Defining recommendations to guide user interface design: a multimethod approach (Preprint)

Abstract

For the development of digital solutions different aspects of user interface design must be taken into consideration. Different technologies and interaction paradigms, user characteristics and needs, and interface design components are some of the aspects that designers and developers should pay attention to when designing a solution. A large number of user interface design recommendations for different digital solutions and user profiles are found in the literature, but these recommendations have many similarities, contradictions and different levels of detail. A detailed critical analysis is needed that compares, evaluates, and validates existing recommendations and allows the definition of a practical set of recommendations.

This study aimed to analyze and synthesize existing user interface design recommendations and propose a practical set of recommendations that guide the development of different technologies.

Based on previous studies a set of recommendations on user interface design was generated following four steps: i) interview with user interface design experts; ii) analysis of the experts’ feedback and drafting of a set of recommendations, iii) reanalysis of the shorter list of recommendations by a group of experts and iv) refining and finalizing the list.

The research findings allowed the definition of a set of 174 recommendations divided into 12 categories, according to Usability Principles, and organized into two levels of hierarchy: Generic (69 recommendations) and Specific (105 recommendations).

The study shows that user interface design recommendations can be divided according to usability principles and organized into levels of detail, and that specific recommendations, as they address different technologies and interaction paradigms, need further work.

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