Category — Interface Design Tools

There are many different categories of user interface design tools. Just as there are many different types of user interface design, so too are there many different user interface design tools. While there are tools for designing many types of interfaces, I want to focus on tools for designing graphical user interfaces for software applications like websites, mobile apps or enterprise tools, in short: GUI design tools. In general, a GUI design tool uses software visualization methods to draft the visual design and/or interactive functionality of an application. These tools can be high-fidelity or low-fidelity user interface design tools, desktop or web-based user interface design tools, and can be stand-alone or integrated with other applications. Some types of user interface design tools are able to prototype the interactive functions of software concepts.

High-fidelity user interface design tools are often used to produce prototypes that are very detailed and close to the look and feel of the final product. In contrast, low-fidelity user interface design tools offer a quick way to visualize software in basic images, usually without much visual design, in some cases allowing the user to ad interactivity to the low-fidelity UI prototypes to use them in usability testing.

Desktop-based user interface design tools are applications that can only be run once software has been installed on a computer. They are platform-dependent, and some can only be used on a limited range of operating systems. They are useful if you wish to work offline and on your own. Web-based user interface design tools allow users to work online, usually without installing any software. This often makes teamwork much easier if the user interface design tool includes collaboration functions, for example allowing multiple users to edit and/or comment on interface design prototypes.

Stand alone user interface design tools are often simpler to use and get started with than integrated user interface design tools. Stand alone tools can also be a more cost-efficient option since integrated tools are usually more expensive and often come with components or functions that may not be needed, especially if you wish to focus on one element of the development process. Integrated user interface design tools usually combine features from different stages of the development process, which may include a requirements elicitation, testing and quality-analysis phase or project management functions.

There are a number of user interface design tools on the market that may be an appropriate option, depending on what elements you wish to focus on and what stage you are at in the prototyping process. The most important thing to remember is that these user interface designs should match your respective requirements and the purpose of your prototyping or design efforts.

The process of interface prototyping, particularly user interface prototyping is important, especially in building complex websites. Using an interface prototype allows you to analyze the functionality and usability of your website before the lengthy and costly programming stage. The most important aspect of user interface prototyping is the ability to analyze usability and collaborate according to the needs of the person or organization running the website. There are four key stages to user interface prototyping, which will be explored in this blog.

Stage One – Assess requirements

In this stage, the website implementer establishes the requirements for a website interface prototype. User interface prototyping begins with the client’s needs and it is vital that collaboration is prominent throughout the interface prototyping process. Here it’s useful to look at the requirements a client might stipulate in the initial design stage, such as input fields, links to other pages and the use of visual media. Once these requirements have been established, the design process begins.

Stage Two – Prototype interfaces

In the design process, the user interface prototype is developed. The designer sticks to the brief that has been made by the website implementer and builds the initial prototype. This initial user interface prototype is then sent back to the client.

Stage Three – Test prototypes

Once the client has looked at the initial user interface prototype, it is likely that suggestions for changes will come about. At this stage it is useful if the prototype software enables real-time collaboration, so that the client and designer can communicate changes to one another quickly and effectively. Here the end user can also play an important role, especially if the prototype design software enables remote usability testing. This type of software enables you to see what problems end users may encounter and resolve them quickly and easily.

Stage Four – Adapt interface prototypes

The final stage involves components of the previous three process stages. The prototype is reviewed and revised until the client is satisfied that all the requirements have been met and there has been positive usability feedback from end users.

What are the benefits of interface prototyping?

There are many benefits to using interface prototyping. Not only does this allow for collaboration between the designer and implementer of the website, there is also the possibility to test the interface prototype on end users. That means not only is there the possibility to change design proposals early on, but end user problems can also be anticipated and resolved quickly. The main advantage of user interface prototyping is the speed in which the prototyping process happens, which in turn can save your company money.

