AdamMAlexB


 * Overview **

It is important to spend time and effort while designing a user interface because in the end it will be beneficial to both the user and designer. When creating a UI the designer must take into account what users want, their needs, and that the UI is easy to use. “A good user interface allows people who understand the problem domain to work with the application without having to read manuals or receive training” is a point made by Constantine about UI's. By spending the time and effort to create a good user interface it will help save money for the organization while also benefiting the users. The more direct a user interface is the easier to use it will be which in turn will make it less expensive. The more time you put into the UI the better it will be and it will be easier to train people to use it. Also with a quality interface people will need less help to use which will reduce your support costs and the more users like using the interface increasing their satisfaction, while keeping the user interested.

** Rubric **


 * Consistency || 27-30 || 18-26 || 10-17 || 0-9 ||
 * || Interface demonstrates all aspects of consistency including Internal, External, and Real-world. || Interface only demonstrates two out of the three aspects of consistency. || Interface only fully demonstrates one aspect of consistency. || Interface fails to fully demonstrate any aspect of consistency. ||
 * Help/Visual Aid || 22-26 || 16-22 || 8-15 || 0-7 ||
 * || Answers all five basic questions and visual aid is used extensively. || Answers only 3 of the 5 questions fully and visual aid is only partially used. || Answers only 1 and visual aid is minimally used. || Answers 0 and visual aid is not used. ||
 * Efficiency || 18-21 || 12-17 || 5-11 || 0-4 ||
 * || Interface has many shortcuts/ keystrokes. || Interface has some shortcuts/ keystrokes. || Interface has marginally available shortcuts/ keystrokes. || Interface has no shortcuts/ keystrokes. ||
 * Features || 11-17 || 7-10 || 4-6 || 0-3 ||
 * || Interface has many features. || Interface has some features. || Features are marginally available. || Interface has no features. ||
 * Familiarity || 5-6 || 3-4 || 1-2 || 0 ||
 * || Interface is exactly like other interfaces. || Interface is mostly similar to other interfaces. || Interface is similar to others. || Interface has no similarity whatsoever. ||

**Five - Seven Critical Principles To Consider In User Interface Design and Rubric **

Violations
>> >> >> >>
 * 1) Consistency
 * 2) Bad use of real world consistency[[image:consis.gif]]
 * 3) Help
 * 4) Bad use of help, loop logic
 * 1) Efficiency
 * 2) Too much efficiency, tool tips for every thing
 * 1) Features
 * 2) Too many features
 * 1) Familiarity
 * 2) Not very familiar

**New Development for UI Design **

The interface allows users that have basic computer knowledge. Uses many menus and popup dialogs to let the user know which item is selected. Has good internal consistency in regards to navigation, good external has menu bar across the middle to allow access to different parts of the interface more easily. Has minimal real world consistency in regards to the envelope icon next to the email bar. Interface doesn’t really resemble any other that we have seen. The interface uses notification and focuses the user’s attention fairly well by providing a lot of visual cues including changing colors, making words bigger, making pictures bigger, etc…. The interface is very limited with keystroke or shortcut efficiency. The interface offers very little help, it doesn’t let you change the language and no help boxes appear. It does however create a popup window when you’re trying to send an email if you click send without completing all the fields. The interface does not offer different levels of user technical skill. It basically requires basic user knowledge of the internet. Interface doesn’t have modality or non-modality because there isn’t really any object that you can click on.
 * Agatha**


 * Rating: Total = 52/100**
 * 1) **Consistency - 24**
 * 2) **Help - 16**
 * 3) **Efficiency - 5**
 * 4) **Features - 4**
 * 5) **Familiarity - 3**



The interface allows users that have basic computer knowledge. Features of the interface include the menu at the top with the search box along with the scrollbar in the middle to scan possible selections. Interface has mostly internal consistency in regards to the scrollbar being on every page except for news. Good external consistency in that the interface always has the menu bar across the top to let you access and navigate all the different pages. The interface does not really have a need for real world consistency. The interface has good notification and helps focus user’s attention by showing the picture of the site your mouse is hovering over gets larger. Also on the top menu when you are on a selected page it turns white instead of the blue, along with the pointer image changing from arrow to hand. The interface has minimal efficiency, for example in the preferences box for news it would be nice if they had a checkbox you could check to check all instead of having to check every box you want. On the other hand the scrollbar allows for faster navigation of the search engine. The interface has some help and documentation in that when you are searching for things it deems inappropriate it comes up saying you can’t search for that. Also if a link it has offered doesn’t work it has a popup window saying that the link is not available. In the interface there are no objects that can be selected besides the checkbox’s in the preferences page, so the interface has no real modality or non-modality.
 * Redz**


