Interface Design Guidelines Research Articles

Demarcating Mobile Phone Interface Design Guidelines to Expedite Selection

Guidelines are recommended as a tool for informing user interface design. Despite a proliferation of guidelines in the research literature, there is little evidence of their use in industry, nor their influence in academic literature. In this paper, we explore the research literature related to mobile phone design guidelines to find out why this should be so. We commenced by carrying out a scoping literature review of the mobile phone design guideline literature to gain insight into the maturity of the field. The question we wanted to explore was: “Are researchers building on each others’ guidelines, or is the research field still in the foundational stage?” We discovered a poorly structured field, with many researchers proposing new guidelines, but little incremental refinement of extant guidelines. It also became clear that the current reporting of guidelines did not explicitly communicate their multi-dimensionality or deployment context. This leaves designers without a clear way of discriminating between guidelines, and could contribute to the lack of deployment we observed. We conducted a thematic analysis of papers identified by means of a systematic literature review to identify a set of dimensions of mobile phone interface design guidelines. The final dimensions provide a mechanism for differentiating guidelines and expediting choice.

Patient Health Record Systems Scope and Functionalities: Literature Review and Future Directions.

BackgroundA new generation of user-centric information systems is emerging in health care as patient health record (PHR) systems. These systems create a platform supporting the new vision of health services that empowers patients and enables patient-provider communication, with the goal of improving health outcomes and reducing costs. This evolution has generated new sets of data and capabilities, providing opportunities and challenges at the user, system, and industry levels.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to assess PHR data types and functionalities through a review of the literature to inform the health care informatics community, and to provide recommendations for PHR design, research, and practice.MethodsWe conducted a review of the literature to assess PHR data types and functionalities. We searched PubMed, Embase, and MEDLINE databases from 1966 to 2015 for studies of PHRs, resulting in 1822 articles, from which we selected a total of 106 articles for a detailed review of PHR data content.ResultsWe present several key findings related to the scope and functionalities in PHR systems. We also present a functional taxonomy and chronological analysis of PHR data types and functionalities, to improve understanding and provide insights for future directions. Functional taxonomy analysis of the extracted data revealed the presence of new PHR data sources such as tracking devices and data types such as time-series data. Chronological data analysis showed an evolution of PHR system functionalities over time, from simple data access to data modification and, more recently, automated assessment, prediction, and recommendation.ConclusionsEfforts are needed to improve (1) PHR data quality through patient-centered user interface design and standardized patient-generated data guidelines, (2) data integrity through consolidation of various types and sources, (3) PHR functionality through application of new data analytics methods, and (4) metrics to evaluate clinical outcomes associated with automated PHR system use, and costs associated with PHR data storage and analytics.

Steering the Craft: UI Elements and Visualizations for Supporting Progressive Visual Analytics

AbstractProgressive visual analytics (PVA) has emerged in recent years to manage the latency of data analysis systems. When analysis is performed progressively, rough estimates of the results are generated quickly and are then improved over time. Analysts can therefore monitor the progression of the results, steer the analysis algorithms, and make early decisions if the estimates provide a convincing picture. In this article, we describe interface design guidelines for helping users understand progressively updating results and make early decisions based on progressive estimates. To illustrate our ideas, we present a prototype PVA tool called InsightsFeed for exploring Twitter data at scale. As validation, we investigate the tradeoffs of our tool when exploring a Twitter dataset in a user study. We report the usage patterns in making early decisions using the user interface, guiding computational methods, and exploring different subsets of the dataset, compared to sequential analysis without progression.

