Interface design

The interface design (from the English interface design borrowed , for "[the] interface design ") is a discipline of design , dedicated to the design of user interfaces between man and machine busy. For this purpose, the conditions, goals and obstacles of this interaction are researched from both the human and the technical side and later - as far as possible - optimized for humans.

The aim of the interface design is a user interface that is designed in such a way that the broadest possible group of users experiences optimal fulfillment of wishes / needs / goals through appropriate action steps.

While designers in the course of cross- interaction design (ger .: Interaction Design ) deal extensively with the behavior and the design (use cases) of a product, it goes in interface design to the concrete design, but not only visually an interface. The two disciplines are difficult to separate from each other, the boundaries are fluid, because each interaction designer usually creates a graphical interface in the course of the process. Typical fields of work for interface designers are software design, usability research, web design or product design .

In the definition of the term limits Jef Raskin the importance not only on the design of graphical user interfaces (GUI), but uses the one with Interface concept designated representative of an "interface between man and machine or human-computer". Speech recognition is therefore also an interface. Specifically, he says: "An interface that is referred to the way how a product performs a specific task - so what can the user and how the system responds" In this sense, the term, which also into the German lehnübersetzten " Interface design ”, is more fair, since the focus is not exclusively on the visual and graphic design.

A successful differentiation of the terms interface design and interaction design is the consideration of the interaction design as the design of a process, while the interface design comes closest to the design of an end product.

Field of work

The interaction with a user interface - mostly a screen, but also with automatic machines or machines - should result in a completed and meaningful result in a reasonable time from the user's interaction request via applied feedback mechanisms (input and output of data via keyboard / control / specific action) to lead. An important aspect here is that the user should experience the best possible user experience when interacting .

By far the largest field within interface / interaction design is interaction with a computer . Here, interface design is a sub-area of human-computer interaction . The aim is to find, evaluate, change and save information that the user undertakes within a digital knowledge space ( website , database , program , offers of all kinds). Conceptual (measurable and controllable, "hard") as well as aesthetic (individual, "soft") aspects of the interaction are taken into account. In practice, tests are usually carried out on the respective target group during the design phase .

Interface design is used in a wide variety of areas.

Some of the most important industries and areas of application are:

• Automotive
  • InCar HMI and navigation devices
  • Driver assistance systems
  • Vehicle personalization
  • Traffic management and telematics systems
  • Automotive engineering systems
  • Test bench and measuring systems
  • Production systems for automotive
  • Controls for special vehicles

• Consumer
  • Mobile devices (cell phone, tablet, sat nav, MP3 player, apps)
  • Home entertainment (TV, Smart TV, game consoles, media center)
  • House and kitchen appliances (white goods)
  • Home automation (house control, networked living, assisted living, house robots)

• Enterprise
• Industry
• Medical & Pharma

In medical technology in particular, the safety of medical devices is another factor in addition to aesthetics . Operating errors in medical technology are among the most common causes of accidents in the healthcare sector. The German Institute for Standardization has defined general specifications for safety in the DIN standard EN 60601-1-6 .

history

Interface design is a young discipline that was born with the end of text-controlled computer control and the beginning of visual user interfaces (working with the mouse ; graphic display of content; see also the Apple Macintosh user interface around 1980 ). With the increase in computer workstations, the term software ergonomics arose , which has been fixed in Germany by law since 2000 or in internal development guidelines for software manufacturers .

The Internet, with its worldwide spread from the end of the 90s, brought the concept of usability , under which initially private individuals ( Jakob Nielsen ) examined the new medium for usability by heterogeneous user groups. The advancing global use and acceptance of digital offers, combined with their high level of interactivity, led to current university and commercial "usability research" that examines problem areas in human-machine interaction in a structured manner.

nomenclature

In any case, a distinction must be made between the terms interaction design and interface design, even if the two merge into one another.

With the term interface design , the focus is placed on the sensible design of interactive surfaces. However, these can only be successful if you know the users, data and goals involved in the process to be investigated and take them into account. The term “interface”, however, implies the concentration on the interactive control elements for an interactive product. In short: The focus is on the surface and the presentation of information, taking into account a dynamic environment .

The interface design enables dialog between the user and the machine, between the sender and the receiver. This applies to analog as well as digital devices. The question of “what?” Or “how?” Is clarified. "What is it? How does it work? How is it to be used? "

An interface is more than just a machine or a product. It depicts a situation and represents an interactive relationship between man and machine. “But it is more about anticipating forms of behavior and needs and the expectations that a user has of a product. Interface design serves not only to enable communication and information on the basis of a formal design, but also to trigger behavior and to be able to react dynamically to it. Interface design then becomes an experience environment beyond information and dialogue and can make a significant contribution to ensuring that a product and its interaction offer are ideally perceived by the user as a human-oriented system. "

The term interaction design refers to the general interaction concept that lies behind the surface. The approach is holistic - an interface to the user is not defined for an existing product, but the product is redesigned based on the desired interaction. Of course, this also requires interactive interfaces, without which these processes cannot be successful. In short: focus on usage scenarios and processes, dynamic environment and information transfer, taking into account the necessary interaction elements .

