III B.

Sc Sem-5 Software Engineering

UNIT IV

USER INTERFACE DESIGN AND REAL TIME SYSTEMS :

User interface design
Human factors
Human computer interaction
Human - Computer Interface design
Interface design
Interface standards

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Department of Computer Science, TJPS College, Guntur

III B.Sc Sem-5 Software Engineering

1. Explain the User interface design?

1. User Interface Analysis and Design
 The overall process for analyzing and designing a user interface begins with the creation
of different models of system function.
 The human and computer-oriented tasks that are required to achieve system function are
then delineated; design issues that apply to all interface designs are considered; are and
the result is evaluated for quality
2. Interface Analysis & Design Models : There are 4 different models that is to be considered
when a user interface is to be analyzed and designed.
User model Establishes a profile of all end users of the system
Users can be categorized as
Novice : No syntactic knowledge of the system and little semantic knowledge of the application
or computer usage of the system
Knowledgeable, intermittent users : Reasonable semantic knowledge of the application but
low recall of syntactic information to use the system
Knowledgeable, frequent users : Good semantic and syntactic knowledge
 Design model A design model of the entire system incorporates data, architectural,
interface and procedural representation of the software
A design realization of the user model
 User’s Mental model (system perception) the user’s mental image of what the
interface is
 Implementation model the interface “look and feel” coupled with supporting
information that describe interface syntax and semantics
When the implementation model and user’s mental model coincide, users generally feel
comfortable with the software and use it effectively.
3. User interface analysis and design process
 The user interface analysis and design process is an iterative process and it can be
represented as a spiral model
 It consists of 4 framework activities
1. User, task and environment analysis
2. Interface design
3. Interface construction
4. Interface validation
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Department of Computer Science, TJPS College, Guntur

III B.Sc Sem-5 Software Engineering

Interface analysis
 Understanding the user who interacts with the system based on their skill levels.
 The task the user performs to accomplish the goals of the system are identified, described
and elaborated.
Interface design
In interface design, all interface objects and actions that enable a user to perform all desired
task are defined
Implementation
A prototype is initially constructed and then later user interface development tools may be
used to complete the construction of the interface.
Validation
The correctness of the system is validated against the user requirement
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2. Explain the Human factors?
Competence : It encompasses innate talent, specific software-related skills, and overall
knowledge of the process that the team has chosen to apply. Skill and knowledge of process can
and should be taught to all people who serve as agile team members.
Common focus : Although members of the agile team may perform different tasks and bring
different skills to the project, all should be focused on one goal to deliver a working software
increment to the customer within the time promised. To achieve this goal, the team will also
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focus on continual adaptations that will make the process fit the needs of the team.

Department of Computer Science, TJPS College, Guntur

III B.Sc Sem-5 Software Engineering

Collaboration : Software engineering is about assessing, analyzing, and using information that
is communicated to the software team; creating information that will help all stakeholders
understand the work of the team; and building information that provides business value for the
customer. To accomplish these tasks, team members must collaborate with one another and all
other stakeholders.
Decision-making ability : Any good software team must be allowed the freedom to control its
own destiny. This implies that the team is given autonomy decision-making authority for both
technical and project issues.
Fuzzy problem-solving ability : Software managers must recognize that the agile team will
continually have to deal with ambiguity and will continually be buffeted by change. In some
cases, the team must accept the fact that the problem they are solving today may not be the
problem that needs to be solved tomorrow. However, lessons learned from any problem-solving
activity may be of benefit to the team later in the project.
Mutual trust and respect : The agile team must become what DeMarco and Lister call a
“jelled” team. A jelled team exhibits the trust and respect that are necessary to make them “so
strongly knit that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts".
Self-organization : In the context of agile development, self-organization implies three things:
(1) the agile team organizes itself for the work to be done, (2) the team organizes the process to
best accommodate its local environment, (3) the team organizes the work schedule to best
achieve delivery of the software increment.
Self-organization has a number of technical benefits, but more importantly, it serves to improve
collaboration and boost team morale.
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3. Explain the Human computer interaction?
“Human Computer Interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and
implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of the major
phenomena surrounding them.”
Examples of interactive computing systems
 Single PC - capable of displaying web pages
 Embedded devices, for example in cars and in cell phones
 Handheld Global Positioning Systems for outdoor activities
Goals of HCI
To develop or improve the
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 Safety
 Utility

Department of Computer Science, TJPS College, Guntur

III B.Sc Sem-5 Software Engineering

 Effectiveness
 Efficiency
 Usability
 Appeal
Safety :
 Safety of Users think of
• Air traffic control
• Hospital intensive care
 Safety of Data think of
• Protection of files from tampering
• Privacy and security
Utility and effectiveness :
 Utility: what services a system provides e.g. Ability to print documents
 Effectiveness: user’s ability to achieve goals, e.g.
• How to enter the desired information
• How to print a report
• Utility and effectiveness are distinct
• A system might provide all necessary services, but if users can’t find the services
items, the system lacks effectiveness
Efficiency : A measure of how quickly users can accomplish their goals or finish their work
using the system.
Usability : “A measure of the ease with which a system can be learned and used, its safety,
effectiveness and efficiency, and attitude of its users towards it” the extent to which a product
can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction in a specified context of use”.
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Department of Computer Science, TJPS College, Guntur