Designing the User Interface

Ben Shneiderman is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Founding Director (1983—2000) of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil), and Member of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and the Institute for Systems Research, all at the University of Maryland at College Park. He is a Fellow of the ACM and AAAS and received the ACM CHI (Computer Human Interaction) Lifetime Achievement Award. His books, research papers, and frequent lectures have made him an international leader in this emerging discipline. For relaxation he likes biking, hiking, skiing, and travel. Catherine Plaisant is Associate Research Scientist at the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. She earned a Doctorat d’Ingénieur degree in France in 1982 and has been conducting research in the field of human-computer interaction since then. In 1987, she joined Professor Shneiderman at the University of Maryland, where she has worked with students and members of the lab, throughout the growth of the field of human-computer interaction. Her research contributions range from focused interaction techniques to innovative visualizations validated with user studies to practical applications developed with industrial partners.   Maxine S. Cohen is a Professor in the Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she teaches graduate courses in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Before joining NSU, she worked at IBM in the User Centered Design department. Prior to IBM, she was a faculty member in the Computer Science department, in the Watson School of Engineering at the State University of New York at Binghamton. She has been teaching and working in the HCI field for over 20 years. She received a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Vermont, a M.S. (specialization Computer Science) and a Ph.D. (specialization Systems Science) from the State University of New York at Binghamton.   Steven M. Jacobs recently retired from the aerospace industry and is now a lecturer at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona. He was formerly with Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in Carson, California. Mr. Jacobs managed engineers developing user interface and web applications software for various government and commercial applications. He was also Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California for 17 years, where he developed and taught their graduate computer science courses in user interface design and human performance engineering. He has also taught short courses in similar topics for UCLA Extension and ACM.  He received his M.S.C.S. from UCLA, B.A. in Mathematics from Monmouth University (N.J.). 

Part I: Introduction

 

  CH 1  Usability of  Interactive Systems

    1.1 Introduction

    1.2 Usability Measures

    1.3 Usability Motivations

    1.4 Universal Usability

    1.5 Goals for Our Profession

   

   CH 2  Guidelines, Principles, and Theories

    2.1 Introduction

    2.2 Guidelines

    2.3 Principles

    2.4 Theories  

 




Part II: Development Processes




  CH 3  Managing Design Processes

    3.1 Introduction

    3.2 Organizational Design to Support Usability

    3.3 The Four Pillars of Design

    3.4 Development Methodologies

    3.5 Ethnographic Observation

    3.6 Participatory Design

    3.7 Scenario Development

    3.8 Social Impact Statement for Early Design Review

    3.9 Legal Issues

   

  CH 4  Evaluating Interface Designs

    4.1 Introduction

    4.2 Expert Reviews

    4.3 Usability Testing and Laboratories

    4.4 Survey Instruments

    4.5 Acceptance Tests

    4.6 Evaluation During Active Use

    4.7 Controlled Psychologically Oriented Experiments

   

 

Part III: Interaction Styles

 

  CH 5  Direct Manipulation and Virtual Environments      


    5.1 Introduction

    5.2 Examples of Direct Manipulation

    5.3 Discussion of Direct Manipulation

    5.4 3D Interfaces

    5.5 Teleoperation

    5.6 Virtual and Augmented Reality

   

  CH 6  Menu Selection, Form Fillin, and Dialog Boxes  


    6.1 Introduction

    6.2 Task-Related Menu Organization

    6.3 Single Menus

    6.4 Combinations of Multiple Menus 

    6.5 Content Organization

    6.6 Fast Movement through Menus

    6.7 Data Entry with Menus: Form Fillin, Dialog Boxes and Alternatives

    6.8 Audio Menus and Menus for Small Displays

   

  CH 7  Command and Natural Languages  


    7.1 Introduction

    7.2 Command-Organization Functionality, Strategies, and Structure

    7.3 Naming and Abbreviations

    7.4 Natural Language in Computing

 

  CH 8  Interaction Devices


    8.1 Introduction

    8.2 Keyboards and Keypads

    8.3 Pointing Devices

    8.4 Speech and Auditory Interfaces

    8.5 Displays — Small and Large 

 

  CH 9  Collaboration and Social Media Participation 


    9.1 Introduction

    9.2 Goals of Collaboration and Participation

    9.3 Asynchronous Distributed Interfaces: Different Place, Different Time

    9.4 Synchronous Distributed Interfaces: Different Place, Same Time

    9.5 Face-to-Face Interfaces: Same Place, Same Time




 

Part IV: Design Issues

 

  CH 10  Quality of Service 


    10.1 Introduction

    10.2 Models of Response Time Impacts

    10.3 Expectations and Attitudes

    10.4 User Productivity

    10.5 Variability in Response Time

    10.6 Frustrating Experiences

   

 CH 11  Balancing Function and Fashion       


    11.1 Introduction

    11.2 Error Messages

    11.3 Nonanthropomorphic Design

    11.4 Display Design

    11.5 Web Page Design

    11.6 Window Design

    11.7 Color

 

  CH 12 User Documentation and Online Help                


    12.1 Introduction

    12.2 Online versus Paper Documentation

    12.3 Reading from Paper versus from Displays

    12.4 Shaping the Content of the Documentation

    12.5 Accessing the Documentation

    12.6 Online Tutorials and Animated Demonstrations

    12.7 Online Communities for User Assistance

    12.8 The Development Process

 

CH 13  Information Search                                


    13.1 Introduction

    13.2 Searching in Textual Documents and Database Querying

    13.3 Multimedia Document Searches

    13.4 Advanced Filtering and Search Interface

 


CH 14  Information Visualization                                   


     14.1 Introduction

     14.2 Data Type by Task Taxonomy   

     14.3 Challenges for Information Visualization              

 

 

Afterword:  Societal and Individual Impact of User Interfaces 

     A.1 Future Interfaces

     A.2 Ten Plagues of the Information Age

     A.3 Continuing Controversies