of the reader.
 Precise statement of instructional objectives is an invaluable guide to the author
and the reader.
 Present concepts in a logical sequence with increasing order of difficulty
 Ensure that each concept is used in subsequent sections, to avoid forward
references and to construct sections with approximately equal amounts of new
material.
 Manual should have sufficient examples and complete sample sessions.
 Author should begin with reasons for covering the concept, describe the concepts
in task-domain semantic terms, computer related semantic concepts, finally offer
the syntax.
 Choice of words and phrases is important in overall structuring.
 Style guides for organizations attempt to ensure consistency and high quality
 Writing style should match users' reading ability
 Most sensible approach in designing computer dialogue is to use the simplest
language.

Online manuals and help

 Kearsley's guidelines for online help systems:

 Make the help system easy to access and easy to return from.
 Make online help as specific as possible.
 Collect data to determine what help is needed.
 Give users as much control as possible over the help system.
 Supply different help for different types of users
 Make help messages accurate and complete.
 Do not use help to compensate for poor interface design.

 Standard formats like WinHelp and Windows HTML Help have led to
development of sofware tools like RoboHelp and helpMATIC Pro.
a. Online manuals
b. Online help
c. Context-sensitive help

Online Manuals

Reproduction of printed manuals online


• paper page layouts may not convert well
• dealing with figures problematic
• attractive if users have large enough display (full page)
• close match between printed and online versions useful
– Enhanced by special online features
• string search
• multiple indices
• multiple tables of contents
• tables of figures
• electronic bookmarks
• electronic annotations ,synonyms
• hypertext traversal
• automatic history keeping
– Most effective if manuals redesigned to fit electronic medium to take
advantage of
• multiple windows
• text highlighting
• color
• sound
• animation
• string search with relevance feedback
– Properly designed table of contents that can remain visible to side of text page
is vital. Selection of chapter or other entry in table of contents should
immediately produce appropriate page on display. Use of expanding or
contracting table of contents is beneficial.
– Novices need tutorials
– Intermittent knowledgeable users can handle concise descriptions of interface
syntax and semantics
– Keyword lists improved by clustering into meaningful categories

Online Help

• For intermittent knowledgeable users, online help offering concise descriptions of


interface objects and actions is effective. But not good for novice users.
• Traditional approach is to have users type or select a help-menu item and to
display a list of alphabetically arranged topics. This is not effective for novice
users.
• Simple lists like keyboard shortcuts, menu-items or mouse shortcuts can provide
necessary information. Each item in list might have an accompanying feature
description.
• Users expect to be able to search the full text of online documents
• Expanding and contracting table of contents can be combined with search and
feedback capabilities indicating the number of “hits” on the table-of –content
listing.
• The online help and support center for Microsoft Windows XP contains
articles/topics and search options.
• Microsoft Answer Wizard responds to natural language requests with a list of
topics organized into categories.
Context-Sensitive help

• Simplest way to provide context-sensitive help is to monitor cursor location and


provide helpful information about the object under the cursor.
• Intelligent help: it makes use of interaction history, a model of the user
population and a representation of their tasks to make assumptions about what
user need.
• Some of the approaches for context-sensitive help includes
– User-controlled, interactive object help
– System-initiated help
– Hybrid approaches

1. User-controlled, interactive object help

 A simple approach to context-sensitive help is based on the interactive widgets,


control panels, forms etc in the interface.
– Users position the cursor on a widget and then press help key or remain
still for couple of seconds to produce information about the object on
which the cursor is resting.
– A small popup box, tool tip, ScreenTip, balloon help appears with an
explanation of that object.
– All the balloons can be turned on at once, so that users can see all
explanations simultaneously.
 Another approach is to dedicate a portion of the display to help, which is updated
automatically as users hover over or select interface widgets.

2. System-initiated help:

 By keeping track of user actions, effective system guidance can be


provided.
 Simulated “intelligent help” is one approach where a system-initiated help
system has been implemented where a cartoon-like guru appear on the
display and offer audio commentaries with animated demonstrations of the
GUI.
 Development of intelligent help systems faces serious usability challenges.
 Microsoft’s Office Assistant (Clippit) has been must controversial.

