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Introduction to Information Systems

Interaction design

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Software postures

4

Sovereign

Programs that fill the whole screen

Long sessions

Rich visual feedback and input

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5

Sovereign

6

Transient

Single, high-relief function

Simple, clear, to the point

Single window and view

Remember state

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Auxiliary

Blends the characteristics of

sovereign and transient programs

Continuously present but only

supporting role

Small, super-imposed on another

application

8

Sovereign vs Auxiliary vs Transient

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9

Daemonic

Do not normally interact with users

Serve quietly and mostly invisibly in

the background

10

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User interface elements

12

Controls: Buttons

Text-based

Butcons

Blend between button and icon

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Controls: Radio buttons

Mutually exclusive

In groups

Take up screen space

Only for frequently used options

14

Controls: Check boxes

Options that can be combined

In groups

Take up screen space

Only for frequently used options

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Controls: Text box

Free text entry

Single or multi-line

16

Controls: Drop-down List

Bounded entry

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Controls: Combo boxes

Combination of drop-down list and

text box

Bounded entry

Accommodate values other than

numbers

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Other controls

Scroll bar

Spin boxTreeviews

TabsSlider

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Other controls

Date pickerTime picker

TooltipsProgress bar

20

Control design

Intuitive mapping of controls to

functions

Minimize cognitive friction

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Dialogs

Modal window covered with

controls

Logical flow

Alignment of elements

Group boxes

22

Menus

Communicate to users available

functions

Instructive for beginners

Quasi standard

File, Edit, Window, Format, Help Disable inapplicable menu items

Checkmarks quickly grasped by users

Accelerators

Frequent commands only

Often forgotten

Follow standards (Ctrl+C)

Show how to access them

Mnemonics

Menu selection by keystroke (ALT...)

rather than direct manipulation

Separator

F5 = Accelerator

Cascading menu

W = Mnemonic

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Menus

Cascading menus

Difficult for users to remember

Only as last resort

Never for frequently used functions

Expanding menus

Infrequently used functions hidden

Undermines motivation for menus (show

available functions)

Cascading menu

Expanding menu

24

Toolbars

Collection of button controls

Visible, immediate functionality, triggered with single mouse click

Space-efficient compared to menus

Positioned below a menu bar, to the side of the main window, or free-floating

Frequently used commands for experienced users (not for beginners)

Composition not necessarily the same as menus

Icons versus text

Recognizing images faster than reading

Text more precise and clear

Use tooltips to explain function of a toolbar button

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Literature

Alan Cooper, About face 2.0 the essentials of user interaction design

Alan Cooper, The inmates are running the asylum

Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld, Information architecture

Steve Krug, Dont make me think a common sense approach to web usability

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Assignment 4: User interaction design

Assignment

Your firm has been commissioned to design an office building. The clients wish to incorporate an

intelligent lighting system which is tailored to user needs. Your task is to outline a user interaction

design for such a system. For the purpose of this assignment, you can ignore cost or technical

feasibility considerations. As a first step, think about these aspects of the system:

1. What are key functional and non-functional system requirements?

2. What are user goals?

Summarize your findings to these questions on 2 slides (text only)

[In the next assignment, you will develop the interaction design based on system requirements and

user goals]

Submission Pdf document (ca 2 pages, A4 landscape)

Include your name at least on the first slide

April 7, 2011, 12:00, TUWEL