Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives The student is expected to develop an understanding of the issues involved in user interface design, a familiarity with the tools available for user interface development and skills to design and implement a user interface to given specifications.
Synopsis Guides to user interface design: the role of human factors; interaction standards; style guides. Interaction style: direct manipulation; hypermedia. Analysis and design of interfaces: software life cycle for interfaces; relationship to application development life cycle; importance of evaluation; task action notation; task action grammar; lean cuisine. Constructional modelling; use of grammars; state transition networks and event response systems for dialogue specifications. User interface tools: toolkits; user interface management systems; SUIT. Usability specification: constructions of usability specification table; techniques for measuring usability. Evaluation in the development process: rapid prototyping; formative evaluation. Access to the university's computer systems via modem is compulsory for distance education students.
Assessment Other assessment methods: 50% + Examination: 50%