Interface Design Methodology

Notes based on lectures by Lixu Gu (Sichuan University), course IDM1–IDM10.

Interface Design Methodology (IDM) studies how humans interact with computer systems and how to design usable, effective interfaces. It spans human cognitive capabilities, interaction models and styles, the design process, usability principles, evaluation methods, universal access, task and dialogue notations, and concrete UI patterns for desktop and mobile.

Chapters

• Chapter 1: The Human and the Computer — Human information processing (vision, hearing, touch, memory, reasoning, emotion) and computer capabilities (devices, VR, networks) as foundations for design
• Chapter 2: Interaction — Models, Ergonomics and Styles — Norman's and Abowd & Beale's interaction models, ergonomics, and common interaction styles (CLI, menus, WIMP, etc.)
• Chapter 3: Interaction Design Basics — The design process, users/personas, scenarios, navigation, screen layout, affordances, prototyping
• Chapter 4: Design Rules — Usability engineering, ISO 9241, usability principles, standards/guidelines, heuristics, design rationale, design patterns
• Chapter 5: Implementation and Evaluation — Implementation support (windowing, toolkits, UIMS, MVC/PAC) and evaluation techniques (walkthroughs, experiments, observation)
• Chapter 6: Universal Design and User Support — Universal design principles, multi-sensory interaction, accessibility, help/documentation, cognitive models (GOMS, HTA, KLM)
• Chapter 7: Communication and Task Models — Computer-mediated communication, conversation/speech acts, grounding, and task analysis (HTA, knowledge-based, entity-relationship)
• Chapter 8: Notations and System Models — Dialogue notations (STN, Petri nets, grammars, CSP) and system models (SE formalisms, PIE, continuous behaviour)
• Chapter 9: Interface Design Issues and UI Patterns — Concrete UI patterns: input controls, forms/wizards, menus, navigation, icons, layout, Gestalt principles
• Chapter 10: UI and UX Design — UI vs UX, design trends (skeuomorphism, neumorphism, glassmorphism), the UX process, and mobile interface design