8/13/2019 B u s i n e s s a n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

1/5

B u s i n e s s A n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

By Narain Balchandani& Radhika Panicker V

Business analyst must know the process by which user interfaces are designed.

He should be aware for design constraints and plan accordingly.

User Interface Design deals the way in which users interact with the system. The three fundamental parts of the system are

Naigation mechanism

Input mechanism and

!utput mechanism.

Principles of User Interface DesignThe goal of interface design is to make it simple to use. The fundamental interface design principlesare common for all the naigation" input and output mechanisms.

Principle Description#ayout It refers to the area on the screen used. $ostly the top area is used for naigation"middle area for input or output and bottom area for status information.

User should know where they are and what is being displayed with less effort.

%esthetics Interface should be designed in such a way that it is pleasing without loosing much space.

Designing the user interface keeping users leel of computer eperience in mind.

'onsistency It helps predict the result of a function and is an important element to ease learning.

$inimi(e User )ffort Inter face should be designed to minimi(e the effort by using fewest mouseclicks or key strokes to finish a task.

User Interface Design ProcessIt is a fie step process which is not se*uential and is iteratie.

Use Scenario Development enables users to *uickly and smoothly perform the scenario.

Interface Structure Design helps analysts deelop the Interface +tructure Diagram ,I+D- or the basic structure of the interface. This diagram

shows the connections.

Interface Design Standardsor the basic design elements on which interface in the system are based.

Interface Design Prototype is used for all the indiidual interfaces like naigation control" input screen" output screen etc.

The indiidual interfaces are subected to Interface Evaluation to ealuate the improements needed and satisfaction.

Use Scenario Development

It is one commonly used path by the user to accomplish a task among many use cases and data f low diagrams that consists of many ways tocomplete a task.

Interface Structure Design ISD!It defines how the basic components of the interface work together to proide functionality to the user. I+D/s show how the screens and forms

8/13/2019 B u s i n e s s a n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

2/5

are used by the system and seeral I+D/s are used one for each maor part of the system.

Interface Standards DesignDifferent applications need different sets of interface standards for different parts of the system.

Interface "etaphor%n interface metaphor defines the working of the interface and is used as a model for the computer system. $etaphor can beexplicitor implicit.In eplicit metaphor users type information into an onscreen form that looks like a real form. In other cases metaphor is implicit orunstated.Interface #emplates

It defines the general appearance of screens and forms that are used. The design of the templates and the order of the actions are specific.

Interface $%&ectsThis template defines the interface obects that form the entities and data stores. Interface Action

This template specifies the naigation and the command language style. )ample 0Buy1 ersus 02urchase1 etc.

Interface Icon

Interface icons represent obects" actions" and their status.

Interface Design PrototypingInterface Design 2rototyping shows how the computer screen looks for a form or a report or it simply mocks. The most common approaches toInterface Design 2rototyping are

Story BoardIn story board the hand drawn pictures of the flow of screens from one to other is depicted.

'#"( PrototypeHT$# 2rototype which is ery common is built using web pages created in HT$# ,Hypertet $ark3up #anguage-. Designer creates a series ofweb pages that show the fundamental parts of the system the user can interact with. HT$# 2rototypes are superior to story boards. Theyenable us to gain better sense of naigation among different screens. The only limitation is that they neer appear like the real screen.

(anguage Prototype#anguage 2rototype is built using the language tool which is used to build the system. It is designed the same way as HT$# 2rototype.

DisadvantageIt takes longer to build than story board or HT$# 2rototype.

Advantage It shows eactly how the screens look like.

Selecting the Appropriate #echni)ueDifferent Design 2rototyping techni*ues are used for dif ferent parts of the system.

+tory Boarding is fastest" least epensie and is a least detail approach.

#anguage 2rototype is slowest" more epensie and is most detail approach.

HT$# 2rototype falls between the two etremes.

+tory Boarding is used when interface is well understood. HT$# 2rototype and #anguage 2rototype is used when the interface is not well

understood.

Interface *valuationInterface design is subectie and ealuation is all about improing its design. %t least 45 potential users are inoled in the ealuation process.)aluation is performed before building the system i.e. while it is being designed so that problems can be identified and corrected.

6our common approaches for ealuation are

'euristic *valuationIn Heuristic )aluation the interface is compared with a set of principles for interface design. %t least three members inole in the proect. %fter

8/13/2019 B u s i n e s s a n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

3/5

each member has gone through the prototype separately then improements re*uired are ealuated. It is the weakest ealuation.

+alk,through *valuationIn this ealuation meeting is conducted with the end users. The proect team shows the story board or demonstrates HT$# or languageprototype and eplain the usage and the users identify improements.

Interactive *valuationHere the users work with the HT$# or language prototype in one3on3one sessions with the proect team. Then the user alone interacts. Duringthis session all the mistakes and misinterpretations that the user performs with the interface components are recorded. If mistakes recur withseeral users then it indicates that those parts of the interface need improements.

