Solution Manual for Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, 6th Edition

Name: Solution Manual for Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, 6th Edition
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Chapter 1: Usability of Interactive Systems
Discussion Topics with Answers
1. Devise an outline, consistent with the scientific method, which interface
researchers should follow to validate their designs.
Following the scientific method closely works very well in usability studies.
Identify a “control”, formulate a hypothesis, test for hypothesis being true or
false, etc. is an ideal model for interface researchers.
2. List some characteristics of successful user interface designers with respect to
their approach to solving UI problems
– Successful UI designers go beyond vague notions of “user friendliness”,
“intuitive”, and “natural” doing more than simply making checklists of
subjective guidelines.
– They have a thorough understanding of the diverse community of users
and the tasks that must be accomplished.
– They study evidence-based guidelines and pursue the research literature
when necessary.
– They are deeply committed to enhancing the user experience, which
strengthens their resolve when they face difficult choices, time pressures,
and tight budgets
– Are aware of the importance of eliciting emotional responses, attracting
attention with animations, and playfully surprising users
3. As noted in the book, some skeptics feel that accommodating diversity requires
dumbing-down or lowest-common-denominator strategies. However, the
authors claim that in their experience, rethinking interface designs to
accommodate these diversity situations will result in a better product for all
users. Give an example of a product that meets the specific needs of a certain
group of people, yet gives all users a better experience.
One answer could be Automated Teller Machines (ATM) seen in ethnically
diverse neighborhoods, allowing the user to select the language before
continuing to interact with the machine. Chapter 6 goes into detail via a Case
Study on ATM design.
4. List several reasons why certain people resist using computers and suggest
possible ways to you can alleviate these concerns.
One could argue that a major limitation is the complexity of the interfaces
combined with small screens and fonts. Many persons are just not able to
comfortable select a tiny item from a drop down list with a mouse, and, to
many, that still is a difficult concept to grasp: to hold the mouse button down
when selecting an item as well as knowing when to release the button is a bit
complex to the novice. Solutions could be touch-screen (mouse-less) designs
with large font sizes.

Chapter 2: Universal Usability
Discussion Topics with Answers
1. Describe three populations of users with special needs. For each of these
populations, suggest three ways current interfaces could be improved to better serve
them.
Elderly, very young, not computer savvy. Some of this work has begun by
tailoring control panels for Windows and Mac interfaces, e.g. default font
sizes. There is still much work to do regarding introduction to computers. The
One Laptop Per Child initiative is a start for two of the three items listed here.
2. Suppose you need to design a system for users in both the United States and Japan.
Present a list of cultural differences that you should be aware of so that a successful
design can be made.
There are a number of references on internationalization of user interfaces.
Not only the difference in the languages, but cultural differences need to be
considered. Usability testing with both U.S. and Japanese users is a must. A
classic reference is “International User Interfaces” by Elisa M. del Galdo and
Jakob Nielsen. Another is available at:
http://www.amanda.com/cms/uploads/media/AMA_GlobalizationUserInterfaceDesignWeb.pdf
3. In certain interfaces, it is necessary to inform users of an abnormal condition or
time-dependent information. It is important that the display of this information
catches the user's attention. Suggest five ways a designer can successfully attract
attention.
Consider an air traffic control system operator display with an alert condition
of two planes being too close to each other. One can alert an operator by
changing the color displayed for the plane’s identification information, using a
warning that pops-up, using a warning that flashes on/off, an audible beep, or
a constant audio alarm. Certainly usability testing these proposed solutions
with real air traffic controllers so designers can trade-off successfully
attracting the attention of the operator vs. causing one to totally lose their
train of thought and make conditions worse.
4. Name a piece of software you often use where it is easy to produce an error. Explain
ways you could improve the interface to better prevent errors.
Not to mention names, but some desktop operating system vendors do
publish updates to their products without fully testing their changes,
sometimes causing more difficulty than not making the change in the first
place. My suggestion would be to use a beta test group more often of people
who are committed to responding with timely, incisive feedback before the
change is released to the general population.
5. List some human physiological or psychological factors that can influence human
operator performance.

