User Interface is one of the most common front-end app view and direct human-computer interactions in which user can manipulate and control software as well as hardware. It can includes all methods and devices are used to accommodate interaction between machines and user. User interface can take out many forms, but always accomplishes two fundamental tasks :
- Communicating information from the machine to the user.
- Communicating information from the user to the machine.
Important qualities of User Interface Design are following :
- Simplicity :
- User Interface design should be simple.
- Less number of mouse clicks and keystrokes are required to accomplish this task.
- It is important that new features only add if there is compelling need for them and they add significant values to the application.
- Consistency :
- The user interface should have a more consistency.
- Consistency also prevents online designers information chaos, ambiguity and instability.
- We should apply typeface, style and size convention in a consistent manner to all screen components that will add screen learning and improve screen readability. In this we can provide permanent objects as unchanging reference points around which the user can navigate.
- Intuitiveness :
- The most important quality of good user interface design is intuitive.
- Intuitive user interface design is one that is easy to learn so that user can pick it up quickly and easily.
- Icons and labels should be concise and cogent. A clear unambiguous icon can help to make user interface intuitive and a good practice is make labels conform to the terminology that the application supports.
- Prevention :
- A good user interface design should prevents users from performing an in-appropriate task and this is accomplished by disabling or “graying cut” certain elements under certain conditions.
- Forgiveness :
- This quality can encourage users to use the software in a full extent.
- Designers should provide users with a way out when users find themselves somewhere they should not go.
- Graphical User Interface Design :
- A graphic user interface design provides screen displays that create an operating environment for the user and form an explicit visual and functional context for user’s actions.
- It includes standard objects like buttons, icons, text, field, windows, images, pull-down and pop-up screen menus.