Interaction Styles

Chris Northcs3724: HCI

Presentations

• mike miller• sean king

• Vote: UI Hall of Fame/Shame?

Quiz

• The 5 UI metrics?• Performance time• Retentiontime• Error rates• Learning time• Subj satisfaction

Shneiderman’s 8 Golden Rules

1. Consistency multi-close Word, PPT

2. Shortcuts for experts Word bold

3. Feedback Wysiwyg

4. Sequences with closure wizards

5. Prevent errors, rapid recovery undo

6. Easy reversal HomeFinder

7. User control ClipIt modal

8. Reduce memory load web nav, phone menu

Interaction Styles

• Command language

• Menus

• Direct manipulation

Example: File Management

% rm myfile.txt% _

Command Language

• Examples:• Unix, DOS• zork• ftp• Matlab• Quake console• 555-tell

Command Language

• Good:• experts, frequent, fast• Flexibility, lots o options• 0 clutter• Macros, scripting

• Bad:• learning time huge• Little feedback• Memory intensive• Error rate high• Reversal hard

Menus

• Examples:• App pull-down menus• Context menus• phone menus• Start menu• Track auto part orders• Fast food, vending machines• Dialog boxes• Web pages

Menu Guidelines2 level look ahead Meaningless labels?

Menu Guidelines• Broad-shallow vs. narrow-deep• Depth = logbranchingFactor numPages• Usability: max depth 3-4

Menus

• Good:• reveals all the options• Good retention: uses recognition instead of recall• Filter options by tree structure• Enables trial-and-error

• Bad:• limits options, or gets too big• Labeling is difficult• What is the object (noun) for the action (verb)?• Consistency difficult?

Direct Manipulation

• Examples:• Drag-n-drop file icons• desktop• window resizing• Image editing• Drawing• Powerpoint slide sorter• Car, real world stuff

Video Games

Direct Manipulation Principles

• Visual representation• Rapid, incremental, reversible actions• Pointing and selecting• Immediate feedback

“Just do it”

Direct Manipulation

• Good:• fast learning time• Metaphors, leverage • Faster for novice/intermed• Cross-cultural?• Feedback, fast performance• Reduce errors• Encourage exploration

• Bad:• Not good for macros, scripting• Limits complexity/options• Clutter, tons of visual stuff• Ending sequences?• Metaphors can fail

Combined Strategies

• Word Cut-n-Paste:• Ctrl-x, ctrl-p• Edit menu• Drag-n-drop

Cruise Control

• Users: drivers, highway• Tasks:

• Relieve foot• Maintain speed on highway• Very fast shutoff• Temporary speed increase, decrease• Match speed limit!!!!!• Acceleration control?• Minimize distraction

• Current systems: set, off, +, - (menu)• Type/speak speed (command line)• Touch Speedometer, dial (direct manip)

Assignments

• Read: DTUI ch 1-3• Homework #1 due Thurs• Visual Basic: msdn.microsoft.com

Presentations:• Thurs: brian hostetle, daniel boisson• Next Tues: bruce billian, nick meyers• Next Thurs: taylor mitchell, chris henry