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1) What is the importance of user interface? Explain user interface design rules with examples.
 User interface design creates an effective communication medium between a human and a computer.
Design identifies interface objects and actions and then creates a screen layout that forms the basis for a
user interface prototype.
 A software engineer designs the user interface by applying an iterative process that draws on predefined
design principles.
 There are 3 golden rules for interface design.
1) Place the user in control.
2) Reduce the user’s memory load.
3) Make the interface consistent.

1. Place the User in Control

 During a requirements gathering session for a major new information system, a keyuser was asked about
the attributes of the window-oriented graphical interface.
 A number of design principles that allow the user to maintain control:
1. Define interaction modes in a way that does not force a user into unnecessary or undesired actions.
 An interaction mode is the current state of the interface. For example, if spell checkis selected in a word-
processor menu, the software moves to a spell checking mode. There is no reason to force the user to
remain in spell checking mode if the user desires to make a small text edit along the way.
2. The interaction should be flexible.
 Because different users have different interaction preferences, choices should be provided. For example,
software might allow a user to interact via keyboard commands, mouse movement, a digitizer pen, or
voice recognition commands. But every action is not amenable to every interaction mechanism.
3. Provide the facility of ‘undo’ or ‘interruption’ in user interaction
 Even when involved in a sequence of actions, the user should be able to interrupt the sequence to
dosomething else. The user should alsobe able to “undo” any action.
4. Allow user to customize the interaction.
 Users often find that they perform the same sequence of interactions repeatedly. It is worthwhile to
design a “macro” mechanism that enables an advanced user to customize the interface to facilitate
interaction.
5. Hide technical internals from the casual user.
 The user interface should move the user into the virtual world of the application. The user should not be
aware of the operating system, file management functions, or other arcane computing technology. In
essence, the interface should never require that the user interact at a level that is “inside” the machine.
6. Design for direct interaction with objects that appear on the screen.
 The user feels a sense of control when able to manipulate the objects that are necessary to perform a
task in a manner similar to what would occur if the object were a physical thing.

2. Reduce the user’s Memory Load

 If the user interface is good then user has to remember very less. In fact the design should be such that
the system remembers more for the user and ultimately it assists theuser to handle the computer based
system. Following are the principles suggested to reduce the memory load of the user.
1. Reduce demand on short term memory.
 When users are involved in complex tasks, the demand on short-term memory can be significant. The
interfaceshould be designed to reduce the requirement to remember past actions andresults. This can be
accomplished by providing visual cues that enable a user torecognize past actions, rather than having to

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recall them.
2. Establish meaningful defaults.
 The initial set of defaults should make sensefor the average user, but a user should be able to specify
individual preferences.However, a “reset” option should be available, enabling the redefinition of original
default values.
3. Define shortcuts that are intuitive.
 When mnemonics are used to accomplisha system function, the mnemonic shouldbe tied to the action in
a way that is easy to remember.
4. The visual layout of the interface should be realistic.
 For example, a bill payment system should use a check book andcheck register metaphor to guide the
user through the bill paying process. Thisenables the user to rely on well-understood visual cues, rather
than memorizing an arcane interaction sequence.
5. Disclose information in a progressive fashion.
 The interface should be organized hierarchically. That is, information about a task, an object, or some
behaviour should be presented first at a high level of abstraction. More detail should bepresented after
the user indicates interest with a mouse pick.

3. Make the Interface Consistent

 The interface should present and acquire information in a consistent fashion. This implies that
 All visual information is organized according to a design standard that is maintained throughout all
screen displays.
 Input mechanisms are constrained to a limited set that are used consistently throughout the application.
 Mechanisms for navigating from task to task are consistently defined and implemented.
 Mandel defines a set of design principles that help make the interface consistent:
1. Allow the user to put the current task into a meaningful context.
 Many interfaces implement complex layers of interactions with dozens of screen images. It is important
to provide indicators that enable the user to know the context of the work at hand. In addition, the user
should be able to determine where he has come from and what alternatives exist for a transition to a
new task.
2. Maintain consistency across a family of applications.
 A set of applications should all implement the same design rules so that consistency is maintained for all
interaction.
3. If past interactive models have created user expectations, do not make changes unless there is a
compelling reason to do so.
 Once a particular interactive sequence has become a de facto standard, the user expects this in every
application he encounters. A change will cause confusion.

2) Explain the significance of user interface (ui) in a system. Also explain the design model for ui.
 The overall process for designing a user interface begins with the creation of different models of system
function.
 Four different models come into play when a user interface is to be designed.
 The software engineer creates a design model;a human engineer establishes a user model.
 The end-user develops a mental image that is often called the user's model
 The system perception
 The implementers of the system create a system image.
Design model

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 A design model of the entire system consists of data, architectural, interface,and procedural
representations of the software. The requirements specification may establish certain constraints that
help to define the user of the system, but the interface design is often only incidental to the design
model.

User Model
 The user model establishes the profile of end-users of the system. To build an effective user interface,
"all design should begin with an understanding of the intended users, including profiles of their age, sex,
physical abilities, education, cultural or ethnic background, motivation, goals and personality". In
addition, users canbe categorized as

 Novices.
No syntactic knowledge1of the system and little semantic knowledge of the application or computer
usage in general.

