CIS 524 Discussion Responses
See attached
There are two discussions here that need to be responded to thoroughly. Responses must be on APA format 150+words 1-2 legitimate verifiable sources per response.
Discussion post
“Direct Manipulation and Virtual Environments” Please respond to the following:
· Your software development company has been contracted to build a tool that will manage user accounts and rights in an Active Directory environment. One of your developers tells you that he wants the tool to make use of direct manipulation. A second developer argues that a command line structure would be a better and more secure approach.
Take a stand on this argument, providing at least three positives of each approach, and then make a decision for this project and support it.
· Describe virtual and augmented reality. Suggest a way in which this technology could be used in the future; either to improve a current process / procedure or create a new process / procedure. Provide an example of your suggested use of the technology
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PF Question:
How does user empowerment relate to the Mandel criteria for user interfaces?
JN’s post states the following:Top of Form
Greetings Class,
As a software development company delivering services to a customer, it is vital to ensure the delivered product will meet the user needs. It should also make the user’s job easier and simpler. A command line tool does not do this, it must be interacted with and could cause some serious errors from typos and other type of mistakes. Direct manipulation is more of user interface with a “point and click/touch interaction” with objects. This is often much easier to work with and can be extremely simple to learn. Although it might looks better and also only allow the required actions, a company could find it more secure than direct manipulation; since the command line is being removed from the user. (Sherugar, S., & Budiu, R., 2016) The best route is to build a GUI/DM interface which can easily be learned and worked that removes the possibility for errors and needing a more advanced user.
Virtual reality is a where a user leaves the real world and interacts with a digital environment through the use of headsets. Augmented reality is where a user experiences virtual (fake) objects on the real world. Mixed reality is newer type of reality which brings interaction with virtual objects into play with the real world where virtual objects change or manipulate based on the interaction. (Marr, B., 2019) An example of way this technology could be used in the future to improve a function would be surgeons learning to operate, through the use of mixed reality a surgeon could practice on a virtual subject in order to ensure they are doing the procedure properly. They could then play it back to verify that what occurred truly happened and would be a great training tool.
-John
References:
Marr, B. (2019, July 19). The Important Difference Between Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/19/the-important-difference-between-virtual-reality-augmented-reality-and-mixed-reality/#44b8ea7135d3
Sherugar, S., & Budiu, R. (2016, August 21). Direct Manipulation: Definition. Retrieved from
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation/
NM’s post states the following:Top of Form
Good Evening Classmates and Professor,
· Your software development company has been contracted to build a tool that will manage user accounts and rights in an Active Directory environment. One of your developers tells you that he wants the tool to make use of direct manipulation. A second developer argues that a command line structure would be a better and more secure approach. Take a stand on this argument, providing at least three positives of each approach, and then make a decision for this project and support it.
Active Directory environment can be done from the Graphical User Interface (GUI), but the commands available from a command prompt can be very powerful and can save you time. Command line is more secure because you have to run it in elevated mode, As Administrator, and you must be in administrative group(s) to run the commands.
Also you can use PowerShell which is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language. Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration. … Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell helps IT professionals to control and automate the administration of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows Server environment. By command lines having simple design means there is better security.
Direct manipulation takes a lot longer than command lines and is equated to WYSIWYGs. With Direct manipulation, repetitive tasks are not well supported.
The positives of direct approach is as follows:
1. Easy to learn for the user and easy for users to retain what they have learned.
2. Also with the direct manipulation approach, it presents tasks concepts visually (GUI)
3. It encourages exploration – make users want to explore the interface.
The positive command line structure
1. Scalability –handles scalability easy and quickly. Allows a single action to be taken to achieve results over large numbers of discrete tasks.
2. Simple design –simplicity yields security
3. Has a simpler interface – it doesn’t rely on menus or buttons to get tasks done
For this project, to build a tool that will manage user accounts and rights in an Active Directory environment, I would use command line, power shell and GPOs instead of direct manipulation because command lines are more scalable. You can have more control using command lines, capable of multitasking by joining syntax just can’t see it and faster performance with just the use of a keyboard and lastly, command line uses a lot less resources and command line doesn’t change as much as GUIs does/can. Programmers lean more towards Command Lines and with building a tool, it is best to stick with command lines.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation/
https://web.cs.dal.ca/~jamie/teach/MatthewDean/dialog_styles/sld012.htm
https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/five-benefits-of-command-line-tools/
https://redmondmag.com/articles/2015/04/15/command-line-tools.aspx
· Describe virtual and augmented reality. Suggest a way in which this technology could be used in the future; either to improve a current process / procedure or create a new process / procedure. Provide an example of your suggested use of the technology
Virtual Reality is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. “Virtual Reality is an interactive immersive 3D computer generated simulation, designed to make the user believe, to the greatest extent possible, that they are actually experiencing a real environment.” According to Forbes magazine, virtual reality (VR) is the next big wave of the future. VR replaces boring, flat monitors with 3D worlds that immerse users in unique visual experiences.
