#20186
Integrating End-User Support Into New Software 
Most writers have little or no control on how their online support is integrated into the product. Except for contextsensitive links, most help systems, online manuals, and tutorials are standalone applications. This separation negatively impacts the usability of the product. Technical writers need to insist on integrating their support material into the product ifthey are to achieve Day-One Performance.
Timpone, Donna. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Software>User Interface
#28256
Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction is an explanation of the design of the current and next generation interactive technologies, such as the web, mobiles, wearables. These exciting new technologies bring additional challenges for designers and developers - challenges that require careful thought and a disciplined approach. Written for both students and practitioners from a broad range of backgrounds, this book addresses these challenges using a practical and refreshing approach. The text covers a wide range of issues, topics and paradigms that go beyond the traditional human-computer interaction (HCI).
Perlman, Gary. Interaction Design (2002). Resources>User Interface>Interaction Design>User Experience
#26451
Interaction Design Association Resource Library
The IxDA Resource Library is an annotated collection of content on all aspects of interaction design.
Interaction Design Association. Resources>User Interface>Interaction Design
#20994
This course explore issues in relation to different expressions of interface design: software interfaces, web interfaces, and physical products. We will also spend a good deal of time exploring usability principles and concepts on which we can base our expressions.
Danzico, Liz. Bobulate (2003). Academic>Courses>User Interface
#20601
Users of Web documents don't just look at information, they interact with it in novel ways that have no precedents in paper document design. The graphic user interface (GUI) of a computer system comprises the interaction metaphors, images, and concepts used to convey function and meaning on the computer screen. It also includes the detailed visual characteristics of every component of the graphic interface and the functional sequence of interactions over time that produce the characteristic look and feel of Web pages and hypertext linked relations. Graphic design and visual 'signature' graphics are not used simply to enliven Web pages--graphics are integral to the user's experience with your site. In interactive documents graphic design cannot be separated from issues of interface design.
Lynch, Patrick J. and Sarah Horton. Yale University (1999). Design>Web Design>User Interface
#23976
Interface Design as a Life or Death Proposition
While the FDA has always required thorough documentation of product development, recent initiatives have instituted a more prescriptive, design-focused procedure encouraging extensive user research at the beginning of the development process.
LeMoine, Doug. Cooper Interaction Design (2002). Design>User Interface>Usability>Biomedical
#18513
GUI(그래픽 유저 인터페이스)는 퍼스널 컴퓨터와 사용자간의 인터페이스를 제공하기 위하여 디자인되었다. 사용자는 현재 웹 페이지를 포함한 모든 그래픽 인터페이스에서 세련된 디자인 수준을 원한다. 이 단계의 목표는 잠재적인 사용자의 기대에 부응하는 웹 기술을 적용하여 사용자가 이용하기에 편리한 인터페이스를 구현함으로써 사용자의 요구를 만족시키는 것이다. 그리고 사용자가 무엇을 원하고 있는지에 대한 조사와 통계를 내는 것은 매우 중요하다. 요구사항이 무엇인지를 알 수 없는 사용자를 위해서 사이트를 디자인한다는 것은 불가능하다. 당신의 사이트에서 정보를 찾는 여러 유형의 사용자들을 대상으로 예제 시나리오를 만들어야 한다. 특정 정보를 찾는 경험 많은 사용자들은 여러분의 홈페이지 디자인에 도움을 받을까 아니면 방해를 받을까? 당신의 사이트 디자인을 테스트하고 다양한 사용자로부터 의견을 피드백하는 것이 당신의 디자인 의도가 충실히 구현되었는가를 판단할 수 있는 가장 좋은 방법이다.
GoodMorning.pe.kr. (Korean) Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
#26784
Interface in Form: Paper and Product Prototyping for Feedback and Fun
Sketching and modeling are integral features of the design process, critical for both the generation of ideas, and the communication of concepts to others for discussion and evaluation, particularly in the context of human-centered design. While these methods are a natural component of the designer’s education and professional tool kit, there is immense value in exposing other professions involved in the development of products and interfaces to at least a limited set of these same basic tools.
Hanington, Bruce. uiGarden (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Interface
#19043
The Interface in the Environment: "One Size Fits Nobody"
At the outset of an interface design project we would normally conduct a detailed phase of user requirements gathering. We have discussed the various methods of conducting these in previous articles, but typically this includes stakeholder interviews and task analysis exercises. As many of you will be aware the results of this stage will lead to the development of user personas, task scenarios and ultimately lead to the development of wireframe screens of the interface. We tailor this approach to suit the job, so that specialised interfaces such as stock trading software will focus more on complex task analysis while mass-market interfaces such as Interactive TV will focus more on different user profiles. If the research and analysis is carried out well, then the resulting interaction design should be effective, allowing users to complete the required tasks easily. However, apart from the user and task there is one other key factor influencing the usability of the interface – the user environment.
Long, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Contextual Inquiry
#28211
The Interface of a Cheeseburger
All things have an interface. Shaping interfaces is shaping the character of things. The brand is what transports the character of things. When looking at McDonalds, iPod, Nintendo DS it becomes quite obvious that the interface is the brand.
