GUI & UI Design

“User interface (ui) design rules and guidelines, developed by early hci gurus and recognized throughout the field, were based on cognitive psychology (study of mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language), and early practitioners were well informed of its tenants. but today, practitioners with backgrounds in cognitive psychology are a minority, as user interface designers and developers enter the field from a wide array of disciplines. hci practitioners today have enough experience in ui design that they have been exposed to ui design rules, but it is essential that they understand the psychological basis behind the rules in order to effectively apply them.jeff johnson, the author of morgan kaufmann’s successful gui bloopers presents the first practical guide to help designers and developers understand the psychology behind these tried and tested user interface design rules.johnson applies his engaging, often humorous style–already well known to designers and developers–to describe, in practical terms, the psychological basis for each rule, the value of understanding the reasons for each rule, how they interact in actual systems, and the tradeoffs designers have to make when confronted with conflicting rules or with tight budgets and deadlines.johnson is not attempting to redefine rules–he is simply taking the existing rules and presenting them in a practical way for current practitioners who either do not have a background in psychology or took the classes so long ago, the fundamentals have faded–tantamount to if you learn a language but don’t practice it, the nuances fade.the book will explain what interactive system designers and usability testers need to know about human perception and cognition. it will give designers just enough of a background in psychology that user-interface design guidelines make intuitive sense rather than being just a list of rules to learn and follow.* the first practical, all-in-one source for practitioners on user interface design rules and why, when and how to apply them.* provides just enough background into the reasoning behind interface design rules that practitioners can make informed decisions in every project.* gives practitioners the insight they need to make educated design decisions when confronted with tradeoffs, including competing design rules, time constrictions, or limited resources.”

“Human-computer interaction (hci) is the area of intersection between psychology and the social sciences, on the one hand, and computer science and technology, on the other. hci researchers analyse and design-specific user-interface technologies (e.g. three-dimensional pointing devices, interactive video). they study and improve the processes of technology development (e.g. usability evaluation, design rationale). they develop and evaluate new applications of technology (e.g. computer conferencing, software design environments). through the past two decades, hci has progressively integrated its scientific concerns with the engineering goal of improving the usability of computer systems and applications, thus establishing a body of technical knowledge and methodology. hci continues to provide a challenging test domain for applying and developing psychology and social science in the context of technology development and use. © 1997 academic press limited.”

“Lack of user acceptance has long been an impediment to the success of new information systems. the present research addresses why users accept or reject information systems and how user acceptance is affected by system design features. the technology acceptance model (tam) specifies the causal relationships between system design features, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward using, and actual usage behavior. attitude theory from psychology provides the rationale for hypothesized model relationships, and validated measures were used to operationalize model variables. a field study of 112 users regarding two end-user systems was conducted to test the hypothesized model. tam fully mediated the effects of system characteristics on usage behavior, accounting for 36% of the variance in usage. perhaps the most striking finding was that perceived usefulness was 50% more influential than ease of use in determining usage, underscoring the importance of incorporating the appropriate functional capabilities in new systems. overall, tam provides an informative representation of the mechanisms by which design choices influence user acceptance, and should therefore be helpful in applied contexts for forecasting and evaluating user acceptance of information technology. implications for future research and practice are discussed. © 1993 academic press. all rights reserved.”