Augmented reality-based remote coaching for fast-paced physical task

One popular application of augmented reality (AR) is the real-time guidance and training in which the AR user receives useful information by a remote expert. For relatively fast-paced tasks, presentation of such guidance in a way that the recipient can make immediate recognition and quick understanding can be an especially challenging problem. In this paper, we present an AR-based tele-coaching system applied to the game of tennis, called the AR coach, and explore for interface design guidelines through a user study. We have evaluated the player’s performance for instruction understanding when the coaching instruction was presented in four different modalities: (1) Visual—visual only, (2) Sound—aural only/mono, (3) 3D Sound—aural only/3D and (4) Multimodal—both visual and aural/mono. Results from the experiment suggested that, among the three, the visual-only augmentation was the most effective and least distracting for the given pace of information transfer (e.g., under every 3 s). We attribute such a result to the characteristic of the visual modality to encode and present a lot of information at once and the human’s limited capability in handling and fusing multimodal information at a relatively fast rate.

Developing Playability Heuristics Based on Nouns and Adjectives from Online Game Reviews

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study is to develop playability heuristics based on a lexical analysis of nouns and adjectives frequently used in online game reviews. Built on a previous lexical analysis of adjectives in online game reviews, it is argued that nouns together with adjectives will likely provide more contextual information than adjectives alone, and therefore the patterns among these words can be used to develop playability heuristics. A revised lexical approach is adopted to analyze nouns and adjectives from 821,122 online reviews. Ninety seven factors emerge from this analysis. Based on the nouns and adjectives highly loaded on these factors, a new process is introduced and 90 playability heuristics are derived. This study significantly expands the current pool of playability heuristics that facilitate the computer game design process. The lexical method adopted in this study demonstrates its effectiveness in developing interface design guidelines based on a large number of online reviews on a system or product. It can be extended to other fields that are human-behavior centered.

Modelling touch-interaction time on smartphones

ABSTRACTAccurate performance models are important for interaction technique, application, and hardware design. The limited screen size of mobile devices and use of touch interaction require unique considerations, especially when interacting with large amounts of information. This paper considers the performance impact of target visibility on mobile smartphone applications that provide on- and offscreen content with the commonly used direct-touch interactions and four cursor-based interaction methods for precise selection. Three existing and 12 novel performance models are experimentally validated. Fitts' Law, which was not designed for modelling selection of offscreen targets, did not predict interaction times for mobile interaction methods as accurately as is commonly observed with desktop interaction with onscreen targets. Target visibility was found to greatly impact interaction times (particularly for direct-touch interaction). The presented models that incorporate variables related to target visibility greatly improve predicted interaction times. The use and merits of the top models are discussed, emphasizing the importance and implications of accepted user-interface design guidelines.

Cognitive Function Training System Using Game-Based Design for Elderly Drivers

It has been found that age-related decline of cognitive ability is one of risk factors for traffic accidents among the elderly. Therefore, the present study introduced a new game- based cognitive function training system, which was designed by cognitive evaluation theory, gamification, interface design guidelines for driver-assistance systems and fuben-eki principle. It uses a trail making game to train and measure driver’s visual attention ability, and the score was transformed to limit the vehicle’s maximum velocity. Simulator experiments were performed to verify that it enlarged the degree of useful field of view to enhance the hazard perception ability.

User interface design guidelines for smartphone applications for people with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is often responsible for difficulties in interacting with smartphones; however, research has not yet addressed these issues and how these challenge people with Parkinson's (PwP). This paper specifically investigates the symptoms and characteristics of PD that may influence the interaction with smartphones to then contribute in this direction. The research was based on a literature review of PD symptoms, eight semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals and observations of PwP, and usability experiments with 39 PwP. Contributions include a list of PD symptoms that may influence the interaction with smartphones, a set of experimental results that evaluated the performance of four gestures tap, swipe, multiple-tap, and drag and 12 user interface design guidelines for creating smartphone user interfaces for PwP. Findings contribute to the work of researchers and practitioners' alike engaged in designing user interfaces for PwP or the broader area of inclusive design.

