course: human computer interaction 1. Pick a web site and evaluate how well it a
ID: 3832613 • Letter: C
Question
course: human computer interaction
1.
Pick a web site and evaluate how well it avoids the top ten mistakes of webbased presentation of information as described in the text (Tullis, 2005).
2.
Give examples of ways that coordinated windows can help users multitask.
3.
Describe how rolecentered design might improve a user’s efficiency.
4.
Describe the characteristics of a wellwritten error message.
5.
Explain the disadvantages associated with anthropomorphic design. Describe the guidelines for avoiding anthropomorphism.
6.
Describe color choices that enhance user satisfaction and performance when designing an interface. What color pitfalls should be avoided?
Explanation / Answer
1.
I have compiled many top-10 lists of the biggest mistakes in Web design. Which are s fokkows:
1. Bad Search
A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms they contain, rather than on each document's importance. Much better if your search engine calls out "best bets" at the top of the list — especially for important queries, such as the names of your products.
Search is the user's lifeline when navigation fails. Even though advanced search can sometimes help, simple search usually works best, and search should be presented as a simple box, since that's what users are looki
2. PDF Files for Online Reading
Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don't work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window.
3. Not Changing the Color of Visited Links
Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.
4. Non-Scannable Text
A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Intimidating. Boring. Painful to read.
5. Fixed Font Size
CSS style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny , reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40.
6. Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need.
7. Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement
Selective attention is very powerful, and Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads that get in the way of their goal-driven navigation.
8. Violating Design Conventions
Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience.
9. Opening New Browser Windows
Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user's machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don't notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.
10. Not Answering Users' Questions
Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs if you don't tell them the specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don't have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there.
2.
Multitasking operating systems allow more than one program to run at a time. They can support either preemptive multitasking, where the OS doles out time to applications (virtually all modern OSes) or cooperative multitasking.
Time sharing, or multitasking, is a logical extension of multiprogramming. The CPU executes multiple jobs by switching among them, but the switches occur so frequently that the users can interact with each program while it is running.
Microsoft Windows 2000, IBM's OS/390, and Linux are examples of operating systems that can do multitasking (almost all of today's operating systems can). When you open your Web browser and then open Word at the same time, you are causing the operating system to do multitasking.
Being able to do multitasking doesn't mean that an unlimited number of tasks can be juggled at the same time. Each task consumes system storage and other resources. As more tasks are started, the system may slow down or begin to run out of shared storage.
Since multitasking can handle several tasks at once, it also improves the stability of the computer. For example, if one process crashes, it will not affect the other running programs, since the computer handles each process separately. In other words, if you are in the middle of writing a paper in a word processing program and your Web browser unexpectedly quits, you won't lose your work. That's when you can really be thankful for multitasking.
When you have several programs open, i.e. Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, and playing music, it has to handle all these programs at once. That ability is called multitasking.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.