1. Provide Effective Feedback and Guidance and Assistance
Providing the Proper Feedback
To be effective, feedback to the user for an action must occur within certain time limits.
Response Time
Dealing with Time Delays
Blinking for Attention
Use of Sound
Response Time:
System responsiveness should match the speed and flow of human thought processes
Dealing with Time Delays:
Button click acknowledgement
If an operation a. Waits up to 10 seconds - present a busy signal
b. Waits of 10 seconds to 1 minute – display progress indicator
c. Waits over 1 minute - display progress indicator,percentage,then acknowledgement for completion
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2. Blinking for Attention:
Attract attention by flashing an indicator when an application is inactive but must display a message to the user.
— If a window, flash the title bar.
— If minimized, flash its icon.
To provide an additional message indication, also provide an auditory signal
Use of Sound:
• Always use in conjunction with a visual indication.
• Use no more than six different tones.
• Do not use:
Jingles or tunes.
Loud signals.
• Use tones consistently.
Provide unique but similar tones for similar situations.
• Provide signal frequencies between 500 and 1,000 Hz.
• Allow the user to adjust the volume or turn the sound off altogether.
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3. Guidance and Assistance
Preventing Errors
Errors can be classified as slips or mistakes.
A slip is automatic behavior gone awry.
Slips are usually, but not always, corrected fairly easily.
Slips can be reduced through proper application of human factors in design
A mistake results from forming a wrong model or goal and then acting on it.
A mistake may not be easily detected because the action may be proper for the perceived goal—it is the goal that is wrong.
Problem Management
Prevention:
— Disable inapplicable choices.
— Use selection instead of entry controls.
- Detection:
For conversational dialogs, validate entries as close to point of entry as possible.
At character level.
At control level.
When the transaction is completed or the window closed.
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4. Correction: Always give a person something to do when an error occurs.
Preserve as much of the user’s work as possible.
Always give a person something to do when an error occurs.
Something to enter/save/reverse.
A Help button.
Someone to call.
Provide a constructive correction message saying:
What problem was detected?
Which items are in error?
What corrective action is necessary?
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5. Providing Guidance and Assistance
Guidance in the form of the
system’s hard-copy,
online documentation,
computer-based training,
instructional or prompting messages,
system messages
It serves as a cognitive development tool to aid this process.
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6. Useful guidance and assistance answers the following questions:
What is this?
What does it do?
How do I make it do it?
What is its role in the overall scheme of things?
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7. Problems with Documentation
Organizational factors.
Time scale
Theoretical rationale
Resources
How Users Interact with Documentation
Finding information is enhanced through use of contents pages and index lists.
Pictures and symbols can also be used to draw the reader’s attention to particular kinds of information.
Understanding can also be maximized through testing and revision of materials as necessary.
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8. Instructions or Prompting
Instructional or prompting information is placed within the body of a screen.
Prompting is provided to assist a person in providing what is necessary to complete a screen.
Inexperienced users find prompting a valuable aid in learning a system.
Since instructions or prompting can easily create screen noise, be cautious in placing it on a screen.
Use it only if all screen usage will be casual or infrequent
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9. The most common form of online documentation is the Help system.
Help Facility
The most common form of online documentation is the Help system.
The content (and structure) of an effective online Help can be specified using the GOMS (goals, operators, methods, selection rules) model
Help Facility Guidelines:
Kind:
Training:
Availability:
Structure:
Interaction:
Location:
Style:
Consistency:
Title:
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10. Contextual Help
Contextual Help provides information within the context of a task being performed, or about a specific object being operated upon.
Common kinds of contextual Help include
Help command buttons
status bar messages
ToolTips
What’s This? Command
Task-Oriented Help
Reference Help
Wizards
Hints or Tips

11. Help & Tooltip

12. Status bar message

13. Wizards

14. Hints or Tips

15. Provide Effective Internationalization and Accessibility
To make a product acceptable worldwide, it must be internationalized.
A system must also be designed to be usable by an almost unlimited range of people, being accessible to anyone who desires to use it.
The design concepts used to achieve these goals are called internationalization and accessibility.