#21632
Interfaces de Usuario Atentas (AUIs)
Muchos de nosotros tratamos diariamente con diversos dispositivos que compiten por nuestra atención. Las redes inalámbricas, como WiFi, les permitirán hablar entre ellos, aumentando la complejidad de la interacción. Las AUIs (Attentive User Interfaces) vienen en nuestra ayuda.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). Design>User Interface>Ambient
#28679
Interfaces for People, Not Products
Without cooperation among designers of digital products, the proliferation of complex information systems can lead to unintended consequences--chiefly user fatigue, frustration, and the confusion that results from dealing with a host of variant user interfaces.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2006). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design
#28913
Interfaces That Flow: Transitions as Design Elements
Many UX designers--myself included--approach projects from a combination of information architecture, information design, interaction design, and visual design perspectives. These disciplines and their methods are fundamentally different from those people use to construct the continuous linear narratives we see and hear in film, video, and music. However, as the technologies for creating interactive user experiences become more robust--especially in the realm of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs)--we have an opportunity to draw upon a much wider visual vocabulary. This will also make narrative elements such as timing, pacing, and rhythm increasingly important. Using such design elements may enable us to move users from mere understanding to engagement and, ultimately, to immersion in our digital products and services.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2007). Design>Web Design>User Interface
#11857
Browse the complete table of contents for this book and read about international usability testing.
del Galdo, Elisa and Jakob Nielsen. John Wiley and Sons (1996). Books>Usability>User Interface>International
#27312
Introduction to Apple Human Interface Guidelines
These guidelines are designed to assist you in developing products that provide Mac OS X users with a consistent visual and behavioral experience across applications and the operating system.
Apple Inc. (2006). Design>User Interface>User Experience>Macintosh
#29793
What do customers want from our software and documentation? They want to accomplish tasks, and to obtain information about tasks, as quickly and painlessly as possible. Do they also expect to be entertained along the way? No, not when there is work to be done. Years of usability analysis in the software industry indicates very clearly that clarity and ease-of-use is topmost on the minds of software users.
Kocher, Sue. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>User Interface>Software>Usability
#21428
Is the Internet Really Collapsing?
The sky is falling. It has been falling for about a year now, and it feels like it won’t stop falling until every business associated with the Internet is dead, dead, dead. What is happening now happens with every new explosion of technology. When the sky has finished falling, it will leave behind an industry with far fewer, but much healthier players. And then things will get better than they ever were.
Tognazzini, Bruce. Nielsen Norman Group (2001). Careers>Web Design>User Interface
#24003
Iteration without a good design foundation is a very risky method.
Cooper, Alan. Cooper Interaction Design (2001). Design>User Interface
#29288
The original tab signaled an information storage revolution and helped enable everything from management consulting to electronic data processing.
Tenner, Ed. Technology Review (2005). Articles>User Interface>Information Design>History
#22365
Language Style Guide for Software Developers
This style guide is designed to help software developers with the language aspects of screen design. It is not comprehensive, but it does cover the most common problems. For comprehensive style guidelines for documentation see the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications. TechScribe is based in the UK, and although we produce documentation for both the US and the UK markets, we have used British English in this guide. The document can be printed on both US Letter and A4 size paper.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Design>User Interface>Style Guides
#20817
A Layered Interaction Analysis of Direct Manipulation
The concept of direct manipulation is usually viewed as a single characteristic of a class of interaction styles. Here, direct manipulation is analyzed according to a detailed layered interaction model, showing that it has quite different effects on the dialogue on the different levels. In particular, the "no errors" claim may be true at the syntax level but not at several of the levels above or below that level. Furthermore, a unified framework is presented for conceptualizing Direct Manipulation, What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), Transparency, Immediate Command Specification, Arcticulatory Directness, and Computational Appliances according to a layered interaction view.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1992). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface
#23717
Users have goals when they use software applications. Their goal is NOT to 'use' the application. Their goal is to complete an activity or task using the application. Performance support is defined as providing users what they need to be successful in completing their activity or task when they need it – at the point of need. Technical communicators can benefit from incorporating performance support elements into their work, even if they are not creating a performance support system.
Rupel, Roberta A. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>User Interface>Usability>EPSS
#21047
Learning From Photoshop's "Variations" Tool
Adobe has been using one of the most effective contemporary goal-oriented interactive mechanisms for years, and a lot of product designers should have been paying attention. It is, of course, the 'Variations' tool.
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Articles>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction
#25905
Listen Up!: Speech Recognition's Impact on Communication, Rhetoric, and Interface
Look around the computer screen on which you're viewing this document. Do you see a keyboard and mouse a short distance away? These two traditional input devices have become so deeply entrenched as the established human-computer interface that they are inseparable from our notion of the 'computing experience.' Yet in many ways, keyboards and mice only make our experiences with computers more unnatural, forcing us into modes of interaction that we would never use with other people. In other words, they make humans interact with machines, rather than machines with humans.
Propper, Ryan. Stanford University (2005). Articles>User Interface>Rhetoric>Voice
#27016
Living La Vida Virtual: Interfaces of the Near Future
Personal computing is in an awkward adolescence right now. On one hand, we are rapidly moving into ubiquitous computing environments that let people constantly interact with the omnipresent network; on the other, the devices and interfaces we are using to enter these new frontiers provide woefully inadequate user experiences. Let's take a look at one of the key technologies that will take mobile user experiences to the next level: holography.
Knemeyer, Dirk. UXmatters (2005). Design>User Interface>Ubiquitous Computing>User Experience
