Designing the user interface

The development of user interfaces (UI) for software has always been a difficult task. It is therefore important to enrich the user interface development methodology with methods, techniques and tools capable of using the latest software technology and hardware advances. The main concepts and structural characteristics of the UI management and development systems are examined briefly and a number of major general UI design principles and methods are presented. A discussion is also attempted on the current standardization efforts in the UI area. Based on the above, a number of conclusions and recommendations are made which reflect the experience gained and the information collected from a European study among users on the UIs.