Project • Just when you thought it was safe! – Project 2 has been released. GUI Design Tips – Chat Room • Threads • GUIs • Networking – Minimum Submission due 11/6 – Your next exam is 11/3 Plan for this week Before we begin • Today: Intro to Events • Any questions? • Tomorrow: Examples • Thursday: GUI Design Tips Truly bad interfaces Taken from “GUI Bloopers” • Learning good design by looking at bad ones.
Examples Also taken from Principle 1 • Interface hall of shame. • Focus on the users and their tasks, not the technology. – http://digilander.libero.it/chiediloapippo/Engine ering/iarchitect/shame.htm – Understand the users – Understand the tasks This is for woodworkers Intuitively Obvious Codes &w means Window title / &d means date Ok, but this is a Mac application! Principle 2 • Consider function first, presentation later – Develop a conceptual model – Keep it as simple as possible, but no simpler
Just because you can… More fun with colors Principle 3 Flag 1 is what? • Conform to the users' view of the task – Don't make users commit unnatural acts – Use the users' vocabulary, not your own • Don’t talk geek! – Keep program internals inside the program That good old ORA-00001 error! Not to mention error 3212
What happens when you place your disk in the trash? Principle 4 • Don't complicate the users' task – Common tasks should be easy – Don't give users extra problems to solve I would click Next if I could! What is really going on here? This form is from a woman’s shoe store What to do…what to do…
Principle 5 A real learning activity • Promote learning – Be consistent Figuring out what each button does. The right side doesn’t know what the Consistency makes the interface left is doing. familiar and predictable Principle 6 With a slider bar? • Deliver information, not just data – Design displays carefully – The screen belongs to the user
On a single line? With drop menus? The screen belongs to the user Principle 7 • Design for responsiveness – Responsiveness is not the same thing as performance – The user interface is a real-time interface: Even worse that this is always displayed, even if already set at 800 x 600. …and what’s the difference between OK and Cancel? Even if for one message? Principle 8 • Try it out on users, then fix it! – Testing, testing testing – Schedule time to correct problems found by tests – Produce useful diagnostics.
Okay, I’ll try again… Thanks for letting me know. This dialog is speechless Let me continue…let me cancel Thank you Lt. Columbo. And my favorite…
Summary • Focus on the users and their task • Function first, presentation later • Adopt User’s view of task • Don’t complicate • Promote learning – be consistent • Deliver info, not just data • Design for responsiveness • Try it out on users
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