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Variations in physical abilities and physical workplaces, diverse cognitive and
perceptual abilities, personality types, and factors affecting perceptual and
motor performance, such as:
‒ Arousal and vigilance
‒ Fatigue and sleep deprivation
‒ Perceptual (mental) load
‒ Knowledge of results and feedback
‒ Monotony and boredom
‒ Sensory deprivation
‒ Nutrition and diet
‒ Fear, anxiety, mood, and emotion
‒ Stress
‒ Drugs, smoking, and alcohol
‒ Physiological rhythms

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Chapter 3: Guidelines, Principles, and Theories
Discussion Topics with Answers
1. Give a brief explanation of the Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design. State an
example you have seen on a device, computer interface or web site that violates
those rules.
The Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design are listed here (also see DTUI6
Section 3.4 of DTUI6):
1) Strive for consistency
2) Cater to universal usability
3) Offer informative feedback
4) Design dialogs to yield closure
5) Prevent errors
6) Permit easy reversal of actions
7) Keep users in control
8) Reduce short-term memory load
2. Don Norman suggests organizing screens and menus functionally, designing
commands and menu choices to be distinctive, and making it difficult for users to
take irreversible actions. Norman also says to provide feedback about the state of
the interface (e.g., changing the cursor to show whether a map interface is in zoom-
in or select mode) and designing for consistency of actions (e.g., ensuring that
Yes/No buttons are always displayed in the same order). State one example you
have seen where you know these rules have been violated. Although this is crucial to
a user interfaces success, suggest why there may be challenges to implement some
of Norman’s guidelines.
Many of the GPS-based vehicle navigation systems in automobiles and in
portable devices could use some additional usability testing to not violate
some of Don Norman’s premises listed above. Improvements can occur via
intensive usability testing while understanding better the human factors of
computer-assisted driving.
3. Clarify the difference among guidelines, principles and theories.
• Guidelines: Low-level focused advice about good practices and cautions
against dangers.
• Principles: Middle-level strategies or rules to analyze and compare design
alternatives.
• Theories: High-level widely applicable frameworks to draw on during design
and evaluation, as well as to support communication and teaching.
– Theories can also be predictive, such as those for pointing times by
individuals or posting rates for community discussions.
4. What are “accessibility guidelines”? Discuss progress from organization(s) that are
taking the lead. State a few example guidelines.

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Significant progress has been made by organizations sensitive to those with
special needs. Visit these web sites to show progress to date and examples:
– U.S. Access Board: http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm
– World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
Sample Guidelines:
– Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element
– For any time-based multimedia presentation, synchronize equivalent
alternatives
– Information conveyed with color should also be conveyed without it
– Title each frame to facilitate identification and navigation
5. What is the difference between micro-HCI theories and macro-HCI theories?
Micro-HCI theories focus on measurable performance (such as speed and
errors) on multiple, standard tasks taking seconds or minutes in laboratory
environments.
Macro-HCI Theories focus on case studies of user experience over weeks and
months, in realistic usage contexts with rich social engagement.

