1.

Explain about shaping the content of the documentation

2. Write the disadvantages in reading from display.
3.Justify importance of online documentation formation and content. Provide
an example.
4. Explain seven data types by task taxonomy
5. Describe Information visualization challenges
6. Explain five phase frame work to clarify user interface for textual search
7. Compare and contrast Paper versus Online manuals
There are many reasons to have online manuals
a. Physical advantages
b. Navigation features
c. Interactive services
d. Economic advantages
However, these advantages can be compromised by potentially serious negative side
effects
e. Displays may not be as readable as paper manuals
f. Each display may contain substantially less information than a sheet of paper
g. The user interface of online help systems may be novel and confusing to novices
h. The extra mental effort required for navigating through many screen may interfere
with concentration and learning, and annotation can be difficult
i. Splitting the display between work and help or tutorial windows reduces the space for
work displays
j. Small devices such as cell phones do not have enough display space to provide online
help
Numerous studies have found 15% to 30% slower task times for comprehension or
proofreading of text on computer displays, compared to on paper
Potential Disadvantages in Reading from Displays:
k. Poor fonts, especially on low resolution displays
l. Low contrast between characters and the background
m. Fuzzy character boundaries
n. Emitted light from displays may be more difficult to read by than reflected light from
paper
o. Glare may be greater on displays
p. Screen flicker can be a problem
q. Curved display surface may be problem
r. Small displays require more frequent page turning
s. Reading distance can be greater than for paper
t. Displays are fixed in place
u. Display placement may be too high for comfortable reading
v. Layout and formatting problems
w. Reduced hand and body motions with displays as compared to paper may be fatiguing
x. Rigid posture for displays may also be fatiguing
y. Unfamiliarity of displays and the anxiety that the image may disappear can increase
stress
8. Discuss Advantages and disadvantages of Direct Manipulation and Indirect
Manipulation
What is Direct Manipulation?
Direct manipulation is a human–computer interaction style which involves continuous
representation of objects of interest and rapid, reversible, and incremental actions and
feedback.

Advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation

Direct manipulation is computer science is a style of human-computer interaction that includes
continuous representation of the object of interest and fast, reversible, and incremental actions
and feedback. So here this article gives the advantages and disadvantages of Direct manipulation
to better understand this topic.
Pros or Advantages of Direct manipulation
1. It is easy to learn and remember.
2. It is easy to retain.
3. Present task concept visually.
4. Permits error avoidance.
5. It is a flexible and reversible action.
6. Low typing requirement.
7. Encourages exploration.
8. High subjective satisfaction.
9. Predictable and controllable.
10. Permits high subjective satisfaction.
11. Instant visual feedback.
12. User learning time is relatively small.
13. User feel in control of the computer and less likely to be intimidated by it
Cons or Disadvantages of Direct manipulation
1. May be hard to code.
2. High resource usage.
3. The requirement for a lot of screen space may be cumbersome.
4. Poing may be slower than typing.
5. May increase difficulty for the visually impaired.
6. May require graphics display and pointing devices.

Indirect Manipulation

• In practice, direct manipulation of all screen objects and actions may not be feasible
because of the following:
• The operation may be difficult to conceptualize in the graphical system.
• The graphics capability of the system may be limited.
• The amount of space available for placing manipulation controls in the window border may
be limited.
• It may be difficult for people to learn and remember all the necessary operations and
actions.
• When this occurs, indirect manipulation is provided. Indirect manipulation substitutes
words and text, such as pull-down or pop-up menus, for symbols, and substitutes typing for
pointing.
9. Define Interaction Style. List various types of interaction styles in graphical
system. Ans Explain each style with appropriate advantages and
disadvantages.

Define Interaction Style

Interaction styles are the "bread and butter" of the interface. The concept of Interaction Styles refers
to all the ways the user can communicate or otherwise interact with the computer system.
The types of interaction styles mentioned are usually
COMMAND LANGUAGE

Command language is the earliest form of interaction style and is still being used, though mainly
on Linux/Unix operating systems. These "Command prompts" are used by (usually) expert users
who type in commands and possibly some parameters that will affect the way the command is
executed. The following screen dump shows a command prompt - in this case, the user has logged
on to a (mail) server and can use the server's functions by typing in commands.

