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It 215

• Analysis and Design Techniques

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Chapter 7 User Interfaces

• User Interface Design
• Input Design
• Output Design Issues
• Printed Output

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User Interface Design

• Evolution of Design
• Human-computer Interface
• User-centered Design
• Guidelines
• Controls

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User Interface Design

• Basic Principles of User-Centered Design
• Understand the underlying business functions
• Maximize graphical effectiveness
• Profile the systems users
• Think like a user
• Use prototyping
• Usability metrics

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User Interface Design

• Basic Principles of User-Centered Design
• Design a comprehensive interface
• Continue the feedback process
• Document the interface design

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Follow eight basic guidelines
• Focus on basic objectives
• Build an interface that is easy to learn and use
• Provide features that promote efficiency
• Make it easy for users to obtain help or correct
  errors
• Minimize input data problems

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Follow eight basic guidelines
• Provide feedback to users
• Create an attractive layout and design
• Use familiar terms and images
• Good user interface design is based on a
  combination of ergonomics, aesthetics, and
  interface technology

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Focus on basic objectives
• Facilitate the system design objectives
• Create a design that is easy to learn and
  remember
• Design the interface to improve user efficiency
  and productivity
• Write commands, actions, and system responses
  that are consistent and predictable

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Build an interface that is easy to learn and use
• Label clearly all controls, buttons, and icons
• Select only those images that a user can
  understand easily
• Provide on-screen instructions that are logical,
  concise, and clear
• Show all commands in a list of menu items

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Provide features that promote efficiency
• Organize tasks, commands, and functions in groups
  that resemble actual business operations
• Create alphabetical menu lists
• Provide shortcuts so experienced users can avoid
  multiple menu levels
• Use default values if the majority of values in a
  field are the same

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Make it easy for users to obtain help or correct
  errors
• Ensure that Help is always available
• Provide user-selected Help and context-sensitive
  Help
• Provide a direct route for users to return to the
  point from where Help was requested
• Include contact information

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Minimize input data problems
• Provide data validation checks
• Display event-driven messages and reminders
• Establish a list of predefined values that users
  can click to select
• Build in rules that enforce data integrity
• Use input masks

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Provide feedback to users
• Display messages at a logical place on the screen
• Alert users to lengthy processing times or delays
• Allow messages to remain on the screen long
  enough for users to read them
• Let the user know whether the task or operation
  was successful or not

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Create an attractive layout and design
• Use appropriate colors to highlight different
  areas of the screen
• Use special effects sparingly
• Use hyperlinks that allow users to jump to
  related topics
• Group related objects and information

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User Interface Design

• Guidelines for User Interface Design
• Use familiar terms and images
• Remember that users are accustomed to a pattern
  of redstop, yellowcaution, and greengo
• Provide a keystroke alternative for each menu
  command
• Use familiar commands
• Provide a Windows look and feel in your interface
  design if users are familiar with Windows-based
  applications

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User Interface Design

• User Interface Controls
• Menu bar
• Toolbar
• Command button
• Dialog box
• Text box
• Toggle button

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User Interface Design

• User Interface Controls
• List box scroll bar
• Drop-down list box
• Option button, or radio button
• Check box
• Calendar control
• Switchboard

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Input Design

• Methods
• Volume
• Design Issues for Screens
• Errors
• Source Documents
• Input Control

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Input Design

• Input technology has changed dramatically in
  recent years
• The quality of the output is only as good as the
  quality of the input
• Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)
• Data capture
• Data entry

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Input Design

• Input and Data Entry Methods
• Batch input
• Batch
• Online input
• Online data entry
• Source data automation
• Magnetic data strips or swipe scanners
• POS, ATMs

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Input Design

• Input and Data Entry Methods
• Tradeoffs
• Unless source data automation is used, manual
  data entry is slower and more expensive than
  batch input because it is performed at the time
  the transaction occurs and often done when
  computer demand is at its highest
• The decision to use batch or online input depends
  on business requirements

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Input Design

• Input Volume
• Guidelines will help reduce input volume
• Input necessary data only
• Do not input data that the user can retrieve from
  system files or calculate from other data
• Do not input constant data
• Use codes

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Input Design

• Designing Data Entry Screens
• Most effective method of online data entry is
  form filling
• Guidelines will help you design data entry
  screens
• Restrict user access to screen locations where
  data is entered
• Provide a descriptive caption for ever field, and
  show the user where to enter the data and the
  required or maximum field size

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Input Design

• Designing Data Entry Screens
• Guidelines will help you design data entry
  screens
• display a sample format if a user must enter
  values in a field in a specific format
• Require an ending keystroke for every field
• Do not require users to type leading zeroes for
  numeric fields
• Do not require users to type trailing zeroes for
  numbers that include decimals

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Input Design

• Designing Data Entry Screens
• Guidelines will help you design data entry
  screens
• Display default values so operators can press the
  ENTER key to accept the suggested value
• Use a default value when a field value will be
  constant for successive records or throughout the
  data entry session
• Display a list of acceptable values for fields,
  and provide meaningful error messages

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Input Design

• Designing Data Entry Screens
• Guidelines will help you design data entry
  screens
• Provide a way to leave the data entry screen at
  any time without entering the current record
• Provide users with an opportunity to confirm the
  accuracy of input data before entering it
• Provide a means for users to move among fields on
  the form

