Good user interfaces generally conform to the following user interface specifications:
1. Ease of use
Button names should be easy to understand, accurately worded, free of ambiguous wording, and easy to differentiate from other buttons on the same interface, such as being able to read the text to know the meaning of the best. Ideally, the user should not need to consult help to know the function of the interface and carry out the relevant correct operation.
Ease of use rules:
Buttons that perform the same or similar functions should be framed, and frequently used buttons should support shortcuts.
Elements that accomplish the same function or task are placed in a centralized location, reducing the distance the mouse has to move.
Divide the interface into localized blocks by function and frame them with function descriptions or titles.
The interface should support keyboard auto-navigation buttons, i.e., automatic switching by pressing the Tab key.
The first information to be entered in the interface and the control for important information should be first in the Tab order, and should be placed in a more visible position on the window.
It is better not to have more than 10 controls on the same screen, but if there are more than 10, you can consider using a paging interface.
The paging interface should support fast switching between pages, and the common shortcut key combination Ctrl+Tab
The default buttons should support the Enter operation, which means that the corresponding operation of the default buttons will be executed automatically after pressing Enter.
The input control should give a message when it detects illegal input and can get focus automatically.
The order of the Tab key and the controls should be the same, with a general top-to-bottom order and a left-to-right order between rows.
Checkboxes and option boxes are arranged in order of their selection probability.
Checkboxes and option boxes should have default options and support tab selection.
When the number of options is the same, use option boxes instead of drop-down list boxes.
Use drop-down boxes instead of option boxes when the interface space is small.
Use option boxes when the number of options is small, instead use drop-down list boxes.
Specialized software should use relevant terminology, while generic interfaces promote the use of generic words.
For interfaces with a high degree of input repetition, the interface should fully support keyboard operations, using the keyboard to operate without the mouse.
2. Principle of standardization
Often, the interface design is based on the specification of the Windows interface, that is, it contains the standard format of "menu bar, toolbar, toolbox compartment, status bar, scroll bar, and right-click shortcut menu", and it can be said that: the higher the degree of interface standardization is, the better the ease of use is. The more standardized the interface is, the better the ease of use will be. Smaller software generally does not provide a toolbox.
Normative details:
Command shortcuts for common menus.
Menus that perform the same or similar functions are separated by horizontal lines and placed in the same location.
The icon in front of the menu visually represents the operation to be accomplished.
The depth of the menu is generally required to control up to three layers.
Toolbar requirements can be customized according to the user's own requirements.
Toolbars with the same or similar functions are placed together.
Toolbar each button to have a timely prompt information.
The length of a toolbar should not exceed the width of the screen.
Toolbar icons visually represent the action to be performed.
Toolbars that are commonly used by the system are set to be placed by default.
When there are too many toolbars, consider using a toolbox.
Toolboxes can be added or subtracted, and can be customized by the user.
The default total width of the toolbox should not exceed 1/5 of the width of the screen.
The status bar should be able to display the information that the user actually needs, commonly used: operation, system status, user location, user information, tips, error messages, information about the user's organization and the software developer information, etc., and if a certain operation takes a long time, it should also display a progress bar and a process tip.
The length of the scroll bar should be changed according to the length or width of the displayed information, so that the user can understand the position and percentage of the displayed information.
The height of the status bar is appropriate for placing five good characters, and the width of the scroll bar is slightly narrower than that of the status bar.
Menus and toolbars should have clear boundaries; menus are required to be displayed protruding so that there is still a three-dimensional feel when the toolbar is removed.
The menus and status bars usually use font size 5. Toolbars are generally wider than menus, but not too much wider, or they will look disjointed.
The right-click shortcut menu uses the same guidelines as the menu.
3. The principle of help facilities
The system should provide detailed and reliable help files, so that users can seek solutions when they are confused.
Help facility details:
The performance of the help file should be consistent with the performance of the system.
Package of the new system, the modified places in the help file to make the corresponding changes to achieve version unity.
Operation should be provided in a timely manner to call the system help function. Commonly used F1.
In the interface to call the help should be able to locate the operation relative to the position of the help. That is to say, help should be instantly relevant.
It is best to provide a popular online help format or HTML help format.
Users can search for help in the help index using keywords, and help subject lines should be provided.
It is also desirable to have the ability to print the help if written help documentation is not provided.
In the help should provide our technical support methods, once the user is difficult to solve their own can easily seek new ways to help.
4. The principle of reasonableness
The diagonal intersection of the screen is the location of the user's direct vision, the upper quarter of the location of easy to attract the user's attention, in the placement of the form should pay attention to the use of these two positions.
Reasonability rules:
The center of the parent or main form should be near the diagonal focus.
The child form position should be in the upper left corner or center of the main form.
Multiple child forms should be offset to the lower right in order to show the form out title when they pop up.
Important command buttons and more frequently used buttons should be placed in an eye-catching position on the interface.
Wrong use of buttons that can easily cause the interface to exit or close should not be placed in an easy position. The beginning and end of the horizontal rows and the end of the vertical rows are easy to spot.
