Domain Specific Style Guides - Design and Implementation.

Eva Olsson, Bengt Göransson, Erik Borälv, Bengt Sandblad

In Proceedings of Motif/COSE user conference. Washington, 2-3 December, 1993. pp. 187-198.

Abstract

The introduction of graphical user interfaces in a computerized work environment is often considered to substantially improve the work situation. The outcome is, however, very often the opposite. The possibilities for bad design and inefficient user interfaces is multiplied with the help of windowing techniques, scrolling and colours. However, the now established de facto standards and complementary style guides have meant a step forward towards improved quality of user interfaces. They are helpful for basic design but prove to be insufficient for design decisions concerning higher abstraction layers. Here detailed domain knowledge is absolutely essential for the design of efficient user interfaces. It is almost impossible for a designer to be an expert in even one single domain. Therefore domain knowledge must be obtained from the real domain experts, i.e. from the professionals performing the work. To accomplish this we have used methods based on detailed analysis of work activities, analysis of information utilization and user expectations. The design of a user interface must always be based on an analysis of both the work situation as such and of the users working there, mainly focused on the involved cognitive processes. Our work is concentrated on the design of the interface and the resulting requirements on style guides and user interface components.

Source

HTML Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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