Augmented Reality is a view of the real, physical world in which users find elements enhanced by computer-generated input. Designers create inputs ranging from sound to video, to graphics to GPS overlays and more, in digital content that responds in real time to changes in the user’s environment, usually movement.
Virtual reality can be extremely useful in the medical schools were students can perform virtual complex surgeries before performing in the real world. This could do both improve a process and create a new process.
Augmented reality concept will only take off universally when UX designers think about how they can integrate AR with daily life to improve productivity, efficiency or quality of experiences. This technology superimposes a CG image on a user’s view of the real world. Unlike virtual reality, where everything a user sees is generated by a computer, augmented reality keeps the real-world focus, but just adds elements that aren’t really there to enhance the user’s experience. Google is reintroducing Google Glass as an augmented reality tool for the workforce.
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/augmented-reality
Discussion post
“Menu Selection and Organization” Please respond to the following:
· Describe the considerations that you would take into account when selecting the menu style for an application and why. Support your response with examples.
· Imagine you have been asked to help a novice designer effectively organize his menu content in an application. Provide the novice designer with the advice you feel would be most helpful when organizing content for menus. Support your response.
DI post states the following:
I would advise the novice designer to ensure the primary navigation should have limited options to provide an interactive organized display (Hidayat & Purwanto, 2015). It is also essential to organize content based on the priority value and important content to come first for the first impression.
Questions to be answered:
1. In other words, limited options so that the user can feel empowered without becoming confused coupled with prioritized choices in those options.
2. So, does that mean that someone that is not a novice designer should approach men use differently?
3. On a priority scale, would you rush a product to make delivery date with a poor menu or push delivery back? What would be the ramifications?
JN’s post states the following:Top of Form
Greetings Class,
Several considerations to take when selecting a menu style are the following: Visibility, Informative, Coordinate with users by themselves, and manipulating menus should be easier for users. (Ajermani, S., 2018) Visibility is important because the menu items/images should coordinate with the function, it should also be easy to read for large and small screens; having a menu too large would not be visually helpful – adding sub-menus will help with the problem. Informative menus are easy to understand and explain what is occurring within that menu, like the “tools” option should indicate tools available within that menu. Coordinate with users by themselves, this means a developer should not be designing a brand new menu that’s never been seen before, it should follow general menu builds and not be too complex. Manipulating menus should be easier for users, this is generally important for mobile type applications that utilize touch for navigating menus; menus should not be too small or too hard to read or touch to guide through.
The most helpful piece of advice for a novice user is to “simplify the user journey” (Smith, A., 2019). A menu should be extremely easy to understand and should follow a general guide. Assist the users in completing whatever task or goal they are trying to accomplish. Utilizing Top level menus to avoid clutter will help the user keep focus and guide them on the path they are taking.
-John
References:
Ajmerani, S. (2018, September 19). 4 Key Areas to Consider when Designing a “Menu” for your Mobile App. Retrieved from https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/4-key-areas-to-consider-when-designing-menu-for-your-mobile-app
Smith, A. (2019, November 19). Top 8 Mobile Navigation Menu Design for Your Inspiration. Retrieved from https://uxplanet.org/top-8-mobile-navigation-menu-design-for-your-inspiration-8a2d925bffc0
AZ’s post states the following:Top of Form
or this scenario, let’s say the application is selling apparel. A menu style that would support desktop and mobile viewing is two-dimensional mega menus. Two-dimensional mega menus provide a sleek overview of items with clickable graphics and pictures. Apparel websites like BCBG use two-dimensional mega menus, ensuring simplicity in engaging the user for purchase. When opened in the mobile, it displays one item at a time in a scrollable design. Of course, the website would include sequencing with the seasons in trend as the main display, unless user searches for specific choices using familiar phrasing such as “size ” in simultaneous menus. The layout can cover many styles depending on the website’s themes and tools like WordPress. Also, a user logs in for purchases, so a form fill-in is required to personalize the shopping experience. A menu style depends on how the designer wants the user to interact with the system and what is being marketed (Shneiderman, Plaisant, Cohen, Jacobs, & Elmqvist, 2016) .
For a novice designer, I would recommend looking at similar popular websites to get a good idea of the layout for the menu setup. Ask questions. Some questions to ask are, how do I want a user to interact with the menu? What is it I am trying to accomplish with this menu? How do I want my display to look? What actions are needed from the user to access information from the menu? Is this menu friendly for mobile and desktop use? Do pop-up menus serve a purpose for the user? Also, I would recommend looking at guidelines to create universal usability for menu items ensuring ease of use and simplicity.
Source:
Shneiderman, B., Plaisant, C., Cohen, M., Jacobs, S., & Elmqvist, N. (2016). Designing The User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction (2016th Custom Ed.). Boston: Pearson.