How to design UI interface

A user interface (UI) serves as the medium for interaction and information exchange between a system and its users. The quality of the interface determines the user’s first impression of the software. A well-designed interface can provide users with a pleasant and successful experience, while a poorly designed one can lead to frustration. Even powerful features may be abandoned if users feel intimidated or give up due to poor UI design. Therefore, user interface design is a critical aspect of software development.

UI design should follow these principles: (http://www.cocoachina.com/bbs/read.php?tid-19297.html)

1. Usability: The names displayed on the interface should be easy to understand, using precise language. Ambiguous terms should be avoided. Buttons on the same interface should be easily distinguishable, and ideally, users should be able to grasp the interface’s functionality without consulting help documentation. Users should be able to operate the interface correctly from the outset.

2. Standardization: UI design should adhere to the standards of software user interface design. The more standardized the interface, the more user-friendly it becomes.

3. Help Facilities: The system should provide detailed and reliable help documentation, allowing users to find solutions on their own when confusion arises.

4. Rationality: The point where the screen diagonals intersect is where the user’s eyes naturally focus. The top quarter of the screen is where users’ attention is most easily drawn. These key areas should be used effectively when placing elements.

5. Aesthetics and Harmony: The interface should be visually pleasing and feel coordinated and comfortable. It should also capture the user’s attention within the effective visual range.

6. Uniqueness: Following industry standards too rigidly may result in losing individuality. Within the framework of these guidelines, it’s important to design a UI with a unique style.

Our team, due to work requirements, will be improving and redesigning the UI for the academic map feature in Microsoft’s Academic Search (http://academic.research.microsoft.com/AcademicMap). We will be adding the following features:

1. Displaying conferences
2. Allowing users to reorder authors by number of publications or citations
3. A search function to let users search for authors or geographical locations (cities, streets, etc.)
4. Support for a “back” button, so users can revisit previously selected organizations
5. Displaying the user’s location based on their IP address.