Software Engineering for Students A Programming Approach

CHAPTER
5
This chapter explains:
5.1 ● Introduction
User interface
design
■ the principles, techniques and guidelines for designing a user interface.
The interface that the user sees when they use the computer is the single, paramount
aspect of the system. The interface is the packaging for software. The user does not
know and probably does not care how the system works (provided that it is reliable and
fast), but they do care what it does and how to use it. If it is easy to learn, simple to
use, straightforward and forgiving, the user will be encouraged to make good use of
what’s inside. If not, they won’t. The user interface is often the yardstick by which a
system is judged. Interfaces can be hard to learn, difficult to use, unforgiving and sometimes
totally confusing. An interface which is difficult to use will, at best, result in a high
level of user errors. At worst, it will cause the software to be discarded, irrespective of
its functionality. These are the challenges of user interface design.
User interface design offers the software engineer:
■ some principles to guide interface design (e.g. simplicity, learnability)
■ some guidelines for good interfaces
■ a process for developing good interfaces, based on prototyping
■ methods for evaluating interfaces.
Today prototyping (Chapter 23) is considered essential for user interface development –
a prototype is made available to users and the resulting feedback used to improve the interface
design.