 * Rating: Total = 62/100**
 * 1) **Consistency - 28**
 * 2) **Help - 23**
 * 3) **Efficiency - 14**
 * 4) **Features - 12**
 * 5) **Familiarity - 5**



Since it’s a coffee website it correctly evaluates its users in that all they need is basic computer knowledge. The interface has extensive usage of menu bars, toolbars, and menu’s throughout the main pages. For internal consistency, once you navigate to another page only the horizontal menu bars are still available while the side menu disappears. Also the submenu and the bottom panel menu bar are retained no matter what page you are on. The interface has good external consistency in that the menu bar lets you navigate to any page from all the different pages. The interface has some real word consistency in that on location tab it has an envelope icon and printer icon for email and printing. The interface has the basic familiarity of internet websites. The interface has great notification and visual cues in that the pointer changes to a hand, if you’re about to make a selection the color changes, and the coffee bean moves along with your mouse on the side menu bar on the homepage. The interface has some efficiency. It has drop down menus to allow for easier search. However there are no keystroke shortcuts that you can use with this interface. The interface has adequate help in that it provides an about page, along with a frequently asked questions page. Also it informs user with red warning box if you have had a problem with your sign in, along with letting the user no if they don’t have a store in the location that you specified. The interface lets you select a location and then click checkbox’s to see if it has wifi, drive through, or meeting space. 
 * Caribou Coffee**


 * Rating: Total = 80/100**
 * 1) **Consistency - 26**
 * 2) **Help - 22**
 * 3) **Efficiency - 19**
 * 4) **Features - 8**
 * 5) **Familiarity - 5**



Microsoft has improved its Word project greatly in the past decade. In Word 97 they use a system of file menus for all your information including file, edit, view, etc... While in Word 2010 they have implemented what they call a ribbon across the top with tabs of these things. So instead of having to use a pull down menu you can just select a tab on the ribbon and all the information will be displayed in that tab. Although Word 97 is the older version it still uses the same real-world consistency icons as 2010. The save, print, spell check, paste, and cut among others. Although Word 2010 is more efficient because it allows the user to copy and paste content in many different formats and it has created new and better icons for many other functions. Word 2010 focus's user attention better with its use of colors and highlighting around box's the user selects. Word 97 and 2010 both use underlining to notify users of errors but 2010 improves on the 97 version in that it changes the colors of the lines for different errors. Also Word 2010 has a lot more features than 97. You can create graphs, cover pages, and hyperlinks easily. Basically Word 2010 makes the users life easier which is one of the main criteria’s for a good User Interface.
 * __Windows Microsoft Word 97 vs. Windows Microsoft Word 2010__**





= ** Critique of NetBeans UI Design ** = Netbeans has great internal consistency in that when you are creating components for your application it has the same icon for each component in the pallet you take it from as well as in the lower left projects that you are creating. Also Netbeans provides good real-world consistency in that it has icons that are familiar to us in the real-world including the hammer to build the project, the play button to run the project, the basic scissors and printer icons for cutting and printing, as well as the hammer and the broom for cleaning and building. While we found great examples of internal and real-world consistency we couldn’t find any external consistency.
 * __Netbeans__**



Blue - Real World Consistency Red - Internal Consistency

Netbeans has the basic help menu which gives you online support, and index, and a shortcut card to show you the different keystrokes you can use. Also in the source code of your project Netbeans gives you underlining to tell you if you have an error and a light bulb to tell you if you need to import something. It’s nice that with the light bulb when you click it, it shows you exactly what you are missing.



Netbeans is a very efficient interface in that in the main page it allows for easy use to create an application by dragging and dropping components and easy visual structures in the project, navigator, and pallet boxes. Also Netbeans has a ton of shortcut keystrokes available.



Netbeans is also efficient when creating a code for a component like a button. If you double click the button Netbeans will automatically create a method for it in the source code so you just have to write the code for that method.



Netbeans features include its use of pull down menus as well as being able to go back and forth from the design view to the source view of the application. Netbeans has features everywhere including the toolbars and the navigator and project panels.


 * The many features of Netbeans**

The interface is familiar to other java based applications like Microsoft web expression in that it gives you palettes to choose components from and the basic visual structure of it. Also the Netbeans interface is familiar users with basic computer skills in that it has the file, save, open, edit, and help menus along with basic navigation of any application.