Interface design concerns the practical information a multimedia-author needs in order to produce usable and well-designed interfaces, states Sidhu (2010: 30). In addition to the outcomes a learning package aims to achieve through, for example, tasks; the developing team need to consider several interacting concerns. Although several user interface standards exists—for example ISO, CEC/CENELEC and BSI—unfortunately some developers do not make use of a common standard. Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is a discipline “concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human” usage and “user interface is an interface developed to enable HCI”—or differently stated “a communication channel between the user and the functional elements of the computer” (Sidhu, 2010: 31) illustrated by Plass (1998, in Sidhu) as follow:
The illustration comprises two functions. At the bottom right, the user input is allocated (centre) to the application (left). At the top left, the functionality flows (centre) to the user (right). In the case of text-based HCIs only written verbal communication is used, whereas with visual HCIs manipulation of visual objects, verbal and auditory interaction is involved.
Sidhu, M.S. 2010. Technology-assisted problem solving for engineering education: interactive multimedia applications. Hershey: Engineering Science Reference.
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