 Knowledgeable and intermittent users.

Reasonable semantic knowledge2 ofthe application but relatively low recall of syntactic information
necessary touse the interface.

 Knowledgeable and frequent users.

Good semantic and syntactic knowledgethat often leads to the "power-user syndrome"; that is,
individuals who lookfor shortcuts and abbreviated modes of interaction.

 System perception
 The system perception is the image of the system that end-users carry in their heads.

 For example, if the user of a particular word processor wereasked to describe its operation, the system
perception would guide the response.
 The accuracy of the description will depend upon the user's profile and overall familiarity with software
in the application domain.
 A user who understands word processors fully but has worked with the specific word processor only once
might actually be able to provide a more complete description of its function.
Incremental Model
 The implementation model generates the look and feel of interface. This model describes the system’s
semantic and syntax. It is very necessary to match model then only user can feel comfortable with the
developed system.
 Finally, the interface designer has to resolve any differences within these models. The supreme principle
that has to be followed in interface analysis and design method is that: know the user and know the task!

The process
The user interface analysis and design process can be implemented using iterative spiral model. It consists
of 4 framework activities:
I. Environmental analysis and modelling
II. Interface Design
III. Implementation

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IV. Interface validation

As shown in the above figure each of these tasks can be performed more thanonce. At each pass around
the system more requirements can be elaborated and detailed can be performed.

1) Environmental analysis and modelling: -

 In this phase three major factors are focused i.e. user, task and environment. First of all the user profile is
analysed to the user and to elicit the requirements then the tasks that are required to carry out desired
functionality are identified and analysed.
 The analysis is made on user environment which involves the physical work
environment. Finally analysis model is created for the interface.
 This model serves as a basis for the design of user interface.
2) Interface design: -
 The interface design is a phase in which all the interface objects and corresponding actions of each task
are defined.
3) Implementation: -
 The implementation phase involves creation of prototype using which the interface scenarios can be
evaluated.

User Interface Design Process

4) Validation:-
 The goal of validation is to validate the interface for its correct performance. During testing whether it is
tested all the user requirements get satisfied or not.

3) Explain evaluation of design phase.

 Once a user interface prototype has been created, it must be evaluatedto determine whether it meets
the needs of the user.
 The user interface evaluation cycle takes the form shown in Figure. After the design model has been
completed, a first-level prototype is created. The prototype is evaluated by the user, who provides the
designer with direct comments.

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 In addition, if formal evaluation techniques are used Design modifications are made based on user input
and the next level prototype is created.
 The evaluation cycle continues until no further modifications to the interface design are necessary.
 If a design model of the interface has been created, a number of evaluation criteria can be applied during
early design reviews:

1. The length and complexity of the written specification of the system and its interface provide an
indication of the amount of learning required by users of the system.
2. The number of user tasks specified and the average number of actions per task provide an indication
of interaction time and the overall efficiency of the system.
3. The number of actions, tasks, and system states indicated by the design model imply the memory
load on users of the system.
4. Interface style, help facilities, and error handling protocol provide a general indication of the
complexity of the interface and the degree to which it will be accepted by the user.

 Once the first prototype is built, the designer

can collect a variety of qualitative and
quantitative data that will help in evaluating
the interface.

 To collect qualitative data, questionnaires can

be distributed to users of the prototype.

 Questions can be all (1) simple yes/no

response, (2) numeric response, (3) scaled
response, or (4) percentage response.

 Examples are
1) Were the icons self-explanatory? If not, which
icons were unclear?
2) Were the actions easy to remember and to
invoke?
3) How many different actions did you use?

Design Evaluation

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4) Explain interaction and information display software.

 In the phase of interface analysis all the tasks are identified. It is an iterative process in which each design
process occurs more than once.
 Design steps can be elaborated in detail.
 Following are interface design steps:

1) Define interface objects and corresponding actions or operations.

2) Define major events in the interface. These events represent the user actions.
3) Analyze how the interface will look from user’s point of view.
4) Identify how the user understands the interface with the information provided along with it.

Here software engineer interacts with the customer and he draws the sketches. The design has to follow
 Golden rules
 Model for interface
 Analyse the working environment
 In interface design first step is to identify all the necessary objects and corresponding actions. The use
case description is parsed and verbs from this description are identified.
 List of objects is prepared:
 Target object – The target object is an object in which some object can be merged
 Source object – The source object is an object which can be dragged and dropped to some other object.
 Application object – The object which represents the application specific data.
 After identifying all the necessary objects and actions the screen layout can be prepared. The creation of
screen layout includes placing of useful icons, descriptive text, menus and windows.
 This layout should remember and resemble the real world description of the application.
 For example: Online student registration
 Some part of problem description is given below for online student registration system.
 “A student will be typical user of this system. This user has to fill up an online registration form. In this
form he has to submit student information.
 Select courses which he/she wants adopt. Then the time table of the corresponding course will be
displayed.
 There should be a facility that the student can get a print of time table. Student has given ID and
password.
 A student will be typical user of this system. This user has to fill up an online registration form.
 In this form he has to submit the student information and then he has to select the courses which he/she
wants to adopt.

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