Tips and Techniques for interface design

A fundamental reality of interactive application development is that the user interface is the place of the system communicates to the users. What users want from every developer is to build the applications that meet their needs and easy to use. Therefore too many developers think that they are artistic geniuses – they often do not bother to follow user interface design guideline or invest the effort to make their applications usable. Instead they mistakenly believe that the important thing is to make the applications are really colorful.

User interface design however is important for several reasons. First of all, the more intuitive the user interface the easier it is to use, and the easier it is to use and the less expensive to use it. The better the user interface the easier it is to train people to use it, reducing your training costs. The better your user interface the less help people will need to use it, reducing your support costs. The better your user interface the more your users will like to use it, increasing their satisfaction with the work that you have done. Here I discuss some Tips and Techniques for developing interface design that I revealed from some literature.

Consistency. I believe the most important thing you can possibly do is ensure the user interface works consistently. If you can double-click on items in one list and have something happen, then you should be able to double-click on items in any other list and have the same sort of thing happen. Put your buttons in consistent places on all your windows, use the same wording in labels and messages, and use a consistent color scheme throughout. Consistency in your user interface enables your users to build an accurate mental model of the way it works, and accurate mental models lead to lower training and support costs.

Standardize and stick to them. The only way you can ensure consistency within your application is to set user interface design standards, and then stick to them

Navigation. If it is difficult to get from one screen to another, then your users will quickly become frustrated and give up. When the flow between screens matches the flow of the work the user is trying to accomplish, then your application will make sense to your users. Because different users work in different ways, your system needs to be flexible enough to support their various approaches. User interface-flow diagrams should optionally be developed to further your understanding of the flow of your user interface. In most societies, people read left to right and top to bottom. Because people are used to this, should you design screens that are also organized left to right and top to bottom when designing a user interface for people from this culture?

Use color appropriately. Color should be used sparingly in your applications and, if you do use it, you must also use a secondary indicator. The problem is that some of your users may be color blind and if you are using color to highlight something on a screen, then you need to do something else to make it stand out if you want these people to notice it. You also want to use colors in your application consistently, so you have a common look and feel throughout your application.