Problem 1
suggested in Section 16.1 that the objects manipulated by users should be drawn from their domain rather than from a computer domain. Suggest appropriate objects for the following users and systems. A warehouse assistant using an automated parts catalogue An airline pilot using an aircraft safety monitoring system A manager manipulating a financial database A policeman using a patrol car control system
Problem 2
Suggest situations where it is unwise or impossible to provide a consistent user interface.
Problem 4
Suggest ways in which the user interface to an e-commerce system such as an online bookstore or music retailer might be adapted for users who have a visual impairment or problems with muscular control.
Problem 5
Discuss the advantages of graphical information display and suggest four applications where it would be more appropriate to use graphical rather than digital displays of numeric information.
Problem 7
Consider the error messages produced by MS-Windows, Linux, Mac OS or some other operating system. Suggest how these might be improved.
Problem 8
Write possible interaction scenarios for the following systems: Using a web-based theatre booking service to order theatre tickets and pay for them by credit card Ordering the same tickets using an interface on a cell phone Using a CASE toolset to create an object model of a software system (see Chapters 8 and 14) and generating code automatically from that model.
Problem 9
Under what circumstances could you use ‘Wizard of Oz’ prototyping? For what type of systems is this approach unsuitable?
Problem 10
Design a questionnaire to gather information about the user interface of some tool (such as a word processor) with which you are familiar. If possible, distribute this questionnaire to a number of users and try to evaluate the results. What do these tell you about the user interface design?
Problem 11
Discuss whether it is ethical to instrument software to monitor its use without telling endusers that their work is being monitored.
Problem 12
What ethical issues might user interface designers face when trying to reconcile the needs of end-users of a system with the needs of the organisation that is paying for the system to be developed.
