CSC 8570 -- USI

Class Meeting 10November 9, 2010

What’s Coming

• Applications of models• Web-based interfaces– Small devices– Web forms– Interface evaluation

• Article presentations– Intelligent user interfaces– Interaction personalization

• Thanksgiving

Article Presentations

Intelligent User Interfaces: next week• Presenter’s responsibilities– 13-16 minute summary of article (or some of its

important points if the article is long)– Connect the article to previous articles, to models

and frameworks, and to examples familiar to you.– Be prepared to answer questions and lead

discussion (5-7) minutes– Time limits will be strictly enforced

Article Presentations (2)

• Presentation style– Use PowerPoint (or Keynote) slides as an outline,

meaning do not read your slides to the audience.– Link to web resources if appropriate– Include diagrams, tables, or images if they will be

helpful. E.g. a small concept map may be useful.

Article Presentations (3)

• Class responsibilities (for those not presenting on the same evening)– Read introduction and conclusion of each article. – For two articles, read in depth and prepare two

intelligent probing questions related to each article.

– Send the questions by email to the instructor by 1:00 p.m. of class day.

Article Presentations (4)

• Instructor will:– Use the submitted questions to encourage

discussion.– Judge the submitted questions according to their

intellectual content. For example, “What was the author’s first name?” has little intellectual content.

– Judge the presentation for content summary and synthesis of ideas.

Article Topic

• Intelligent user interfaces• Note: no Wikipedia entry exists

History Repeated

• Document history: modeled as a 9-tuple• How does the 9-tuple change when– Document di is opened and then closed– A new document is created and then closed

• Does the PIE model help in describing what happens?

• What can we say about the function that maps the 9-tuples to other 9-tuples?

Web Form Design

A user interface nightmare

Overarching questions• What is the user community?• How tolerant, or sophisticated, are the users?– How will community members view their user

experience (UX)?

Web Form Design (2)

Technical questions• What should the Tab key do?• What should the Enter button do?• Should some fields be partitioned into

subfields, e.g. City and State in two different text boxes?

• How should variations of data from outside the US be handled?

Web Form Design (3)

• Should the form use automatic advancing for fixed length subfield entry?– For example, 610-519-6000– Pluses: fewer keystrokes,– Minuses: error correction, user’s mental model

Web Form Design (4)

Field types• Name• Address• Fixed length numeric– Telephone number– Credit card number– ZIP + 4

• Date

Address Entry

• Addresses in free format vs. multi text box entry• Autocomplete (or autofill) of city names• City and state names defined by zip code• Cities without states, e.g. London• Easy selection of state or country names• Confirm parsing of free format• Or use persistent identity

Date Entry

• Subfield text boxes• Single field text box– With separator– Without separator

• Date format• Specialized dates: e.g. expiration date

Name Entry

• Title• Generation• Single name: Is it the first or the last name• Initials• Name length• Culturally driven format• Names using characters from other alphabets

Web Form Entry

• Users say:• GUEPs say:• Design principles say:– Choose the lesser of two evils– Use a clear, short, neatly arranged statement of purpose at

top of form– Tidy and organized design outweighs field ordering– Use imperative language only for required items

Web Form Entry (2)• Use a small number of input methods– Five HTML form elements: drop-down list, radio button,

check box, dialog box, hyperlink. – Scripted or programmed elements

• Keep option list short and sensibly ordered• Offer common choices first. Cater to 80% of users

but allow the other 20% to have success.• For long lists use plain text entry and offer choices– Example

Web Form Entry (3)

• Choose input element– Typing vs. selecting– Potential typing errors– Review of options before selecting– Number of options– Mutually exclusive selections– Distinctiveness of options

• Mark required fields, but consider whether the field information is really required.

Web Form Entry Errors

How should these be handled?• Typing errors• Transcription errors (4311 for 3411)• Category errors– Insisting on an entry– Out of range

• Send errors (premature form submittal)• Privacy errors (user does not want to supply

information)

Error Response

• Show error message close to problem– Use constructive, non-judgmental language

• Keep supplied information

Examples

• Remodeling the house• Going fishing

Specific Design Principles

• Ask only for necessary information• Use proper wording – What is an Email ID?

• Eliminate nerdy or unnecessary comments– Example: Passwords are protected by the SHA 256

hash algorithm.• Prevent errors before they happen by giving

examples of entries.

Next Time

• First three presentations (intelligent user interfaces) as listed on the course web page.

• Presenters: Prepare the presentation• Listeners: Prepare two probing questions for

each of two papers. Email the questions to me by 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 16.