Advantages
• Flexible.
• Appeals to expert users.
• Supports creation of user-defined "scripts" or macros.
• Is suitable for interacting with networked computers even with low bandwidth.

Disadvantages
• Retention of commands is generally very poor.
• Learnability of commands is very poor.
• Error rates are high.
• Error messages and assistance are hard to provide because of the diversity of possibilities
plus the complexity of mapping from tasks to interface concepts and syntax.
• Not suitable for non-expert users.

FORM FILLIN

The form fillin interaction style (also called "fill in the blanks") was aimed at a different set of
users than command language, namely non-experts users. When form fillin interfaces first
appeared, the whole interface was form-based, unlike much of today's software that mix forms
with other interaction styles. Back then, the screen was designed as a form in which data could be
entered in the pre-defined form fields. The TAB-key was (and still is) used to switch between the
fields and ENTER to submit the form. Thus, there was originally no need for a pointing device
such as a mouse and the separation of data in fields allowed for validation of the input. Form fillin
interfaces were (and still is) especially useful for routine, clerical work or for tasks that require a
great deal of data entry.

Advantages
• Simplifies data entry.
• Shortens learning in that the fields are predefined and need only be 'recognised'.
• Guides the user via the predefined rules.

Disadvantages
• Consumes screen space.
• Usually sets the scene for rigid formalisation of the business processes.

MENU SELECTION

A menu is a set of options displayed on the screen where the selection and execution of one (or
more) of the options results in a state change of the interface (Paap and Roske-Hofstrand, 1989, as
cited in Preece et al. 1994). Using a system based on menu-selection, the user selects a command
from a predefined selection of commands arranged in menus and observes the effect. If the labels
on the menus/commands are understandable (and grouped well) users can accomplish their tasks
with negligible learning or memorisation as finding a command/menu item is a recognition as
opposed to recall memory task (see recall versus recognition). To save screen space menu items
are often clustered in pull-down or pop-up menus. Some examples of menu selection is shown
below.
Advantages
• Ideal for novice or intermittent users.
• Can appeal to expert users if display and selection mechanisms are rapid and if
appropriate "shortcuts" are implemented.
• Affords exploration (users can "look around" in the menus for the appropriate command,
unlike having to remember the name of a command and its spelling when using command
language.)
• Structures decision making.
• Allows easy support of error handling as the user's input does not have to be parsed (as
with command language).

Disadvantages
• Too many menus may lead to information overload or complexity of discouraging
proportions.
• May be slow for frequent users.
• May not be suited for small graphic displays.

DIRECT MANIPULATION.
Direct manipulation captures the idea of “direct manipulation of the object of interest” which
means that objects of interest are represented as distinguishable objects in the UI and are
manipulated in a direct fashion.

Direct manipulation systems have the following characteristics:

• Visibility of the object of interest.

• Rapid, reversible, incremental actions.
• Replacement of complex command language syntax by direct manipulation of the object of
interest.
Advantages
• Visually presents task concepts.
• Easy to learn.
• Errors can be avoided more easily.
• Encourages exploration.
• High subjective satisfaction.
• Recognition memory (as opposed to cued or free recall memory)

Disadvantages
• May be more difficult to programme.
• Not suitable for small graphic displays.
• Spatial and visual representation is not always preferable.
• Metaphors can be misleading since the “the essence of metaphor is understanding and
experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (Lakoff and Johnson 1983: p. 5), which,
by definition, makes a metaphor different from what it represents or points to.
• Compact notations may better suit expert users.

