User Interface Specialist Training

LENGTH: 15 Days - The course is usually offered one week per month at your facilities, over a three-month period

COURSE OVERVIEW: This course covers the basic information needed to improve the design of user interfaces in computer products, applications and systems. It is intended for system developers, user interface specialists, and others, who desire to improve their knowledge and skills related to usability, and the design and development of high quality user interfaces. This course is frequently the first formal training, and sometimes the only formal training, available to these user interface practitioners.

The course uses Dr. Bailey's textbook, Human Performance Engineering: Designing High Quality, Professional User Interfaces for Computer Products, Applications and Systems (Prentice-Hall, Third Edition, 1996), plus up-to-date additional materials.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of this course, participants will:

Be prepared to effectively and efficiently handle common user interface design issues.
Be more user-oriented in their considerations of key usability decisions.
Understand human limitations, and how they relate to making good user interface decisions.
Be able to find, read and understand the current research literature related to the design and development of high quality user interfaces.
Understand and be able to effectively use a user interface design model.
Be familiar with an iterative design methodology that leads to the design and development of the highest quality user interfaces.
Be able to develop rapid prototypes.
Be familiar with all major usability testing techniques, and be able to select the most useful for use in the current system.
Understand the most important concepts associated with the design of computer displays, user interactions, helpful messages, useful documentation and training.

COURSE FORMAT The course is lecture-based, with numerous discussions, demonstrations and videos. Participants work numerous in-class exercises, and can do reading and homework assignments.

MAJOR TOPICS AND EXERCISES

Week One
Introduction to human interface design
    History and background
    Human limitations, capabilities and strengths
Human performance model (users, activities, context)
Useful statistics
    Why they are important
    How to read and understand them
    How to do calculations
Measuring user interfaces
    Speed (increasing productivity)
    Accuracy (controlling errors)
    Skill acquisition (reducing training time)
    User satisfaction and preferences
Understanding users
Sensing (vision, hearing, etc.)
Anthropometry
Human information processing
    Human memory
    Perception and intellectual processing
    Movement control and motivation
Motivation

Week Two
Rapid prototyping
Iterative design
Usability testing
    Formal evaluations
    Inspection evaluations (checklists, heuristics, etc.)
    Performance testing
    Operational evaluations
Conducting "front-end" analyses
    Joint Application design (JAD) sessions
    Participatory design (PD), e.g., Contextual Inquiry
Major (early) processes
    Verify functionality
    Develop computer and user profiles

Week Three
Task analysis
    Traditional decomposition
    Object-oriented analysis with scenarios
    Cognitive task analysis (CTA)
Input devices
    Keyboards and mouse
    Other input devices , including speech
Output devices
    Monitors (CRTs, LCDs, active matrix, etc.)
    Speech and other sounds
Interaction (dialog) styles
    Form-filling
    Direct manipulation
    Conversational systems
Interaction issues
    Web pages and web navigation
    Windows (primary, secondary, dialog boxes)
    Menu types (menu bars, pulldowns, popups)
    Screen-based controls (widgets)
          Menu items and pushbuttons
          Radio buttons and check boxes
          Combo, open, and dropdown list boxes
Display issues (screen and sound design)
Computer response time considerations
User guidance (help)
User interface standards, e.g., ISO 9241
User documentation
    Minimal manual
    Hypertext
    Simplified English
    Grammar and readability
Training
    Effective and efficient