3. Hybrid approaches

 It is an intelligent help system where a mixed initiative is shared between


the user and system and an advice-giving approach.
 Unobtrusive advice from system
 This approach requires a large portion of the display to the help
information but it keeps users in control of the amount and timing of the
advice they receive.
Online tutorials, demonstrations, and guides

• Online tutorial is an interactive training environment in which users can view


explanatory descriptions of user-interface objects and actions, often tied to realistic
task scenarios.
• Depending on complexity and user time, online tutorial, animated demos or audio
guides can be provided.
– Online tutorials
– Animated demonstrations
– Guides

Online Tutorials

• An online tutorial applies minimal-manual approach, so users are involved in


actions.
• The opportunity for carrying out practice tasks as part of online tutorials is the
biggest advantage.
• User need not keep shifting attention between the terminal and the instructional
material
• Practices the skills needed to use the system. User is provided with session
followed by free exploration.
• Can work alone at an individual pace and without the embarrassment of mistakes
made before a human instructor or fellow students
• Repeated testing and refinement is highly recommended for tutorials.
• Start-up tips: Each time users start the interface, they get a pop-up box
displaying a brief explanation of a feature. Some systems monitor user behavior
and show start-up tips only for features that are not used by this particular user.

Animated demonstrations

• Animated demos can be prepared as a slideshow, a screen-capture animation or


video recording of a person using the device.
• Distributed on disk, CD-ROM, or over Internet
• It is designed to attract potential users and is a modern high-tech standard
technique to train users.
• Typically show off system features using animation, color graphics, sound
• User-interface requirements are to
• capture and maintain user interest
• Demonstration of step-by-step procedures and explaining the
results of the actions.
• convey information
• build positive product image
• Typical controls
• automatic or manual pacing
• length of demonstration (short versus in-depth)
• stop, replay, skip
• Segmenting the animations may help in comprehension and retention.
• Integrating the help facilities by building overlays with sticky notes (short
instructions that look like PostIt notes) are effective. Dynamic queries of the users
can be handled with sticky notes.
• A screen capture animation is easy to produce with standard tools such as
Camtasia
• Games often have a 30 second animation demonstration showcasing the samples
of the games, appeal, effects and the challenges.

Guides

• Guides are audio and video recording of human guides or cartoon figures to lead
users through information.
• Human guides can be marketing manager for the software, famous personality
related to content, a cartoon character for children etc. telling their viewpoint or
stories through video sequences.
• This approach makes computer a medium of communication between the user and
the system.
• GUIDES 3.0 project is an example for this approach
• Audio tours of art galleries at museums.
• Audio or video lectures may be recorded for playback on the computer or a
separate system.
• Video Professor is one such company selling guides software programs.
• These videos are tutorials , meant to be viewed from beginning to end, rather than
a way to get help when problem emerge.

Online communities for user assistance

• Online community is an effective approach to help the users by interacting with


other people online.
• This communal approach employs email, chat or instant messaging for questing
asking and response.
• Questions can be sent to a designated help desk or posted on a discussion
• Involves networks using email, chat, instant messaging
• sent to designated help desk or staff person
• sent to general list within organization
• users must publicly expose their lack of knowledge
• risk of getting incorrect advice
• Communal approach means low cost for software maintenance organizations and
help-desk staff.
• Microsoft actively encourages online communities, steering consulting
opportunities.
• Purchase of more expensive software expect and may pay for dedicated help-desk
services with email and chat responses within hours or minutes.
• Most of the times to avoid repeated queries to the staff, the common questions
and answers are recorded into the files of FAQ. This enables newcomers to
browse typical problems.

Development process

Start early!

• User manual production on time and within the reasonable budget.


• Early development of manual will allows adequate time for review, testing, and
refinement. Starting manual starting before implementation has many advantages:
– Manual can act as a complete and comprehensible alternative to formal
specifications of the software.
– Manuals may clarify some of the missed design requirements
– Manual writers can be effective critic, reviewer to stimulate the
implementation team.
– Enables pilot testing of software's learnability
– Can convey designers intentions to customers and users, mangers etc.
• Informal walkthroughs with users is effective for designers and manual writers.
• Field trials with moderate numbers of users facilitates identifying problems,
typos, misleading information with user manual and software.
• Software and accompanying manuals is a continuous process of evolutionary
refinement.
• Development process guidelines
– Seek professional writers and copy writers.
– Prepare user manuals early (before implementation)
– Review draft thoroughly.
– Field test early editions.
– Provide a feedback mechanism for readers.
– Revise to reflect changes regularly.

Potrebbero piacerti anche