According to respected analysts smartphones (tablets too) represent the future of computing. The user adoption figures for these mobile devices is nothing short of staggering, thanks largely to Apple and Google’s Android. Their more portable form factor and streamlined, intuitive user interface design has already revolutionized the way we use the web. According to Morgan Stanley 2015 will be the year were these mobiles devices will become the foremost way we surf the internet. Already many major websites, such as Amazon have introduced tablet-optimized versions with user interface designs that, arguably, possess better usability than their standard desktop counterparts. Characteristics of these mobile inspired user interface designs include cleaner, less noisy UI design with bigger buttons and less fat, if I may call it that.

Two aspects that may be considered major drawbacks of mobile devices are screen size and, more significantly, processing power. With tablets screen size is not that much of an issue as with smartphones, which require more thoughtful user interface design to make the most of the smaller screens combined with our fat fingers. The other limitation is in processing power as dual-core 1Ghz CPUs with their 1.5 gigaflops are only as powerful as the fastest computer from 1985! Chip company Adapteva has unveiled the Herculean 64-core Epiphany IV chip capable of 70 gigaflops at a miserly single watt of power! This could herald the day when mobile devices are able to incorporate the most exquisite and processor hungry user interface design elements that we have become accustomed to on our desktops.

This is the first part of my two-part blog post on persuasive design vis-a-vis user interface design.

As Graphical User Interface designs increased in sophistication, hand-in-hand with the increasing power of personal computers, new UI design techniques have been added along the way. In order to create better user interface designs strategies have been coined ranging from interaction design, information architecture, experience design and content strategy. At the beginning of the internet there were barely any user interface design conventions which led to a lot of websites suffering from poor usability. At the same time the internet was developing so fast that a lot of user interface designers simply had to improvise. Despite all the advances in user interface design, many websites todaystill suffer from poor usability despite the fact that web users are notoriously fickle with an attention span that can be measured in seconds. In today’s competitive landscape a user interface design should not only score well in terms of usability but it should also persuade users to come back again and again. This is particularly true with regards to e-commerce websites.

What Approach to User Interface Design Does Persuasive Design Take?

Persuasive design in user interface design refers to creating a user experience that seeks to impact a user’s attitude or behavior not through coercion but through persuasion. In a way persuasive design is akin to Soft Power in international relations, whereby the goal is to make users like (hopefully love) using your websites user interface design. Desireability is key here, building on top of a usable user interface design that has been made useful with the right content strategy. A user interface design can be made more desirable by focusing on the behavioral context of a user. What, for example, would be the motivation behind a user using a website? What would be the ability a user needs to adequately navigate a user interface design and complete tasks? Persuasive user interface design is more concerned with why users do what they do on a website whereby interaction design would be more concerned with how they do it. In the second part of this blog post I shall look at some examples and underlying principles of persuasive user interface design.

Microsoft finally pulled the curtains off Windows 8 at the recently concluded BUILD Conference. As was heavily speculated the upcoming OS features a dual-mode user interface design. Effectively what Microsoft has done is to merge two operating systems, one for desktops and another for tablets. When Microsoft released Windows Phone 7 I felt its user interface design would even work better on the larger screen size of tablets. All the while Android (namely Honeycomb), webOS, and Blackberry’s QNX were all optimized for tablets in the wake of the iPad. Now it is clear that Microsoft is eyeing a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between the two user interface design modes. Despite PC sales slowing down Microsoft can almost be certain of shipping a high volume of Windows 8 when it ships.

Microsoft seems to be taking a leap of faith as the tablet optimized user interface design is touch friendly. Yet most Windows users do not possess a touchscreen so unless they opt to buy a Windows tablet they would need to buy a touch-enabled display to use this functionality. There is also the ergonomic factor of having to lift your hands, which I imagine could quickly become annoying. There is also the smudges and fingerprints taking over the screen to consider. However that is precisely what the user interface design of the Windows 8 Start menu seduces you into doing. Clicking on the Start menu now opens up the Windows Phone 7 like “Metro” UI design. Switch back to the traditional Desktop user interface design and not much has changed from Windows 7, apart from the introduction of the Ribbon UI to the Windows Explorer.

