Class exercise

Week 7

• What is the interface design principles?

The structure principle

The interface design should be well -organized and functional based on clear models that are visible to users. The design should be methodically displayed like putting things that are related together and separating things that are not related.

The simplicity principle

The simple design makes the common tasks easy for users and communication also becomes clearer. 

The visibility principle

The options and materials for a specific task should be clearly visible to users without any interruption of unnecessary information.

The feedback principle
Any actions, changes of state and errors that are related should be informed to users by giving precise and clear language accustomed to users.

The tolerance principle
The design should be adaptable thus decreasing the cost of faults and misuse. It also avoids any  errors by allowing mixed inputs and sequences and by interpreting all reasonable actions.

The reuse principle
Internal and external components in the design should be reused to to maintain stability with purpose instead of arbitrary consistency. This lessens the need for users to retrace and remember.

• What is the elements of the interface design?

Windows

Windows is a section on the screen where information are displayed and its contents being showed independently from the rest of the screen. It is easy to use a window because it is adjustable. For example, it can be shown and hidden by clicking on an icon, and it can be shifted to any section by dragging it. Furthermore, it can be placed in front or behind another window and its size can be changed. This makes it convenient in a multitasking environment.

Menus

Menus help users to preform commands by choosing from a list of choices. A mouse can be used to choose options and a keyboard may be used. Menus are able to display what commands are available within the software.   

Icons

Icon is a small picture that stand for objects such as a file, program, web page, or command. Icons are handy because they are a fast way to execute commands, open documents and run programs. Other than that, it provides convenience when searching for an object in a browser list.

Controls

Controls are software components that a computer user interacts with through direct manipulation to read or change about an application. Every widget provides help with a specific user- computer interaction. 

Tabs

Tabs are typically a rectangular small box which has a text label with a view pane. Group of  tabs helps users to change quickly between different widgets when the view pane is activated. This provides many web pages open at once in one window and rapidly navigate between them by clicking on the tabs that are related to the pages. Most applications have tabs in the settings panes . 

Class exercise

Review on the existing website on Mc Donald. List out the pro & cons of the interface design layout, the navigation buttons and is the information clear enough for the user to understand to navigate the page?

Pros

The interface design layout looks more interesting and outstanding compared to other websites. The navigation buttons are convenient and is clearly displayed by users.

Cons

The interface design layout seems quite complicated and confusing. This makes it less user friendly. 

Review

The navigation buttons has been neatly and methodically arranged for the convenience of the users. It directly shows the users to the page that they want. Overall, the information is clear and understandable for users to navigate through the page.