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Chapter 4: Design
Discussion Topics with Answers
1. You are the new Chief Design Officer (CDO) of a new start-up, DTUI Inc. The project is
to design a system for hospitals that will allow receptionists to check in people at the
hospital faster. They wish to develop an interface that meets both the receptionist and
patient's needs. Describe in detail a design methodology of 4 stages to facilitate proper
design of such a system.
Write your answer in the form of a management plan for this project. For each stage,
indicate the number of weeks that should be allocated. Hint: note the four phases of the
design process:
1. Requirements analysis
2. Preliminary (conceptual) and detailed design
3. Build and implementation
4. Evaluation
Consider a wide range of acceptable answers, as long as a complete design
methodology is present like those illustrated in Figure 4.1. See if the students
utilize a design framework as discussed in the chapter, such as: user-centered
design, participatory design, or agile interaction design.
Ensure that the answer is written as a true management plan, where there is a
specific project title, overview, scope or mission of the development team,
responsible individuals, duration, possible cost estimate, development facilities,
milestone delivery dates, customer acceptance or sell-off process, etc., following
a good project planning discipline.
For questions 2-4, refer to the following scenario:
The State of Maryland is developing a web-voting interface. For selecting the candidates,
one design (RB) is a set of radio buttons and another is (CB) a combo-box (drops down
when selecting the scroll arrow icon), both using standard fonts at 10-point size.
2. Compare these two designs when there are 4 candidates and predict the relative
speed of performance and error rates. Support your choice by a thoughtful
argument.
Sketch out one design/diagram each for the radio-button based solution as
well as the combo-box-based solution. Handwritten is fine. List 4 candidates
running for office. One method to obtain the answer is a very lightly
controlled set of experiments, where you time a few people running through
the election process. Also consider obtaining a fresh (unbiased review) from a
friend, classmate or colleague who can provide objective feedback. If time
permits, prototype this interface and see if the machine-executable solution
changed your view from the paper-driven, low-fidelity prototype.
3. An expert reviewer complains that both designs may work with young users who
are familiar and expert in using a mouse, but that there will be problems for elderly
and motor-impaired users who have difficulty controlling a mouse. The reviewer

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recommends a new design that includes a larger font (20-point size) and a
numbered list to allow selection by keyboard easily.
Describe a Participatory Design or Social Impact Statement process that might
clarify this issue with elderly users.
Summarize why this is important. For example, with medical breakthroughs,
there is an aging population who may have physical limitations but still desire
to vote. These voting systems need to achieve universal usability, otherwise
you risk disempowering the voter and biasing the result to only those who are
familiar with the technology. These socio-technical systems are important
challenges for today’s user interface designer.
4. Design an experiment to help resolve the issue brought up in Question 3. Assume
you have substantial resources and access to subjects.
As in 2 above, you need to visualize the interface, drawing or prototype what
this new interface would look like, and again perform experiments with
potential users. It would be ideal to obtain representative users, such as older
individuals, to compare the new design with the old.
5. Provide a definition of participatory design. Give three arguments for and three
arguments against participatory design.
Participatory design is the direct involvement of people in the collaborative
design of the things and technologies they use. Many arguments are in favor
when dealing with user interfaces, such as obtaining feedback from
representative user communities, ensuring ease of use, and verifying
marketability. Risks include personalities and politics, where one example is
where the user community suggests one solution while the sponsors (e.g.
venture capitalists or marketing department or senior management) prefer
another approach. Hopefully a suitable compromise can be reached.
6. Consider a system that does not yet exist. An example is a totally automated fast-
food restaurant, where customers order via touch screen interactions, pay by swiping
their debit or credit cards, and then pick up their food—analogous to the self-check-
out at some supermarkets, but even more extreme. Discuss how you conduct a
contextual inquiry for a system that does not yet exist.
Recall the definition of a contextual inquiry: Plan for, prepare, and then
conduct field interviews to observe and understand the work tasks being
performed. Review business practices. However, note the system does not yet
exist! So, you will need a prototype or even a series of sketches with a
scenario, to talk potential users through your vision of what the system will
do and how it will perform. Then, you capture the observations much like that
of an existing system, formulating results and trending responses.

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CASE STUDY: Evaluate an existing system where you would propose improvements to the
user interface. For example, visit the local mass transit station (e.g., the subway)
and observe users purchasing tickets. If possible, interview users regarding their
preferences for improvements in usability. One method to facilitate user cooperation
may be to solicit fellow students or colleagues who are new to your community and
have not yet taken a ride on the subway system. Plan for contextual interviews by
developing questionnaires. Conduct the contextual interviews, then tabulate the
results and analyze them with an eye to understanding the demographics and skills
of the user community. Then follow the remaining steps outlined in this list,
eventually developing storyboards and prototypes to evaluate with users.
Consider tailoring this assignment that is doable as a team homework
assignment to be completed in about one week. Ensure the students are
performing in a safe environment both for their own personal safety (picture
your students randomly approaching strangers at a subway station ;-) and
make sure the subject are also reliable, representative users of such as
system. When this author’s university chose to implement automated
information kiosks on campus to help visitors and new students find their way
around the campus, I chose that as a class evaluation project rather than the
local subway station. We were able to perform most of the steps required in
the case study above, in a safe environment where students wanted to help
my students pass the class and complete the assignment. Students can
develop questionnaires by taking sample questions from QUIS, but often were
time-constrained and had to just develop a few, quick, poignant interview
questions to capture feedback.