There are some things that Metro does better than iOS. A good example of this is moving an app to a desired location on the user interface design. On iOS one has to laboriously drag the app icon from page to page whereas on Metro one can activate a tile for moving, hold it down and use another finger to smoothly swipe through. The tiles themselves are bigger and can thus be used to display widget like information which is a great example of beautiful yet practical user interface design. iOS apps on the other hand are represented by static tiny icons whose added functionality is the number of notifications available.

Adobe has now released the public beta of its ambitious web and user interface design application Muse. To be fair graphic design software would be more apt but Muse is clearly intended for the creation of web sites. The basic premise of Muse is as a web and user interface design tool that works like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator from the flagship Creative Suite tools. The main difference is that Muse will not be available to buy but as Software-as-a-Service for a monthly fee. With Muse users can create user interface designs by combining graphics, text, and other user interface design elements using the workflows of desktop publishing.

Not having to code the user interface design is an appealing factor. Muse is obviously directed towards graphic designers and one glance at the websites so far made with the tool seems to confirm this. Many feature lean and clean user interface designs showcasing artistic and creative work but there are a few for small businesses too. The question remains whether Muse can be used to create larger more complex websites, such as an e-commerce website. Muse for example doesn’t have a real content management system, which is what essentially brings a user interface design of a website to life.

Muse runs with Adobe AIR and is therefore not a native app. This means that it can run on Mac and Windows but it also makes it light with minimal footprint. The user interface design of the app itself is very much like InDesign. In fact the user interface design team was the same one behind InDesign. To tool is slated to be released in early 2012 so there is plenty of time for feedback to further improve it

Twitter has recently changed the user interface design of its startpage. The new startpage, visible when logged-out of Twitter, sports a much more refined user interface design in relation to its predecessor. In a sense it is reminiscent of the UI design of the Facebook startpage, complete with the continents and all, albeit with a Twitter-esque minimalism. What is great about the user interface design of both these startpages, besides being simple and easy on the eyes, is that users can sign up on the pages themselves. It all happens in one step. No having to go to another page only to presented with a convoluted list to fill out etc. Barring saved passwords and other log-in data, users new to these networks can get in on the act almost as fast as existing members. This low barrier of entry is even more evident on the Twitter startpage.

The user interface design of the new Twitter startpage features big text input fields and buttons for sign in and sign up. Each of the text input fields also features descriptive text in it. The attention to detail is evident as the font color even blends and matches with the color scheme of the user interface design. The result is text that is clear without being distracting. The right side of the user interface design is dedicated to sign up or joining. There is, however, more than enough space marking a very clear distinction.  The left side of the UI design  features a large search box inviting users to search Twitter, in stark contrast to Facebook’s closed wall policy.  Below all this are linked thumbnails from popular Twitter accounts further reinforcing the variety and utility of Twitter.

With the advent of Web 2.0 Facebook has become the undoubted king of the hill leading to an A list Hollywood film with the humorous tag-line “you don’t make 500 million friends without making a few enemies”. Since launching its Facebook Connect set of APIs, there has been a proliferation of third party websites incorporating Facebook log in functionality in their interface design. Considering the large number of Facebook users and the central part social networking plays in users’ web habits such a move lowers the entry barrier considerably. The ability to sign up with a few clicks would entice users who find having to register and enter all kinds of personal information a convoluted process.

How has the social web impacted the interface design of web browsers?

As APIs from various social networks found themselves to the interface designs of various websites, the browser itself largely remains untouched. Mozilla Labs had experimented with an in-browser tool called Ubiquity that was used to post data to social networks. Other add-ons have also tried to bring the social web closer to the browser. Two browsers, RockMelt and Flock, have championed the integration of the social web into the fabric and interface design of the browser itself.  In the rest of this blog I shall look at RockMelt, which recently released a limited public beta. The browser is based on the open-source Chromium from which Google Chrome draws its code. By that virtue RockMelt’s interface design and functionality is similar to Chrome.

