2c Design considerations

Colour
1. Must be suitable for user to view data
  1. e.g. contrasting dark text with light background
2. Positives
  1. O - Attractive interface
  2. O- Can use oporate colours
  3. O - Good for seperation
  4. O - Soft background can aid dislexic
3. Negative
  1. X - Some colours aren't distinguishable by the colour blind
  2. X - Too many colours can be distracting
  3. X- Clashing colours e.g. red and green, may be unattractive.
Layout
1. Positives
  1. O - White space makes system look less cluttered
  2. O - Consistency makes it easier to be familiar with software
    1. e.g. common buttons in same place on each page
    2. e.g. Consistent input devices, less switching
    3. Similar menus and submenu structures and options
    4. O - Less time looking for items increases productivity
  3. O - Common theme in package means more transferable skills between sofware
2. Logical tab order and grouping
  1. left to right and up to down
Quantity of information
1. People can only remeber about 7 items at a time, not to much info given at a time.
  1. This can slow user as they will have to keep re-reading items
2. Related info kept together
3. Has to be relevant to tasks
Font
1. Legible e.g not curvasive
  1. San serif (no curls) is reasy to read
  2. comic sans for kids
2. Size appropriate to user
  1. 12pt for adults
  2. 14-16 pt for children
3. X - Bad font or style can cause strain from changing focus and lower productivity
Language
1. Clear and non-complex. Not technical
2. No slang
3. X - Harsh error messages can be frustrating
4. O - Use constructive messages
Form Controls
1. Radio Buttons
  1. O- User only has one choice, so prevents error of selecting multiple choices
  2. X- User may feel more than one option is suitable
2. Labels
  1. O - Change be changed
  2. O - Useful for instructions
  3. X - User can't customise instruction e.g. change font size.
3. Text box
  1. O - User can enter text of their choice
  2. O - Data can be validated
  3. X - Text for commands has to be written in specific ways
  4. X - Prone to spelling errors
4. Drop-down boxes
  1. O - User is given selection saving time typing
  2. O - Automatic validation
  3. O - No unwanted enter
  4. X Options may exclude what best suits the user
  5. X - User may accidentally chose adjacent option
5. Spinners
  1. O - User doesn't need keyboard to change numerical values
  2. X - Takes long time to input large figures
6. Tick box
  1. O - More than one can be selected for a more inclusive view
  2. X - Things might get clicked and selected accidentally.
7. Button
  1. O - Customisable with macros
  2. O - User doesn't need to know how it works
  3. X - User may not know what the button does
  4. X - Badly set up button may cause errors

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2c Design considerations

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	Created by Gladys Mba about 8 years ago