Theories, Principles, and Guidelines
Introduction
Successful designers of interactive systems know that they can and must
go beyond intuitive judgments made hastily when a design problem emerges.
Fortunately, guidance for designers is beginning to emerge in the form of
(1) high-level theories or models, (2) middle-level principles, and (3)
specific and practical guidelines. The theories or models offer a framework
or language to discuss issues that are application independent, whereas
the middle-level principles are useful in weighing more specific design
alternatives. The practical guidelines provide helpful reminders of rules
uncovered by designers.
In many contemporary systems, there is a grand opportunity to improve the
user interface. The cluttered displays, complex and tedious procedures,
inadequate functionality, inconsistent sequences of actions, and insufficient
informative feedback can generate debilitating stress and anxiety that lead
to poor performance, frequent minor and occasional serious errors, and job
dissatisfaction.
This chapter begins with a review of several theories, concentrating on
the syntacticp;semantic objectp;action model. Section 2.4 then deals
with frequency of use, task profiles, and interaction styles. Eight Golden
Rules of of Interface Design are offered in Section 2.5. Strategies for
preventing errors are described in Section 2.6. Specific guidelines for
data entry and display appear in Sections 2.7 and 2.8. Sections 2.9 and
2.10 address the difficult question of how to balance automation and human
control. Section 2.11 covers some legal issues.
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Last Updated:
11 December 2002
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