The interaction design describes the functional path and the way in which the user is stimulated to act and interact. The question of “Which way?” Is communicated and has a significant effect on the perception of the content. “The functional aspects of the interactive work are not an end in themselves, but an essential part of the content and the overall design. The interaction design can enable new experiences for the user and call up new ones. "

Literature, research, teaching

Important names in this context (including the area of ​​cognitive psychology which is extremely relevant for interface design ) are Donald Norman , Jef Raskin , Ben Shneiderman , Bruce Tognazzini , Jakob Nielsen and Steve Krug , who all focus on the "common sense approach" lay. For the field of design, the design theorist Dr. hc Gui Bonsiepe , who from 1993 had the first professorship for interface design at a university of design in Germany (at the design department of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, today KISD ) and generally interprets design as the design of interfaces.

In the USA there is a very dedicated department at MIT . In Europe , new courses in this discipline are constantly emerging. Chairs with a recognized reputation are represented, for example, at the Malmö University of Applied Sciences in Sweden and the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences with their own courses on this topic. The Umeå Design School (Sweden) offers a master’s degree in Interaction Design. The University of Southern Denmark also teaches a Masters in IT Product Design.

In Germany, in addition to the Muthesius Kunsthochschule in Kiel and the Magdeburg-Stendal University (Master of Arts in Interaction Design), the Potsdam University and, since autumn 2007, the Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Design offer courses of study. Since 2009, the media design course at Hof University has offered interface design in combination with service design . The Fulda University of Applied Sciences has had an interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary competence center for human-computer interaction since 2005.

In this context, the Interface Laboratory of the Art Academy for Media Cologne , the Institute HyperWerk of the University of Art and Design at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) in Basel / Switzerland , the Interaction Design department at the University of Art and Design Zurich and Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy.

In the field of computer science , the University of Konstanz offers the specialization human-computer interaction as part of the bachelor's or master's degree in information engineering , which moves in the interdisciplinary field of tension between computer science, design and psychology . A similar course can be found at the University of Duisburg-Essen. There is a master’s degree in “Cognitive and Media Studies” with a focus on Human Computer Interaction (specialization in computer science or psychology).

The term interface design should not be confused with the stand-alone term interface . In the design discourse, the term interface stands for the relationship between people, products (or tools) and actions. In this special sense, it forms a common denominator between different design disciplines.

Related areas of knowledge

Since complex processes are to be successfully linked with one another in interface design, other areas of knowledge provide insights and suggestions for interface design:

• Design and creation - especially in typography, color theory, layout (see also screen design )
• Heuristics - the science of generally repeatable approaches in learning, cognition and problem-solving processes. I.e. how people acquire knowledge and organize it mentally.
• Psychology - especially cognitive psychology, i.e. the knowledge about our reception and evaluation of communication.
• Archiving - science and practice on how to store and receive data for successful retrieval by third parties.
• Media theory - the more theoretical investigation of the typologies and inherent properties of media and how these come into play when they are used by people using the media.
• Computer science , programming and artificial intelligence (AI) - Since an interface is always the map of the underlying data agglomeration, the processes and conditions of data processing must also be known.
• Sociology - a field of knowledge that is currently little connected to interface design, but will gain in importance in the future: How do different ages and cultures meet a human-machine interface?

literature

• Alan Cooper : The Inmates Are Running the Asylum , Sams (March 31, 2004), ISBN 0-672-32614-0 .
• Alan Cooper: About Face 3.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Wiley & Sons, edition: 3rd revised. (May 30, 2007), ISBN 978-0-470-08411-3 .
• Maximilian Eibl, Harald Reiterer, Peter Fr. Stephan: Knowledge Media Design. Theory, methodology, practice. Oldenbourg; Edition: 2nd, corr. Edition (June 2006), ISBN 3-486-58014-0 .
• Steven R. Johnson: Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate. Basic books; Edition: Reprint (October 1999), ISBN 0-465-03680-5 .
• Cyrus D. Khazaeli: Systemic Design. Rowohlt Tb. (July 2005), ISBN 3-499-60078-1 .
• Steve Krug: Don't Make Me Think !: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , New Riders, 2nd ed. (September 8, 2005), ISBN 978-0-321-34475-5 .
• Bill Moggridge : Designing Interactions (with CDROM) , The MIT Press (October 30, 2006), ISBN 0-262-13474-8 .
• Donald A. Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine. Perseus Books; Edition: Reprint (May 1994), ISBN 0-201-62695-0 .
• Donald A. Norman: The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex and Information Appliances Are the Solution. With press; Edition: Reprint (August 1999), ISBN 0-262-64041-4 .
• Bernhard Preim , Raimund Dachselt: Interactive Systems ; Springer , 2010
• Jef Raskin: The intelligent interface. New approaches to the development of interactive user interfaces. Addison-Wesley; Edition: 1st edition (April 15, 2001), ISBN 3-8273-1796-7 .
• Ben Shneiderman: Designing the User Interface. Addison-Wesley Longman, Amsterdam (May 2004), ISBN 0-321-26978-0 .
• Ben Shneiderman: Leonardo's laptop. Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies. B&T (September 2003), ISBN 0-262-69299-6 .
• Rainer Dorau: Emotional interaction design: gestures and facial expressions of interactive systems, Springer 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-03100-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} User-centered interface design (PDF) - Institute for Ergonomics at the University of Aachen , from FIR + IAW - Companies of the Future , issue 4/2003, pp. 14 and 15
2. ↑ See Raskin , Das Intelligente Interface , 2001, p. 18.
3. ↑ Torsten Stapelkamp: Interaction and interface design, web, game, product and service design, usability and interface as corporate identity, Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-02073-5 , P. 19.
4. ↑ Torsten Stapelkamp: Interaction and interface design, web, game, product and service design, usability and interface as corporate identity, Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-02073-5 , P. 19.