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Input Design

• Designing Data Entry Screens
• Guidelines will help you design data entry
  screens
• Design the screen form layout to match the layout
  of the source document
• Allow users to add, change, delete, and view
  records
• Provide a method to allow users to search for
  specific information

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Input Design

• Input Errors
• Reducing the number of input errors improves data
  quality
• A data validation check improves input quality by
  testing the data and rejecting any entry that
  fails to meet specified conditions

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Input Design

• Input Errors
• At least eight types of data validation checks
• Sequence check
• Existence check
• Data type check
• Range check limit check
• Reasonableness check

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Input Design

• Input Errors
• At least eight types of data validation checks
• Validity check referential integrity
• Combination check
• Batch controls

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Input Design

• Source Documents
• Source document
• Form layout
• Heading zone
• Control zone
• Instruction zone
• Body zone
• Totals zone
• Authorization zone

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Input Design

• Source Documents
• Information should flow on a form from left to
  right and top to bottom to match the way users
  read documents naturally
• A major challenge of Web-based form design is
  that most people read and interact differently
  with on-screen information compared to paper forms

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Input Design

• Source Documents
• Dr. Jakob Nielson believes that users scan a
  page, picking out individual words and sentences
• As a result, Web designers must use scannable
  text to capture and hold a users attention
• Layout and design also is important on Web-based
  forms

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Input Design

• Input Control
• Every piece of information should be traceable
  back to the input data
• Audit trail
• Data security
• Records retention policy
• Encrypted encryption

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Output Design Issues

• Types of Output

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Printed Output

• Types of Reports
• User Involvement
• Report Design Principles
• Examples
• Other Issues
• Character-based Reports
• Printing Volume and Time Requirements
• Output Control and Security

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Output Design Issues

• Before designing output, ask yourself several
  questions
• What is the purpose of the output?
• Who wants the information, why it is it needed,
  and how will it be used?
• What specific information will be included?
• Will the output be printed, viewed on-screen, or
  both?

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Output Design Issues

• Before designing output, ask yourself several
  questions
• When will the information be provided, and how
  often must it be updated?
• Do security or confidentiality issues exist?
• Your answers will affect your output design
  strategies

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Output Design Issues

• Types of Output
• In the systems design phase, you must design the
  actual reports, screen forms, and other output
  delivery methods
• Internet-based information delivery
• E-mail
• Audio

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Output Design Issues

• Types of Output
• Automated facsimile systems
• Faxback systems
• Computer output microfilm (COM)
• Microfilm
• Computer output to laser disk (COLD)

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Output Design Issues

• Specialized Forms of Output
• An incredibly diverse marketplace requires a
  variety of specialized output
• Output from one system often becomes input into
  another system
• Although digital technology has opened new
  horizons in business communications printed
  output still is the most common type of output

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Printed Output

• Although many organizations strive to reduce the
  flow of paper and printed reports, few firms have
  been able to eliminate printed output totally
• Because they are portable, printed reports are
  convenient, and even necessary in some situations
• Turnaround documents

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Printed Output

• Types of Reports
• Detail reports
• Detail line
• Control field
• Control break
• Control break report
• Can be quite lengthy
• Better alternative is to produce an exception
  report

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Printed Output

• Types of Reports
• Exception reports
• Are useful when the user wants information only
  on records that might require action
• Summary reports
• Reports used by individuals at higher levels in
  the organization include less detail than reports
  used by lower-level employees

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Printed Output

• User Involvement in Report Design
• Printed reports are an important way of
  delivering information to users, so recipients
  should approve all report designs in advance
• To avoid problems submit each design for approval
  as it is completed, rather than waiting to finish
  all report designs
• Mock-up

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Printed Output

• Report Design Principles
• Printed reports must be attractive, professional,
  and easy to read
• Report headers and footers
• Page headers and footers
• Column heading alignment
• Space columns of information carefully

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Printed Output

• Report Design Principles
• Field order
• Fields should be displayed and grouped in a
  logical order
• Grouping detail lines
• It is meaningful to arrange detail lines in
  groups
• Group header
• Group footer

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Printed Output

• Report Design Example
• Revisit the Employee Hours report shown in Figure
  7-36. Although the report follows many of the
  design guidelines discussed, you still could
  improve it
• Too much detail is on the page, forcing users to
  search for the information they need

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Printed Output

• Other Design Issues
• Good design standards produce reports that are
  uniform and consistent
• When a system produces multiple reports, each
  report should share common design elements
• After a report design is approved, you should
  document the design in a report analysis form

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Printed Output

• Designing Character-Based Reports
• Many systems still produce one or more
  character-based reports
• When report designers create or modify a
  character-based report, they use a traditional
  tool that still works well, called a printer
  spacing chart

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Printed Output

• Printing Volume and Time Requirements
• High volume of reports can significantly increase
  a systems TCO
• Length calculation
• Time calculations
• Ppm (pages per minute)
• Line printers

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Printed Output

• Output Control and Security
• Output must be accurate, complete, current, and
  secure
• Output security
• The IT department is responsible for output
  control and security measures
• Many companies have installed diskless
  workstations

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