Interface Design - DMS 446/DMS 546
Department of Media Study, SUNY at Buffalo
SPRING 2008
Class: MW 5:00 - 6:50
Instructor: Al Larsen
Office Hour: 4:00-5:00 Mondays (CFA 288)
alarsen * at * buffalo * dot * edu

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Labs & Lessons

AJAX and etc

Project Pages

Niagara Records Music Player

Media Study Audio Archive

niagara recs example
(font is Savoye LET)
dms example

Usability Critique

UB has launched a new (and improved?) webmail interface. Critique the new interface according to one of the principles listed below. Describe or show an example of what works or what doesn't (or both). Review the original article if necessary.

Class comments on UBMail Interface

First Principles of Interaction Design (Bruce Tognazzini)

  1. Anticipation
  2. Autonomy
  3. Color Blindness
  4. Consistency
  5. Defaults
  6. Efficiency of the User
  7. Explorable Interfaces
  8. Fitts's Law
  9. Human-Interface Objects
  10. Latency Reduction
  11. Learnability
  12. Metaphors
  13. Protect the User's Work
  14. Readability
  15. Track State
  16. Visible Interfaces

PROTOTYPING

  • global = create prototype of the whole site
  • local = create prototype of selected parts of site
  • evolutionary = prototype is built on and refined for final product
  • throwaway = prototype is thrown out, although final product may be based on ideas in the prototype
  • high-fidelity = closely resembles final product
  • low-fidelity = represents basic ideas

EVALUATION

  • user-based = users or prospective users use the application
    • observation
    • survey or interview
  • expert-based = usability experts critique the design