User Interface Design – Taking the Good with the bad

USER INTERFACE

Title: User Interface Design – Taking the Good with the bad

Author: Mike Padilla

Publisher: Digital Web Magazine

Link:  http://www.digital-web.com/articles/user_interface_design_taking_the_good_with_the_bad/

Designing the UI should not be a result coming from office politics but should be a result of intensive study and review of its usability and what is essential to the users. Considering the design of UI there to consider the information that can be conveyed, information that the a user can process and the effective communication between the application and the user.

Sound usability principle should be the core of the design. It is also important to objectively evaluate the net usability of the proposed solution. The cost and the benefits of UI solutions/design is also needed to be evaluated. The impact of the design to the users and the benefits of the design are important to be identified. Measuring the success of the UI is needed, measuring it through ease of learning, efficiency of use, error frequency and subjective satisfaction.

Three things I learned from my reading assignment:

1.       The importance of taking in considerations all the costs and the benefits of each design.

2.       It is important to have a very strong foundation in designing UI.

3.       If you are a designer, you need to consider what is really effective and efficient, from the details of font size up to how many displays per scree.

Application:

As a librarian, designing and making lay-out design decisions can really be a difficult task. However, taking the side of how it will be effective and usable to the users is really important. The displays and even the menus are important things to consider. The group of people who will use is also important and how will they use it.