-ormal Usa%ility #estingIn this testing is done in one3on3one sessions by users who work with the software. +pecial lab e*uipped with ideo cameras and software tools

that record each and eery key stroke are used.

User is gien a specific set of tasks to complete. %fter instructions from the proect members" the user must work with the software without help.It can be hard if the user becomes confused with the system. The goal is to test the interface and an incomplete task indicates that the interfacehas failed. This testing is epensie.

Navigation DesignNaigation Design helps making a system as simple as possible. %ll the controls need to be clear and understandable so that they can

anticipate users work and simplify it.

Prevent "istakes$istakes are reduced by limiting the choices and by labeling commands and actions appropriately.

Simplify Recovery from "istakes$aking it easy to correct the mistakes., #ike using the 0Undo1 button in $+ word-.

Use .onsistent /rammar $rderThe interface re*uires the user to f irst choose the obect and then the action ,obect3action order-

#ypes of Navigation .ontrolsDeices like keyboard and mouse are always used for naigation. Basic software approaches for defining user commands are

(anguageIn Command Languagesuser uses languages like UNI7 and +8# to enter commands. They proide fleibility but it is a burden on the user tolearn synta and type commands. Natural language interfaces understand the user/s language ,e.g. )nglish-.

"enus$enus gie the user a list of choices to select. Broad and shallow menu presents the user with more information than narrow and deep one.)cept for comple systems menus don/t generally contain more than eight items.

'ommon types of menus include menu bars" drop down menus" pop3up menus etc.

Direct "anipulationIn Direct $anipulation" the user works directly with the interface obects. In $+2ower2oint obects can be made big by clicking on the obectsand moing the sides. Direct $anipulation is simple but the two problems are

Users familiar with menu based interfaces don/t epect it

Not all commmands are intuitie.

"essages% system responds to a user through messages informing of the status of interaction. $essages should be clear" concise and should begrammatically correct. Types of messages include

)rror messages

8/13/2019 B u s i n e s s a n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

4/5

These messages proide a number which makes the help desk easy to identify the problems.

'onfirmation messages

%cknowledgement messages

Delay messages

Help messages

Input DesignIt allows entry of data into the computer system. The goal is to capture accurate information. 6undamental principles for input design areUse$nline and Batch Processing Appropriately9eneral process of entering input into a computer system is through

!nline processing or entering each input item indiidually. It is mostly used for updating real3time information.

Batch processing or updating inputs collected oer a period of time. Batching simplifies data communication and cuts cost.

.apture Data at the SourceData is captured in an electronic format at the source. Source Data Automationrefers to using special hardware deices to automaticallycapture data without re*uiring any one to type it. +imilar technologies include Optical Caracter !ecognition or reading printed numbers andtet" "agnetic Strip !eaders or reading information from a strip of magnetic material similar to a diskette. !#ID$!adio #re%uency Identification&combines microprocessor chip with an antenna to broadcast its information to electronic readers."inimi0e 1eystrokes+ystem should neer ask for information that can be obtained in another way. ).g. retrieing data from a database

#ypes $f InputsInput is linked to a field on the form into which the alue is typed. )ach field has a field label which is similar to the name of the data element.Different types of inputs are

Tet bo

It is used to enter tet

Number bo

It is used to enter numbers

+election bo

Types of selection boes are 'heck bo" :adio button" !n3screen list bo" Drop3down list bo" 'ombo bo etc.

Input Validation or *dit .hecks'omputer systems do not accept data that fail alidation checks.

#ypes of Validation .hecks *2planation'ompleteness 'heck )nsures the entry of re*uired data

6ormat 'heck )nsures data is of right type and format

:ange 'heck )nsures numeric data are within the minimum and maimum alues

'heck digit 'heck 'heck digits are added to numeric code

'onsistency 'heck )nsures combinations of data are alid

8/13/2019 B u s i n e s s a n a l y s t a n d U s e r I n t e r f a c e D e s i g n

5/5

Database 'heck 'ompares data with data base to ensurethey are correct.

$utput Design!utputs are the reports produced by the system. Its goal is to make the user understand with least effort. 6undamental principles for outputdesign areUnderstand Report Usage:eports are designed depending on their usage. ;eb reports are long and scrollable. :eports to find specific information should be broken into

multiple pages with separate links. !eal time reports are accurate where as 'atc reportsreport historical information. :eal time reports areepensie and the etra cost is not worth unless they hae a business alue."anage Information (oad% well designed report proides all the information re*uired for the task. #oad is well managed by presenting the most important information inthe top left corner of the screen."inimi0e BiasData is sorted depending on the situation and the order of presentation should match the way information is used to minimi(e bias. 6oreample a monthly sales report is arranged in descending order by the amount sold and not in alphabetical order. #ypes of $utputs2aper and electronics are the two mostly used types of media to produce reports. Types of outputs or reports are as follows

Detail report#ists the detailed information about all the items re*uired.

Summary report#ists summary information about all items.

#urnaround document!utputs that turn around and become inputs

/raphs'harts used in addition to and instead of tables and numbers