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Chapter 5: Evaluation and the User Experience
Discussion Topics with Answers
1. Describe at least three different types of expert review methods.
See DTUI6 Section 5.2 for a discussion of these expert review methods:
a) Heuristic evaluation
b) Guidelines review
c) Consistency inspection
d) Cognitive walkthrough
e) Formal usability inspection
2. Create a bird's-eye view of an interface you wish to investigate. Focus on detecting
inconsistencies and spotting unusual patterns.
Recall that getting a bird’s-eye view of an interface by studying a full set of
printed screens laid out on the floor or pinned to walls, fruitful in detecting
inconsistencies and spotting unusual patterns. The bird’s-eye view enables
reviewers to quickly see if the fonts, colors, and terminology are consistent
and whether the multiple developers have adhered to a common style. Have
your students pick a favorite interface to perform this task, e.g. a popular
web site or commonly-used device such as a Smartphone.
3. Compare and contrast controlled psychological experiments and usability tests in
the evaluation process of user interfaces. Be sure to include the benefits and
limitations of each.
See DTUI6 Section 5.3 (Usability Testing and Laboratories) and Section 5.7
(Controlled Psychologically Oriented Experiments). Clearly an overlying
benefit of both is obtaining factual, controlled, user input from representative
users. One of the personal challenges of this author has been justifying the
return on investment, i.e. convincing management of the benefits of
conducting these experiments and/or usability tests vs. the cost, and how it
will impact the bottom line, increased user satisfaction, sales, reduced user
error rate, and ease of use.
4. Give two reasons why expert reviews are useful. Also give two limitations of expert
reviews.
Expert reviews provide knowledgeable, objective, comprehensive insight for
user interface designers. A risk is getting off track if the expert review is not
structured in advance or the expert is not particularly familiar with the task
domain. See last two paragraphs of DTUI6 Section 5.2.
For questions 5-7, refer to the following instructions:
One argument against the current interface design of a popular word processor is
that it has all the functional menu items appearing together which cause the
interface to be too complex. This complexity results in a confusing and frustrating
experience for novice users. An alternative design is to provide different levels of

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functional complexity, so users can choose the level that is suitable for them, then
advance to higher level as they get familiar with the tool, thus feel more
comfortable and learn more efficiently. You are asked to conduct usability testing
to compare these two designs.
5. Which type of usability testing should be used for this situation? Explain why.
Walk through all the usability testing methods discussed in DTUI6 Section 5.3.4
and discuss why they are or are not applicable here. For example, a paper
mockup may not work as most are familiar with one- or two-word processing
applications already. The spectrum of usability testing includes:
a) Paper mockups and prototyping
b) Discount usability testing
c) Competitive usability testing
d) A/B testing
e) Universal usability testing
f) Field tests and portable labs
g) Remote usability testing
h) Can-you-break-this tests
6. List some general principles of subject selection in usability testing. How should
you select subjects for this case?
Selecting the appropriate subjects is important. The subjects should be
representative. Make sure sampling techniques for a random subject selection
are appropriate for your application. Consider demographics, experience,
confidence level, motivation, convenience, subject groups, and other factors
covered in DTUI6 Section 5.7.2 (Experimental Design).
7. List and briefly describe the steps in the usability testing you would conduct.
View DTUI6 Figure 5.2 repeated below. One answer may be tailoring of this
guide for your application and situation.

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