Augmented Reality(AR) Head-Up Display(HUD) Design Study for Prevention of Car Accident Based on Graphical Design, Sensitivity and Conveyance of Meaning

Background : Although Korea is ranked as the 10th largest economy, the country still has the worst traffic accident fatality rates among OECD countries. Careless driving has been identified as the most common cause of accidents. This study suggests HUD design ideas realized by augmented reality, complementing a driver’s inadvertently lost focus, to reduce chance and prevent traffic accident. Methods : Literature review, case studies, navigations and GUI components analysis were implemented to develop HUD interface design guidelines for accident prevention. Online user surveys and structured in-depth interviews were conducted subsequently to apply augmented reality design ideas. Result : Six AR design ideas (stop line marks, notification of central line violation, notification of speed bump, indication of road condition, notification of children protection zone and no parking signs) were prioritized based on age, gender, driving history, and vehicle types. The prioritized ideas were synthesized as a table with the consideration of 3 perspectives: design, emotion, and message delivery. Conclusions : The research suggests AR implemented HUD design ideas to induce increased driver’s attention on forward vision can ultimately prevent accidents. The research result is expected to be leveraged to contribute to the realization of AR HUD design, and customized based on a driver’s characteristics and preferences.

Usability Guidelines for the Design of Robot Teleoperation: A Taxonomy

This paper presents a taxonomy of design guidelines for robot teleoperation developed from a focused literature review of robot teleoperation. A list of user interface design guidelines was assembled, open card sorting and a focus group were used to classify them, and closed card sorting was employed to validate and further refine the proposed taxonomy. The initially obtained set of 70 guidelines is grouped into eight categories: platform architecture and scalability, error prevention and recovery, visual design, information presentation, robot state awareness, interaction effectiveness and efficiency, robot environment/surroundings awareness, and cognitive factors. Agricultural robots were used as an application case study for implementation and field evaluation. The proposed guideline taxonomy was used heuristically to evaluate the usability of an existing user interface of a teleoperated agricultural robot.

A MEASUREMENT MODEL BASED ON USABILITY METRICS FOR MOBILE LEARNING USER INTERFACE FOR CHILDREN

Mobile technology is becoming an integral learning tool for children. The Interface of mobile educational applications (apps) should be usable and compatible with the cognitive skills of children in order to provide an effective learning experience. Usability is a key quality attributes to measure the usefulness of application; therefore evaluating usability is a vital task. With the rapid advancement of mobile technology, usability of educational apps for children gains attention of modern researchers. This paper focuses on providing a measurement model for evaluating the interface of mobile educational apps designed for children .The paper attempts to review the existing interface design guidelines and consequently develop a measurement model. The model serves as basis for comprehensive usability evaluation consisting of guidelines, usability characteristics, goals (interface design criteria), questions, usability metrics (objective and subjective) and two evaluation instruments (task list and satisfaction questionnaire).To ensure the effectiveness and reliability of the model, it was validated by applying the proposed metrics and evaluation instruments in a usability study conducted on two android educational apps for children. Results gathered from usability testing proved that the Model is applicable for evaluation of mobile educational apps for children.

Supporting Novice to Expert Transitions in User Interfaces

Interface design guidelines encourage designers to provide high-performance mechanisms for expert users. However, research shows that many expert interface components are seldom used and that there is a tendency for users to persistently fail to adopt faster methods for completing their work. This article summarizes and organizes research relevant to supporting users in making successful transitions to expert levels of performance. First, we provide a brief introduction to the underlying human factors of skill acquisition relevant to interaction with computer systems. We then present our focus, which is a review of the state of the art in user interfaces that promote expertise development. The review of interface research is based around four domains of performance improvement: intramodal improvement that occurs as a factor of repetition and practice with a single method of interaction; intermodal improvement that occurs when users switch from one method to another that has a higher performance ceiling; vocabulary extension , in which the user broadens his or her knowledge of the range of functions available; and task mapping , which examines the ways in which users perform their tasks. The review emphasizes the relationship between interface techniques and the human factors that explain their relative success.

