Lesson 4 Notes: User Interface -- Remember the User!

• Bad User Interface
  • Unknown Program (what does it do?)
    • Enter a number:
    • Enter another number:
    • The answer is 12
  • The Missing Directions
  • No descriptions or explanations
    • 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25
• Good User Interface
  • Clear purpose / explanation for program
  • Good directions
    • What exactly am I supposed to type in?
    • Number with decimal places? Without decimal?
    • Letters in lower case or caps or either?
    • Measurements in what unit?
    • Largest number? Smallest number?
  • Why am I typing this in?
  • Clean, uncluttered look
• Basic Guidelines
  • Start with title and directions.
  • When asking for input, give guidelines:
    • Enter length in feet (0-100):
  • Make sense!
  • Use spaces and special characters to keep screen uncluttered
  • Tell the user when the script is done.