top of page
Appearance Considerations

Applied IT (Year 12) - Project Management (U3)

Christian Bien

Structure

Structure refers to the arrangement of elements on a design such as a web page. The order of elements on a web page refers to how a user will interact and the order of importance of the content.


Usability

Usability refers to making an ICT product as effective and efficient for the user. It is concerned with making a product that allows the user to easily learn and use the product, as well as using the product in the shortest amount of time. Some usability features include: - Search engines - Simple and consistent design - Clear and legible sized text - Large buttons for touch screen devices


Accessibility

Accessibility refers to making an ICT product usable to meet the needs of users with mental or physical disabilities. Some accessibility features include:

- Friendly colours towards colour-blind users (no use of green or red)

- Captions on multimedia

- Navigation by keyboard controls

- Audio narrators

- Text enlargers


W3.org, the Web Accessibility Initiatives, provides guidelines and principles on web accessibility. Visit the page using the link attached to the bottom of this page. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides a great overview for ensuring web accessibility for all users, see the link below: https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/


The WA Government also provides a range of accessibility features on their website which you can view below: https://www.wa.gov.au/accessibility


User Experience

User experience concerns a user's emotional satisfaction with an ICT product. In other words, does the user feel frustrated or satisfied when using an ICT product? These emotions can be provoked by how quickly the ICT product loads and how user-friendly it is. Some areas that strike emotional responses can include:

- Website speed times (I.e. a slow site will cause a user frustration)

- Ease to find navigation buttons

- Ability to read and consume content

- Consistency of the site


User Interface (UI)


The image above indicates the layout of the ATAR Survival Guide platform on different devices, including laptops, tablets and phones. User interface concerns the medium that is used by the user to interact with an ICT product. For example, on a desktop computer running Facebook, the user interface includes mouse, keyboard, monitor and the design of the Facebook website. User interfaces need to be considered when designing an ICT product as different devices, have different user interface requirements. A mobile phone requires larger-sized buttons and text due to the small display and touch input, while a desktop would have smaller-sized buttons and smaller text due to the larger screen real estate and more precise inputs of a keyboard and mouse.

bottom of page