Download The Essential Guide to User Interface Design

The Essential Guide to User Interface Design - 3rd Edition
Wilbert O. Galitz
TEST ANSWERS
Step 3: Understand the Principles of Good Interface and Screen
Design
Short Answer
1. The goals in interface design are to reduce or eliminate what for the user?
Reduce visual work.
Reduce intellectual work.
Reduce memory work.
Reduce motor work.
Minimize or eliminate any burdens or instructions imposed by
technology.
2. What is the “Test for Good Design?”
Can all screen elements (field captions, data, title, headings, text, and
information, types of controls, navigation elements, and so on) be
identified without reading the words that identify or comprise them?
That is, can a component of a screen be identified through cues
independent of its content?
3. What are three important principles to be followed in organizing Web pages?
Place critical information near the top of the Web site.
Place important items at the top of a page.
Organize information clearly.
Place important items consistently.
Facilitate scanning.
Structure for easy comparison.
4. What design layout principle reduces a screen’s measurable complexity?
Minimize the alignment points, especially horizontal or columnar.
5. Effective use of typography can be used as a tool to achieve what in design?
Communicate the organization of screen elements.
Identify the most important screen elements.
Establish a reading order.
Create a particular mood.
6. Why are clear and informative captions, labels, and headings important for
the user?
Reduce learning requirements.
Increase comprehensibility.
Research has also found that informative labeling:
Improves efficiency in finding an item.
Reduces clicks to complete a task.
Results in significantly less errors.
Results in significantly more items found.
Results in significantly higher user satisfaction ratings.
7. Name five design principles that aid scanning of Web pages.
Organize content in a logical, systematic, and obvious way.
Highlight and emphasize important information.
Use clear, well-located headings and subheadings.
Use short phrases and sentences.
Use small readable paragraphs.
Include bulleted and numbered lists.
Array information in tables.
8. Under what conditions should the length of Web pages be minimized?
Shorter pages should be used for:
Home pages.
Navigation pages.
Pages needing to be quickly browsed or read online and content
quickly found.
Situations where a page will be loading over slow modems and
all pages are not needed.
9. What design elements make browsing the Web easier?
Provide ease in page scanning.
Provide multiple layers of structure with high-level summaries so users
can decide if they want to browse deeper or simply move on.
Freely use links to encourage browsing.
Help users reorient themselves upon returning by providing signposts,
meaningful page titles, headings, and summaries.
10. What are the components of a statistical graphic?
Most statistical graphics have:
At least two axes.
Two scales.
An area to present the data.
A title.
Sometimes a legend or key.
True/False (Answers highlighted and underlined)
1. White space is wasted space on a screen or Web page.
True or False?
2. Writing information and content for the Web is no different than other types of
informational writing.
True or False?
3. Lists of information should be organized horizontally whenever possible.
True or False?
4. Locating a Web page’s important information “above the fold” means to place
it in the top eight inches of a screen.
True or False?
5. Users want a simple way of finding out what is in a system and how to get it
out.
True or False?
6. Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use than less-aesthetic designs.
True or False?
7. Economy, a desirable quality in design, is achieved by using as few styles,
display techniques, and colors as possible.
True or False?
8. Legibility means presented information is identifiable, interpretable, and
attractive.
True or False?
9. The Inverted Pyramid is a desirable style of writing for the Web.
True or False?
10. An extranet Web site can possess more options and features than an Internet
Web site. To distinguish the extranet from the Internet a subtle difference in
visual style and navigation should be provided.
True or False?
Multiple Choice (Answers highlighted and underlined)
1. Faster Web page download times can be achieved by minimizing certain page
design elements. What design features increase download times?
a) Long pages.
b) Large chunky headings.
c) Numerous or large graphics and images.
d) Animation.
e) Excessive amount of color.
f) Excessive use of frames.
g) All of the above.
2. Which of the following aspects of visually pleasing composition are desirable?
a) Predictability.
b) Intricacy.
c) Complexity.
d) Asymmetry.
e) Regularity.
f) All of the above.
3. Which of the following “Ordering of Date and Content” design guidelines are not
correct?
4.
5.
6.
7.
a) Provide an ordering of screen units of information and elements that is
prioritized according to the user’s expectations and needs.
b) Ensure that all information that must be compared is visible at the same
time.
c) Only one ordering scheme should be selected and implemented for
all components of a single screen.
d) Ensure that only information relative to the users’ tasks or needs is
presented on the screen.
e) All of the above are correct.
What objective measures of a screen were derived by Tullis?
a) Groupings.
b) Sequentiality.
c) Density.
d) Economy.
e) Complexity.
f) All of the Above.
Visual style in Web page design is dependent upon which of the following:
a) The profile and goals of the Web site owner.
b) The profile and tastes of the Web site designer.
c) The profile, tastes, and expectations of the Web site user.
d) All of the above.
Which of the following guidelines are correct for achieving a three-dimensional
appearance?
a) Always assume that a light source is in the upper-left corner of the
screen.
b) Display command buttons on the screen plane.
c) Display screen-based controls on, or above, the screen plane.
d) Do not overdo perspective.
e) All are correct.
Which of the following Web guidelines are not correct?
a) Scrolling may be used to retrieve important information.
b) Minimize the number of headings presented.
c) Provide a visual appearance that is colorful and glitzy.
d) Display unsolicited windows or graphics as necessary.
e) All are not correct.
8. Generally, shorter Web pages should be developed when which of the following
conditions exist:
a) It is a content page where uninterrupted reading is desirable.
b) It is a Homepage.
c) It is a navigation page.
d) It is a page needing to be quickly browsed or read online and content
quickly found.
e) To simplify page maintenance.
f) All the above.
9. Scanning a Web page is enhanced by:
a) Highlighting and emphasizing important information.
b) Using clear well-located headings and subheadings.
c) Using long phrases and sentences.
d) Using long paragraphs.
e) Including bulleted and numbered lists.
f) Arraying information in tables.
g) All of the above.
10. Which of the following design guidelines concerning typography are correct?
a) Always verify that a design has succeeded using the selected fonts.
b) For rapid reading and understanding present black text on plain,
high-contrast backgrounds.
c) Establish a consistent hierarchy and convention for using typefaces,
styles, and sizes.
d) In Web pages, it is acceptable to use an underline in any circumstance.
e) All of the above are correct.