10.Explain types of Graphical Menus in detail with example and Explain the
guideline for form fill in.
There are many different kinds of graphical menus available. The various kinds of graphical menus
are
1.Menu Bar
2.Pull-Down Menus
3.Cascading Menus
4.PopUp Menus
5.Tear Off Menus
6.Iconic Menus
7.Pie Menus
1.Menu Bar:
The highest level graphical system menu is commonly called the menu bar.The Menu bar consists
of a series of textual words or buttons.These are used to represent the application alternatives or
choices to the user.All primary window must have a menu bar.All menu bars must have an
associated pull down menu which containing atleast 2 choices.It does not allows the user to turn
off the display of the menu bar.The window title will be the menu bar title.It do not display choices
that are never available to the user.It separate the bar from the remainder of the screen by a different
background.They require the moving pointer from the main working area to select the choices.It
consumes a full row of screen space.It usually do not hidden the screen working area.This is called
Menu Bar.
2.Pull-Down Menus:
These are the first level menus which is used to provide access to the common and most frequently
used application actions that take place on a wide variety of different windows.These are a smaller
number of items.No window space is consumed when they are not used.These menus are easy to
browse.The items are smaller than full sized buttons.It displays all possible alternatives.Each
consists of atleast 2 choices.Title is not necessary for a pull down menu.If a pull down choice leads
to another pull down,then it provide a cascade indicator to denote it.This is called Pull-Down
Menus.
3.Cascading Menus:
A cascading menu is a sub menu which is derived from a higher level menu,most typically a pull
down menu.It don not exceed 3 menu levels that is 2 cascades.This is called Cascading menus.
4.Popup Menus:
 The choices may be presented to the user on the screen through popup menus.These menus appear
in the working area.They do not use window space when not displayed.No pointer movement is
needed if selected by button.They require a special action to see the menu.Their display location
may not be consistent.This is called Popup Menus.
5.Tear Off Menus:
A tear off menu is a pull down menu that can be positioned any where on the screen.It possess all
the characteristics of a pull down.It require extra steps to retrieve.It hides the screen working
area.This is called Tear off menus.
6.Iconic Menus:
It is the picture of menu items or objects in a graphic form.The purpose of an iconic menu is to
remind users of the functions,commands,attributes or application choices available.Icons must be
meaningful and clear.This is called Iconic Menus.
7.Pie Menus:
A pie menu is a circular representation of menu items.It can be used as a alternative for pull down
menu or popup menus.This is called pie menus.
This article is very useful for computer science engineering students.

Form Fillin
– Appropriate when many fields of data must be entered:
• Full complement of information is visible to user.
• Display resembles familiar paper forms.
• Few instructions are required for many types of entries.
– Users must be familiar with:
• Keyboards
• Use of TAB key or mouse to move the cursor
• Error correction methods
• Field-label meanings
• Permissible field contents
• Use of the ENTER and/or RETURN key.
• Form-Fillin Design Guidelines
• Meaningful title
• Comprehensible instructions
• Logical grouping and sequencing of fields
• Visually appealing layout of the form
• Familiar field labels
• Consistent terminology and abbreviations
• Visible space and boundaries for data-entry fields
• Convenient cursor movement
• Error correction for individual characters and entire fields
• Error prevention
• Error messages for unacceptable values
• Optional fields clearly marked
• Explanatory messages for fields
• Completion signal
• Order the Form Logically and Only Ask What’s Required
• Present Fields in a Single Column Layout
• Minimize the Number of Input Fields and User Typing Effort
 • Match Fields to the Size of the Input
• Place Labels Above the Corresponding Input Felds
• Use Forgiving Formatting
• Don’t Use Placeholder Text as Input Field Label
• Distinguish Optional And Required Fields
• Avoid ‘Reset’ Button
• Provide Highly Visible and Specific Error Messages

• Format-specific field
– Coded fields
• Telephone numbers
• Social-security numbers
• Times
• Dates
• Dollar amounts (or other currency)
• Dialog Boxes
– Combination of menu and form-fillin techniques.
– Internal layout guidelines:
• Meaningful title, consistent style
• Top-left to bottom-right sequencing
• Clustering and emphasis
• Consistent layouts (margins, grid, white space, lines, boxes)
• Consistent terminology, fonts, capitalization, justification
• Standard buttons (OK, Cancel)
• Error prevention by direct manipulation