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Answers to Review Questions

If you want to double-check your answers to the review questions at the end of each chapter, this appendix is the place to find those answers.

Chapter 1

1. Why is it important to learn about the history of graphical user interfaces?
Because you need to know how the GUI developed into the standard user interface that is required in most cases for finding a computing-related job.

2. Who developed the first GUI?
Douglas Engelbart.

3. Why was the NLS so important?
Because it was the first operating system with a GUI interface.

4. What was the first personal computer with a GUI interface?
The Xerox Alto.

5. Why did Linux become so popular?
Because Linux is seen as a very stable operating system.

6. What was the first Web browser with a GUI?
Mosaic.

7. Why did Internet Explorer have such an impact on design?
Because Internet Explorer has such a large market share and because Microsoft paused in developing Internet Explorer, which allowed other companies to produce browsers with new innovations.

8. As a user interface designer, why do you need to know how a user interface works?
Although GUIs have great similarities, they also have a number of small differences that you must be aware of.

9. Why do you need to know about the differences between GUIs?
Because different GUIs have differences in their look and feel as well as the features available in the interface, such as the taskbar in Windows.

10. Why do you need to know about the differences between a GUI and a Web interface?
Because you have to understand how a user interface works in the operating system for which you’re designing the interface.

Chapter 2

1. What is the definition of a graphical user interface (GUI)?
A GUI is a system for interacting with a computer by manipulating graphic elements and text.

2. What are the three major GUI operating systems in use today?
The three major GUI operating systems include Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

3. What are the main parts of a GUI?
The main parts of a GUI are windows, buttons, menus, toolbars, scrollbars, and taskbars.

4. What is the Internet?
The Internet is the worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that is accessible to the public.

5. What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web, also known as the Web or by its acronym WWW, is an information-sharing space on the Internet that you access through a Web browser.

6. What are the three user interface model eras?
Batch interfaces, the command-line interface, and the graphical user interface.

7. Why is Web design still a significant challenge?
Because there are still too many browser limitations.

8. Why does Web design have an impact on user interface design?
Because many people use the Web, and Web accessibility issues have forced operating systems companies to adapt.

9. What is a ZUI?
A zooming user interface.

10. How do Dumas and Redish define usability?
The people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks.

11. What are the three types of usability titles or occupations discussed in this chapter?
The three types of usability titles or occupations discussed in this chapter include usability engineers, usability scientists, and user experience professionals.

12. When do you employ quick and dirty testing?
Usually after the product has been produced.

13. When do you employ summative testing?
When the product reaches a certain stage of development and testers want to find out how much progress has been made in the product’s development.

14. Why is the validity and reliability of user interface methods being examined?
There aren’t currently many standards for procedures, data analysis, or reporting.

15. Why is accessibility important?
Because you need to make your interface accessible for all your potential customers or Web site visitors.

16. What legislation establishes statutory accessibility requirements in the United Sates?
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Chapter 3

1. Why is the satisfaction of customer goals important?
Because the satisfaction of customer goals leads to the satisfaction of business goals.

2. Who are the four stakeholders in a project?
Users, engineers or designers, sales and marketing people, and managers.

3. When should you add features and functionality into the product?
When they blend value for the customer with value for the company.

4. Why should you start the usability process at the same time as the project design process?
Starting the usability process at the same time as the project design gives you the ability to couch the design of not only the usability tests but also of the product interface and documentation in terms of the total user experience.

5. What should be the first topic of discussion when starting your business case?
The benefits of good design.

6. How can you make sure that your customers’ goals are satisfied by the user experience?
By knowing the customers’ needs, tasks, and goals.

7. When should you add features and functionality into the product?
When they blend value for the customer with value for the company.

8. After you show stakeholders how good design, as well as usability design and testing, will lower costs, what do you need to show them?
After you show stakeholders how good design, as well as usability design and testing, will lower costs, you need to show how design and testing will make the company money.

9. Why do you conduct an ROI study?
To calculate how much a product or initiative will pay for itself over time.

10. Why should you use the Usability Engineering Life Cycle?
Because it provides a rigorous and ongoing process to the development of your user interface and your documentation.

