Stretch tasks User interface design

Round 1: Quiz Blitz

1. Save changes A button should say exactly what it does.
2. Feedback Every action needs a visible response, so the user knows it worked.
3. Forgiveness Mistakes should be undoable, and destructive actions should ask for confirmation.
4. False Some people cannot tell red from other colours. Never use colour alone: add words or an icon.
5. Large tap targets; Labels on every control for screen readers; Text that works with larger font settings Accessible apps work for people with limited dexterity, limited vision, or who use screen readers.
6. Consistency The same action should look and behave the same everywhere.
7. Big simple buttons, few words and instant feedback Know your audience: young children need large, simple controls.
8. Give the app to someone who has never seen it → Give them a task to complete → Say nothing and watch → Note every place they hesitate Watching silently shows the real problems. Helping them hides the very thing you are testing.
9. True That is why simpler interfaces are usually easier to use.
10. So a mistake can be caught before something is lost One accidental tap should never cost someone their work.
11. usability Usability is measured by watching real people, not by asking the designer.
12. The design's Wherever a user hesitates is a design problem, not a user problem.

Round 2: Quick Fire

1. • So the user knows the action worked
   • Otherwise they may repeat it, such as paying twice, or get confused
   Model answer

   Feedback tells the user that their action worked. Without it they cannot be sure, so they may tap again and do it twice, such as paying twice, or simply get confused.

2. • Large tap targets
   • Strong colour contrast
   • Text that works with larger font settings
   • Labels on controls for screen readers
   • Not using colour alone to show meaning
   Model answer

   Make tap targets large enough to hit easily, and make sure the text still works when the phone's larger font settings are switched on.

3. • Children need big, simple controls, few words and pictures
   • Accountants need speed and lots of information on screen
   Model answer

   An app for young children needs big, simple buttons, few words and pictures, because they are still learning to read. An app for accountants can assume expertise and show lots of detailed information quickly.

4. • Mistakes can be undone
   • Destructive actions ask for confirmation first
   Model answer

   Forgiveness means mistakes can be undone, and destructive actions such as deleting ask for confirmation first.

Round 3: Big Think

1. • Consistency: the same layout, with buttons in the same place on every screen
   • Feedback: a message or tick when homework has been handed in
   • Clarity: buttons say exactly what they do, such as Hand in homework
   • So students make fewer mistakes and learn the app quickly
   Model answer

   Consistency means every screen uses the same layout, with the menu and back button always in the same place, so students learn the app once. Feedback means a clear message and a tick appear when homework has been handed in, so nobody wonders whether it worked. Clarity means buttons say exactly what they do, such as Hand in homework rather than OK. Together they make the app easier and less confusing, so students make fewer mistakes.

2. • Many features can be powerful for expert users
   • Every extra option is another decision, which slows people down and confuses them
   • Beginners and children may struggle: designers must know their audience
   • Small screens get cluttered, with tap targets too small
   • Accessibility suffers
   • Better to show the main actions and tuck advanced ones into menus
   • Test with real users to see which features they actually use
   • A reasoned conclusion
   Model answer

   Lots of features can make an app powerful, and expert users may appreciate having more options to hand. However, every extra button is another decision, so the app becomes cluttered, slower to use and confusing, especially for beginners and children: designers have to know their audience. On a small phone screen, crowding means tiny tap targets, which also hurts accessibility. A better approach follows the principle of simplicity: show the few main actions clearly and put advanced options in menus or settings, then test with real users and watch where they hesitate. Overall, the approach is likely to make the app worse for most people.

This or That

1. Feedback Feedback lets the user know that what they did worked.
2. Forgiveness Forgiveness means mistakes can be undone.
3. Simplicity Every extra option is another decision for the user, so fewer is usually better.
4. To help people with limited dexterity Large tap targets help everyone, especially people who find small, precise taps hard.
5. So a screen reader can describe it A screen reader can only describe a button that has a label.
6. Dense information and fast shortcuts Professionals can be assumed to have expertise, so speed and density of information matter.
7. Work either way round An accessible app works with the device turned either way.
8. Watch someone new use it, in silence Wherever a new user hesitates is a design problem, not a user problem.

Memory Match

• A 4 Consistency: The same action looks and works the same everywhere
• B 1 Feedback: Every action gets a visible response
• C 5 Clarity: Buttons say exactly what they do
• D 6 Forgiveness: Mistakes can be undone
• E 3 Simplicity: Fewer options, so fewer decisions
• F 2 Tap target: The area you touch to press a control