A Proposal to Elicit Usability Requirements within a Model-Driven Development Environment

Nowadays there are sound Model-Driven Development (MDD) methods that deal with functional requirements, but in general, usability is not considered from the early stages of the development. Analysts that work with MDD implement usability features manually once the code has been generated. This manual implementation contradicts the MDD paradigm and it may involve much rework. This paper proposes a method to elicit usability requirements at early stages of the software development process such a way non-experts at usability can use it. The approach consists of organizing several interface design guidelines and usability guidelines in a tree structure. These guidelines are shown to the analyst through questions that she/he must ask to the end-user. Answers to these questions mark the path throughout the tree structure. At the end of the process, the paper gathers all the answers of the end-user to obtain the set of usability requirements. If it represents usability requirements according to the conceptual models that compose the framework of a MDD method, these requirements can be the input for next steps of the software development process. The approach is validated with a laboratory demonstration.

Touch panel usability of elderly and children

The purpose of this study is to test the usability for the elderly, young adult and children using four different-sized touch panels and to provide suggestions for the elderly and children when using a touch panel. We set the subjects the tasks of dragging, rotating and scaling as quickly and as accurately as possible using different-sized touch panels. In addition to compare the operating performance values for different tasks for the three age groups, this study also recorded the subjects’ hand movements. The results showed that the age and touch screen size had a significant effect on operating performance using the 4.3-in., 10.1-in., 23-in., and 42-in. touch panels. In addition, the average performance value on the touch panels using two hands was higher than the performance using one hand. Some useful and ergonomic interface design guidelines for the elderly and children were also proposed in this study.

Visual comfort as a function of lightness difference between text and background: A cross‐age study using an LCD and a tablet computer

AbstractTwo experiments were performed to investigate the effects of text‐background lightness difference on visual comfort. A panel of 21 young and 20 older observers in Taiwan participated in Experiment I, using an LCD TV (with a display luminance of 551.8 cd/m2) as the presentation media. The results show that on a light background, visual comfort increases as the lightness difference gets larger and larger. On a dark background, however, the highest visual comfort value can be obtained when there is a moderate lightness difference. There seems to be little effect of age on visual comfort using the LCD TV with regard to the lightness difference. In Experiment II, 20 young and 20 older Taiwanese observers participated, using a tablet computer (with a display luminance of 397.3 cd/m2). According to the results, the larger text‐background lightness difference, the higher visual comfort value for older observers. For young observers, however, the highest visual comfort value can be obtained when there is a moderate, rather than extremely high, lightness difference. These findings can help provide useful guidelines for graphic user interface design in modern e‐reading devices. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 125–134, 2015

Conceptualization and application of an approach for designing healthcare software interfaces

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to conceptualize a novel approach, which facilitates us to design prototype interfaces for healthcare software. MethodsConcepts and techniques from various disciplines were used to conceptualize an interface design approach named MORTARS (Map Original Rhetorical To Adapted Rhetorical Situation). The concepts and techniques included in this approach are (1) rhetorical situation – a concept of philosophy provided by Bitzer (1968); (2) move analysis – an applied linguistic technique provided by Swales (1990) and Bhatia (1993); (3) interface design guidelines – a cognitive and computer science concept provided by Johnson (2010); (4) usability evaluation instrument – an interface evaluation questionnaire provided by Lund (2001); (5) user modeling via stereotyping – a cognitive and computer science concept provided by Rich (1979). A prototype interface for outpatient clinic software was designed to introduce the underlying concepts of MORTARS. The prototype interface was evaluated by thirty-two medical informaticians. ResultsThe medical informaticians found the designed prototype interface to be useful (73.3%), easy to use (71.9%), easy to learn (93.1%), and satisfactory (53.2%). ConclusionsMORTARS approach was found to be effective in designing the prototype user interface for the outpatient clinic software. This approach might be further used to design interfaces for various software pertaining to healthcare and other domains.