11. What are the three phases of the Usability Engineering Life Cycle?
Requirements analysis; design, testing, and development; and installation.

12. Why should you get feedback during the development process?
Feedback ensures that you don’t have many problems to fix once the product is out the door.

Chapter 4

1. Why should you resolve conflicts and constraints before you start the design process?
Because the result will be a better interface design that will better serve the users.

2. Why does a user interface need to be elegant?
Because all parts of the interface need to feel like they work together as part of a whole.

3. How do you bridge the gap between user and designer constraints?
Bring them up with the product development team before the design process starts. If that’s not possible, get as much customer feedback as possible so you can approach designers with this feedback to better design other products.

4. Why should you use paper prototyping?
So you can learn how users interact with the design before you develop the product.

5. How do you give a paper prototyping exercise a more professional look?
You can use heavier paper or cardstock to make the prototype more resistant to wear and tear during testing.

6. What are the advantages of paper prototyping?
It provides substantive user feedback, doesn’t require technical skills, facilitates communication, encourages creativity, and cuts down on misconceptions.

7. What are the disadvantages of paper prototyping?
It may not be appropriate for your situation, and there are some technical problems that can’t be tested using paper prototyping, such as keyboard or mouse input problems.

8. Why does a product require good documentation?
Because it’s the first line of customer support for your business.

9. Why is good documentation design important?
Because users turn to product documentation first to get help with a problem, and if the documentation solves the problem, that saves the company money in customer support costs.

10. Why is good design important?
To save money, convince users to use your product, keep your existing users, and bring in new ones.

Chapter 5

1. What are affordances?
The perceived and actual properties of something.

2. What are constraints?
Restrictions on allowed behavior by something.

3. Why do people consider themselves helpless when they fail at a task?
Because they blame themselves or the wrong cause, adhere to misconceptions, or practice learned helplessness.

4. What does the MBTI test do?
Helps people identify and understand personality type preferences.

5. What are the seven stages of human action?
Forming the goal, forming the intention, specifying the action, executing the action, perceiving the state of the world, interpreting the state of the world, and evaluating the outcome.

6. What are the trade-offs between knowledge in the brain and in the world?
Knowledge in the world is easily retrievable as long as it’s visible or audible within your visual or auditory range. You may have difficulty remembering something because of distractions, but once you do remember something, you’re efficient at it.

7. What task structure is the most challenging for people?
Wide and shallow.

8. Why must you be deliberate when you’re using your conscious mind?
Because you’re relying on short-term memories.

9. Why do you transform difficult tasks into simpler ones?
So it’s as easy as possible for your brain to digest.

10. What makes up a person’s conceptual model?
A person’s life experiences, beliefs, and other methods for completing tasks that the person has built up over the years.

Chapter 6

1. Why are designers still building to mechanical-age standards?
Because that’s what designers are most familiar with.

2. Who are perpetual intermediates?
People who have enough experience with a software program or product and need specific answers to questions.

3. What questions do beginners always have?
Questions such as “What does this program do?”, “Where do I begin?”, and “What do I need to do to complete the tasks?”

4. What questions do intermediates always have?
Questions such as “How do I find this function?”, “Can I undo my last action?”, and “What’s the command to perform this task?”

5. What are the five phases of the Goal-Directed Design Process?
Research, modeling, requirements, framework, and refinement.

6. Why should you conduct user and task analysis?
To get answers to questions about your users and the tasks they perform.

7. What three dimensions of information do personas connect?
Demographics, psychographics, and topology.

8. What types of goals do users have?
Life goals, experience goals, and end goals for using a specific product.

9. Why should you perform user and task analysis “in the field”?
Because you need to see how users interact in the larger environment, including contact with other people and interaction with the physical environment.

10. Why should you prioritize your personas?
Because you want to know who the primary and secondary personas are for the product; the primary persona is the primary target audience for the user interface.

Chapter 7

1. Why do you need to plan for real-world requirements?
Because these requirements from other stakeholders will help you to refine some of the ideas you generated in the requirements process.

2. Why are paper prototyping and storyboarding important when constructing key path scenarios?
Because you can use them to show the path of each interaction as the user completes a task.

3. What are the three levels of design principles that guide you toward minimizing the work of the user?
The three levels of design principles are conceptual, interaction, and interface.

