Abstract
User interface (UI) design is the process of making interfaces in software or computerized devices with a focus on looks or style. Designers aim to create designs users will find easy to use and pleasurable. IU design typically refers to graphical user interfaces but also includes others, such as voice-controlled ones. In this chapter, the user interface design and the grounded learning theories are discussed. Next, the interaction styles and the types of interactions are discussed. The usability benchmark and the usability evaluation instruments are also discussed in this chapter.
TopUser Interface Design
User interface is defined as the part of computer system with which a user interacts in order to undertake his or her tasks and achieve his or her goal (Stone et al., 2005). It is the bridge between the world of computer system and the world of the user. It is widely acknowledged by researchers (Norman, 2013; Shneiderman et al., 2017) that good interfaces ought to satisfy the principle of visibility: (a) users should be able to ‘see’ the actions that are open to them at every choice point, (b) they should receive immediate feedback about the actions they have just taken – since few things upset computer users more than not knowing what a computer is doing when it seems to be churning unexpectedly, and (c) they should get timely and insightful information about the consequences of their actions.
Unfortunately, many system developers have over emphasized on the technical functionalities of the user interface design thus neglected the usability aspects of the interface design. These efforts violate the initial purpose of the interface design that user is essential in this field (Atoum & Bong, 2015; Maguire, 2013; Manresa-Yee et al., 2010; Norman, 1999). As stated by Luostarinen et al. (2010), the user interface design is often heavily based on the technical properties of the devices thus cause the usability related issues to be forgotten or totally dismissed in the design process. This is in line with the argument by Maguire (2013) that many systems are hard to use which leads to poor user experience by causing people to abandon the system or fail to use the system effectively. Therefore, the goals for a good human-computer interaction are to decrease the errors, increase satisfaction for the user, and better performance of machine-assisted tasks (Manresa-Yee et al., 2010).
Designing a user interface with good usability is a challenging task. Fortunately, many interface design practitioners did propose the guidelines for good interface design. Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design suggests the following guidelines for the practitioner as follow (Shneiderman et al., 2017):
- 1.
Strive for consistency
- 2.
Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
- 3.
Offer information feedback
- 4.
Design dialog to yield closure
- 5.
Offer simple error handling
- 6.
Permit easy reversal of actions
- 7.
Support internal locus of control
- 8.
Reduce short-term memory load
Jacob Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics also serve as the basic reference for all user interface design (Nielsen, 1995) listed in Table 1. Nielsen stressed in his article that these ten principles are called “heuristic” because they should be treated as broad rules of thumb not specific usability guidelines. Although the Nielsen and Shneiderman’s interface design guidelines can act as the generic reference for all the user interface system design, however, Gong (2009) raised the concern more specifically that additional efforts must be included to identify different types of users and their needs and skills, and to analyze different tasks and the purpose of the system while designing a user interface. This is consistent with the statement as argued by Obeidat and Salim (2010) that different users have different characteristics, such as background, education, personality, cognitive skills and preferences, thus designing a good interface would be a great challenge.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ): Is another usability quantification survey, very similar to SUS, developed at the IBM Design Center in 1992. The survey: Like SUS, the survey is a series of statements describing the system, which users agree or disagree with using a Likert scale.
System Usability Scale (SUS): In systems engineering, the system usability scale (SUS) is a simple, ten-item attitude Likert scale giving a global view of subjective assessments of usability and system interactivity.
Behaviorism: Is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that all behaviors are either reflexes produced by a response to certain stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual's history, including especially reinforcement and punishment, together with the individual's current motivational state and controlling stimuli. Although behaviorists generally accept the important role of inheritance in determining behavior, they focus primarily on environmental factors.
User Interface Design: Is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience.
Connectivism: Is a theory of learning in a digital age that emphasizes the role of social and cultural context in how and where learning occurs. Learning does not simply happen within an individual, but within and across the networks.
Constructivism: Is basically a theory based on observation and scientific study about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Cognitivism: Cognitivism is the study in psychology that focuses on mental processes, including how people perceive, think, remember, learn, solve problems, and direct their attention to one stimulus rather than another.