Designing Input Screens

Designing Input Screens

Usually data input is by using a keyboard and/or a mouse through a graphical user interface (GUI) or form based interface. There are several factors that should be considered when designing an input screen.

The user: Who the user is you should consider age, level of computer literacy, language and possible disabilities. Your design should be appropriate to your audience.

Hardware available: What devices are available to enter the data.

Order: Users are likely to read from top left to bottom right. The layout and order of items on your input screen should correspond, e.g. Submit buttons will appear at the bottom of the page and to the right. Where the user interface is to be completed using a paper version of the form, then the screen should appear in the same order as they do on the paper version!

Graphical user interface (GUI) Objects: Text boxes, radio buttons, check boxes, list boxes, command buttons, menus and toolbars should be used to make data input efficient and reduce input errors.

Layout: Use available space efficiently. Group your form items under appropriate headings and subheadings. Ensure that the display is not cluttered.

Validation: The interface should reject any data which is obviously wrong e.g. text entered into a date field.

Instructions, help and information: The interface should provide feedback messages to explain what is happening. Additional help should be readily available and relevant to what the user is doing.