4. Why is it important to create patterns?
Because you can apply those patterns to problems in your project and solve the problems more quickly.

5. What are the four desktop-based GUI postures?
The four desktop-based GUI postures are sovereign, transit, daemonic, and auxiliary.

6. Which application characteristics make up an auxiliary application?
Sovereign and transient.

7. What happens when you click the right mouse button on an object?
A pop-up menu appears with options associated with the object.

8. Why should you avoid visual noise and clutter?
Because it will overwhelm and confuse the user by presenting too much information.

9. Why is it important to have a well-designed online help system?
Because users are perpetual intermediates who want to find things quickly, and the online help system may be the first line of customer support for the product.

10. What is the advantage of a pop-up menu over an icon?
The pop-up menu can convey much more specific information than an icon.

11. What does the use of consistency and standards in the design of your interface do for its users?
It helps ensure that the users can find the information they are looking for because it is always in the same place.

12. When should you use assistants and wizards?
When your user and task analysis shows that your users will benefit from having them as part of your user interface.

13. Why should you construct validation scenarios?
Because not everyone in your persona will use the interface the same way.

14. How can you share the finalized design with stakeholders in your company?
By producing an interactive prototype or creating an online demonstration.

Chapter 8

1. What are the similarities between GUIs and Web interfaces?
The Web interface runs in a browser window; therefore, it uses many GUI features like the mouse pointer to interact with the Web site.

2. Are GUIs and Web interfaces becoming more or less similar? Why?
The line between the two has been blurring as GUIs borrow some of the look and feel of Web interfaces and Web technologies allow Web interfaces to act more like those of desktop applications.

3. Why do you need to know about Web myths?
Because you should design your Web site to avoid these myths.

4. What three categories do Web myths fall into?
The myths fall into the categories of usage, design, and accessibility.

5. Why is it important to know about Web postures?
Because you need to know how to design your Web site to match how your user will use the site.

6. What are the three different types of Web sites?
The three different types of Web sites are informational, application, and portal.

7. What are the three types of Web sites you can create?
Informational, application, and portal sites.

8. What is an example of content driving a transaction?
A Web site form.

9. What is an example of transaction driving content?
The posting of a thank-you message after the Web site visitor submits a form and the program finishes the transaction.

10. Why must you limit your color and text choices?
Because these limits guarantee that all browsers on all computers will be able to see the colors and text the way they were intended to be seen.

11. What are the four telltale signs of poor use of graphics?
The four telltale signs include flashing text or a flashing block of text, distracting animated graphics, too many graphics in one area of the page, and graphics that are pixelated or jagged.

12. Why should you adhere to the four rules of Web design whenever possible?
Because it makes your Web sites as usable as possible.

13. What is the three-click rule?
The user should be able to find what he wants on your Web site in three clicks.

14. When do you break the Web design rules?
When the rules don’t serve the needs of your users or the company.

Chapter 9

1. What are the three general goals a user looks for when he uses something?
The user has an easy-to-learn experience, the product solves the user’s needs, and help is easily accessible.

2. What are the three phases of the UEL?
Requirements analysis; design, testing, and development; and installation.

3. What rules should you adhere to as you plan for a usability test?
Plan ahead; select users who reflect diversity in the user group; treat the users as partners; watch, listen to, and talk with users; make the conversations concrete; and take your cues from your users.

4. What types of scenarios should you test?
Tasks that probe potential usability problems, are suggested from your concerns and experiences, are derived from user criteria, and that the user will do with the product.

5. Why should you conduct a pilot test?
To “debug” your test and find out if there are any problems with the product, Web site, documentation, testing methods, and testing materials.

6. Why is it useful to conduct a worksite visit?
To see how users work and use your product in their work environment.

7. How many users are required for a useful and valid pilot test?
Use one test participant who represents the users you want to test.

8. What are the possible sources of bias in your test results?
Data collection problems and limitations of the analysis.

9. How should you address the question of bias in your report?
Acknowledge problems with the data collection and analysis limitations up front.

10. How do you ensure that your project team implements your recommended changes?
Keep open communication throughout the project; help your stakeholders organize the required changes; and be realistic in your recommendations for changes.