Buttons that are not relevant to the operation being performed should be blocked.
Confirmation information must be provided for operations that may result in unrecoverable data, giving the user the opportunity to discard the choice.
Illegal inputs or operations should be explained with sufficient prompts.
There should be hints for problems during operation that cause errors, so that the user understands the source of the error to avoid the formation of an indefinite wait.
Hints, warnings, or errors should be clear, concise, appropriate and should avoid the appearance of English tips.
5. Principles of Aesthetics and Harmony
The interface should be aesthetically pleasing in size, comfortable to use, and able to hold the user's attention for as long as it takes.
Aesthetics and coordination of the details:
Length and width close to the golden point ratio, do not be disproportionate length and width, or width over length.
Layout should be reasonable, not too dense, not too empty, reasonable use of space.
Button size is basically similar, avoid using too long a name, lest it take up too much interface position.
The size of the button should be coordinated with the size and space of the interface.
Avoid placing very large buttons on an empty interface.
There should be no large empty space in the interface after placing controls.
The size of the fonts should be in proportion to the size of the interface, and the fonts usually used are Song 9-12, which is more beautiful, and fonts larger than 12 are seldom used.
The foreground and background colors are reasonably coordinated, the contrast should not be too large, and it is best to use fewer dark colors, such as red, green and so on. Consider using Windows interface tones for common colors.
If you use other colors, the main color should be soft, with affinity and magnetism, and resolutely eliminate harsh colors.
Commonly used primary colors for large systems are #E1E1E1, #EFEFEF, #C0C0C0 and so on.
The interface style should be consistent, and the size, color, and font of the words should be the same, except where artistic treatment or special requirements are needed.
If the form supports minimizing and maximizing or zooming in, the controls on the form should also be scaled with the form; do not just zoom in on the form and ignore the scaling of the controls.
Interfaces with buttons should generally not support zooming, i.e., the top-right corner is only closed.
Often when the parent form supports zooming, there is no need to zoom the child form.
It would be nice if we could provide users with a customized interface style, where they can choose their own colors, fonts, etc.
6.
6. Menu position principle
Menu is the most important element of the interface, menu position according to the function to organize.
Menu setting rules:
Menus are usually arranged in the position of "Common - Major - Minor - Tools - Help", in line with the popular Windows style.
Commonly used are "File", "Edit", "View", etc. Almost every system has these options, but of course there are trade-offs depending on the system.
The drop-down menu should be grouped according to the meaning of the menu options, and cut in accordance with certain rules for the arrangement, separated by a horizontal line.
The use of a group of menus have a sequential requirement or have the role of the guide, should be arranged in order.
No sequential requirements of the menu items according to the frequency of use and importance of the arrangement, commonly used at the beginning, infrequently placed behind; important at the beginning of the second on the back.
If the menu options are more, should be used to lengthen the length of the menu and reduce the depth of the principle of arrangement.
Menu depth is generally required to control up to three layers.
Frequently used menus should have shortcut commands, the combination of the principle of 8.
The menu has nothing to do with the operation should be dealt with in a shielded way, if you use the dynamic loading method - that is, only the need for the menu will be displayed - the best.
The icons in front of the menus should not be too large, and it is best to keep them at the same height as the characters.
The main menu should be close to the same width, with no more than four words, and the same number of words for each menu.
The number of main menu should not be too much, the best for a single-row layout.
7. The principle of uniqueness
If you follow the industry's interface standards, you will lose your own personality. In the framework of compliance with the above specifications, the design of the interface with its own unique style is particularly important. Especially in the circulation of commercial software has a very good migration of the silent advertising effect.
Uniqueness of the rules:
Installation interface should have a unit or product introduction, and have their own icons or logos.
The main interface, and preferably most interfaces, should have a company icon or logo.
The login screen should have the product's logo and include the company icon or logo.
Copyright and product information should be available in the "About" section of the Help menu.
Company's series of products should maintain the same interface style, such as background color, fonts, menu arrangement, icons, installation process, button phrases, etc. should be generally consistent.
Specific icons should be created for the product and differentiated from the company's icon or logo
8. Principle of shortcuts
The use of shortcuts in menus and buttons allows users who prefer to use the keyboard to operate faster The use of shortcuts in Windows and its applications is mostly consistent.
In the menus:
Transaction-oriented combinations are: Ctrl-D Delete; Ctrl-F Find; Ctrl -H Replace; Ctrl-I Insert; Ctrl-N New Record; Ctrl-S Save Ctrl-O Open.
List: Ctrl-R , Ctrl-G Position; Ctrl-Tab down a page window or reverse order to browse the same page control;.
Edit: Ctrl-A Select All; Ctrl-C Copy; Ctrl-V Paste; Ctrl-X Cut; Ctrl-Z Undo; Ctrl-Y Resume.
Document operations: Ctrl-P Print; Ctrl-W Close.
System menu: Alt-A File; Alt-E Edit; Alt-T Tools; Alt-W Window; Alt-H Help.