How does RockMelt incorporate the social web in its interface design?

One of the most striking things about RockMelt is that you have to log in when you start it. After authorizing it to connect with your Facebook account the browser instantly customizes its interface design to your social circle by way of slim sidebars to the left and right. This leaves plenty of space for the browser to be, after all, a browser. And while browsing the web users may update their status and post links to Facebook and Twitter (the only services supported at the date of writing) from the interface design of the browser itself. Built-in clients allow you to access your news feed or even manage multiple Twitter feeds. By incorporating social networks into the interface design of the browser itself RockMelt could streamline surfing the web as users won’t have to have extra tabs open and the ability to access feeds and post would mean less clicks.

The BBC has recently released the third iteration of its acclaimed on-demand iPlayer media service to a slew of new features and a revamped user interface design. At first glance the layout of the interface design is less cluttered and now better demarcated easing web site navigation. This is partly achieved due to TV and radio content now separated into individual tabs. Each of these tabs has panels designed to help users find content fast and without having to think. The four panels at the top, in order from left to right, highlight ‘Featured’ content, ‘Recommended’ content linked to a user’s viewing/listening habits, ‘Most Popular’ content, and your ‘Friends’ recommendations. The latter feature requires users to register for a BBC iD and takes advantage of Facebook and Twitter APIs to make it easy to share and receive content. Each of these panels can be expanded to reveal more viewing options in the UI.

In addition there is a search bar at the top right of the user interface design that suggests results as you type them in, i.e. in real time. Below the four panels there are the TV/ radio channels on the left including a schedule for the previous four days. This makes sense because the site tagline is “Catch up on the last 7 days of BBC TV & Radio”. Users, however, can open the full schedule with a single click. To the right, below the fours panels is the ‘Categories’ area where content is divided into Music, Children’s, Comedy, regional etc. By default four different programs, each from a different category are highlighted. Another handy feature is the ‘Favourites’ right at the top of the interface design just below the search bar. Once a show has been chosen as a favourite, new shows as well as the last episode can be accessed from here. All in all the new user interface design scores high in usability and has impressive discoverability. On the down side I found the registration process to be lacking. I felt that the number of steps taken from signing up for a BBC iD account until activating Facebook and Twitter accounts was too high for a top mark. Nevertheless, a commendable approach to a functional UI design.

Despite leading the browser charts as the most successful browser Internet Explorer still remains much-maligned by all and sundry.  Internet Explorer’s apparent ubiquity seems to stem from coming bundled with Windows (leading to anti-trust suits against the Redmond giant). According to StatCounter IE’s market share has now fallen below 50%, perhaps a sign of things to come! Popular gripes about IE include the slower benchmarks in regards to the competition, such as Firefox. IE also lacked a download manager and hogged up more RAM.  Even more worryingly it came with a lot of unwanted add-ons and toolbars that made it even slower and negatively impacted the user interface design as website viewing space would shrink, requiring even more scrolling to see all parts of the UI.

IE9 is Microsoft’s way of staying relevant in a cutthroat industry and is currently available in public beta form. At first glance the interface design is minimalistic falls somewhere in between the really lean interface design of Google Chrome and Firefox allowing users to see more of the web. IE9 eschews the menu bar and the search bar giving the address bar and navigation controls more prominence. The address bar now also doubles as the search bar thereby simplifying the interface design. Coupled with Bing, which displays certain info as you search (such as a photo of the person you’re searching for or weather conditions etc.), IE9 lives up to Steve Krug’s first law of usability because users have to spend less time thinking and clicking through processes to accomplish critical user tasks.

The popularity of web applications is also given due prominence. IE9 now allows users to pin their favorite web apps (be it social network, webmail, or music streaming services) to the Windows taskbar, meaning easy one-click access to the most-used online services right through the interface design. After all, first opening the web browser and then clicking on a bookmark is about to become so passé. Coupled with other long absent and asked for features, such as a download manager, Microsoft has shown that the browser wars are far from becoming stale.