An investigation on Ribbon interface design guidelines for people with less computer literacy

In the recent years, there is an intense competition between software development companies to design better interfaces. In this marketing rat race, Ribbon interface came to make software user interface easier. After the introduction of Ribbon by Microsoft, it was widely used by various software development companies. Ribbon is a replacement for menus and toolbars and it tends to organize tools in tabs based on their similarities. Although Ribbon interface has many advantages, previous researches have shown that there are serious usability issues that hinder usage of Ribbon interfaces for users with less computer literacy. In order to solve Ribbon interfaces usability issues, this study tried to introduce Ribbon interface design guidelines by focusing on the issues related to users with less computer literacy. In this study two separate sets of moderated (in-person) usability testing were used. The first set evaluated the usability issues of an experimental Ribbon interface software in terms of both visual and cognitive issues. The second set was used to evaluate the Ribbon interface prototype that was designed based on the discovered usability issues in the first usability test. In order to ensure the validity of the data, the researchers tried to triangulate the data collection process by collecting data from different sources, namely, quantitative measurement of participants' performance, direct observation, and interview. Based on the comparison of the usability tests results which points out the factors that have led to participants' performance improvement in the prototype version, a number of guidelines are extracted for Ribbon interfaces. These guidelines are applicable to Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint and most of the software that can be developed with Ribbon interface. Putting these guidelines into action, self-learning would be promoted and learning issues of users with less computer literacy would be decreased.

Design of Bare-hand Gestures for Object Manipulation in Virtual Reality

With the advancement of markerless motion capture technology in recent years, gesture-based interactive technique has come into people’s daily life. In this paper, we conducted a two-stage study on the design of bare-hand gestures in Virtual Reality environment. In the first study, end users were asked to invent barehand gestures for the manipulation of virtual objects freely by themselves. Based on the experimental results, we established baseline criteria to distinguish different types of bare-hand gestures and then derived a user-defined gesture set from the collected data. In the second study, the user-defined gestures were validated in terms of good match, memorability, learnability, and comfort. Participants showed positive attitudes toward the user-defined gesture set. Finally, we report some design guidelines for gesture design and vision-based interface design.

Guidelines for trust interface design for public engagement Web GIS

Attesting to the powerful capabilities and in technology trends, many scholars envisioned the consolidation of geographic information systems (GIS) into vital tools for disseminating spatial information. GIS are presently used to inform, advise and instruct users in several contexts and to further engage citizens in decision-making processes that can impact and sustain policy development. Interaction with these applications incorporates risk and uncertainty, which have been repeatedly identified as preconditions in nurturing trust perceptions and which instigate a user's decision to rely on a system and act on the provided information. Research studies consistently demonstrated that a trust-oriented interface design can facilitate the development of more trustworthy, mainly e-commerce, systems. Trust in the Web GIS context, despite its significance, has only relatively recently received some attention. A set of human–computer interaction (HCI) user-based studies revealed some Web GIS trustee attributes that influence non-experts' trust beliefs and found that when these are problematic or absent from interface design, users form irrational trust perceptions, which amplifies the risk and may impose dangers to the user. These Web GIS trustee attributes that influence non-experts' trust perceptions are formulated here into a set of trust guidelines. These are then evaluated using the PE-Nuclear tool, a Web GIS application, to inform the public about the site selection of a nuclear waste repository in the United Kingdom. Our preliminary results indicate that the proposed trust guidelines not only support the development of rational trust perceptions that protect non-experts from inappropriate use of Web GIS technology but also contribute towards improving interaction with such applications of public interest issue.

Evaluation of user Interface Design for Leaning Management System (LMS): Investigating Student's Eye Tracking Pattern and Experiences

E-learning is an innovation technology with the aim to provide a strategy to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The establishment of LMS is to improve the teaching and learning environments and to have better learning delivering through electronic device. The interface design of LMS plays an important role to deliver the learning process to both learners and educators. The usability of LMS is an important criterion for providing an effective and easy learning environment. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate user interface design of LMS by analyzing student's eye tracking pattern though the gaze plot and heat map. The interface of LMS was divided into three area; top, left and content. Student's area of interest was identified using the eye tracing pattern. Students eye movement was studied using Tobii Series Eye Tracker Model T60/T12 and ManGold software suite to capture their eye tracking pattern when using the LMS to complete their task. The analysis from the student's eye tracking pattern indicated some interface design issues in LMS. Based on this finding, we discuss the user interface design guidelines applied in LMS and suggested some improvement for identified design issues.