MS Windows reserved keys: Ctrl-Esc Task List; Ctrl-F4 Close Window; Alt-F4 End Application; Alt-Tab Next Application; Enter Default Button/Confirm Action; Esc Cancel Button/Cancel Action; Shift-F1 Context-sensitive Help.
Buttons in:
Can be adjusted according to the needs of the system, the following is only a common combination.
Alt-Y OK (Yes); Alt-C Cancel; Alt-N No; Alt-D Delete; Alt-Q Exit; Alt-A Add; Alt-E Edit; Alt-B Browse; Alt-R Read; Alt-W Write. These shortcuts can also be used as a standard for developing Chinese applications, but you can also use the first letters of Hanyu Pinyin.
9. Cross-indexing
The following ways of controlling errors in the interface will reduce the damage caused by user errors. The developer should try to take into account all possible problems in order to minimize the possibility of errors. If the application exits the system with a protection error, this type of error is most likely to cause the user to lose confidence in the software. This is because it means that the user will have to interrupt their train of thought and take the time and effort to log back in, and all the operations that have been performed will be lost because they have not been saved.
The rules of troubleshooting:
The most important thing to do is to troubleshoot errors that could cause the application to abort abnormally.
Care should be taken to avoid unintentional entry of invalid data by the user as much as possible.
Use relevant controls to limit the types of values entered by the user.
When there are only two possibilities for the user to make a choice, radio boxes can be used.
When there are a few more possibilities, checkboxes can be used, where each choice is valid and the user cannot enter any of the invalid choices.
When the options are particularly numerous, a list box can be used, a drop-down list box.
In an application, the developer should avoid unauthorized or meaningless actions by the user.
Limit or block input characters or actions that could cause fatal errors or system errors.
Remedies should be available for actions that may have serious consequences. The remedies allow the user to return to the original correct state.
The input of some special symbols, characters that conflict with the symbols used by the system, etc., should be judged and the user should be prevented from inputting the character.
It is desirable to support reversible processing of erroneous operations, such as canceling a series of operations.
The user should be prevented from entering a valid character until the character is entered, and then the user should be prevented from performing an operation that can only be performed after the character has been entered.
Cancellation should be provided for operations that may cause long wait times.
Conflicts with reserved characters used by the system should be limited.
When reading in information entered by the user, the removal of spaces before and after is optional as needed.
Some of the fields read into the database do not support a space in the middle, but the user actually needs to enter a space in the middle, which should be handled in the program.
10. multi-window applications and system resource principles
Good design of the software should not only have complete functionality, but also to take up the minimum possible resources.
In a multi-window system, some interface requirements must be kept at the top level to avoid the user opening multiple windows, constantly switching or even minimizing other windows to display that window.
Automatically unloads memory after the main interface is loaded, freeing up WINDOWS system resources.
Close all forms and free up all system resources when the system exits , except for systems that need to run in the background.
Try to prevent exclusive use of the system.
After understanding the specifications of a good user interface, how do we start testing? Should pay attention to those aspects?
⒈ Consistency
If you can double-click on an item in a list to be able to pop up the dialog box, then it should be able to double-click in any list to pop up the dialog box. There should be a uniform font to write the number, a uniform color palette, a uniform prompt word, the window is in a uniform position, the button is also in the window in the same position.
To set the standard and follow it
You can parameterize some industry standards, such as IBM's interface design specification or MS's design rules, which provide 90% of the specifications you need.
Set up a wizard
If users use one feature and don't know how to do the next, they give up. If the *workflow* is consistent with the manual workflow, users will try to complete it. The best way to guide users is to have a process wizard on the desktop.
Sung Prompts Must Be Appropriate and Standardized
Prompts must be easy to understand and consistent, such as "You have entered the wrong data" or "User data cannot exceed 8 digits. Consistently worded, messages should also appear in a consistent location, such as in a pop-up window, above a window, or below a window. The user's name should be unified, for example, sometimes prompted "the user has entered the wrong data", sometimes prompted "you entered the wrong data", and sometimes prompted "the user has entered the wrong data "
Be careful not to confuse the user.
Be careful to learn from good programs
Learn more about the interfaces of similar software, and analyze and understand them until you can distinguish between a good user interface and a bad one. However, it is not possible to simply imitate the interface of others, and make their own software has no characteristics
The unity of choice
There are some very common functions, such as adding, modifying, deleting, viewing, the same software, these functions should have the same method of processing.
Borrow Grayed Out Functions
Sometimes some functions are not available and it is better not to remove these buttons or items but to gray them out so that the user understands the function of the program as a whole.
The use of default buttons which are not destructive
Use of default buttons, which are defined in each window for the convenience of the user, allows a function to be performed quickly when the user presses the Enter key, but sometimes the user accidentally presses the Enter key by mistake, and then performs the default function without being able to perform irretrievable actions such as deleting or saving.
In accordance with the above specifications and the details of the test examined the software being tested. I believe that the software interface can appear more standardized and easily accepted by users.