Overview

IANNE HOWARDS KORITZINSKY

GE Medical Systems

It is a rare user interface designer that has not had a vision of an interface that is easy to learn, uses the same interaction concepts and techniques throughout many different applications and programs, and is natural once mastered. This vision of a consistent user interface is not just a dream; many organizations are indeed developing and marketing consistent user interfaces. These consistent interfaces were achieved with some effort; it takes more than just desire to create a consistent interface. The interface design must promote consistency; appropriate tools and methodology must support that design. In addition, political support for consistent designs is critical. Practices to support consistency are also mandatory, for consistent designs require a new way of development. Clearly, consistency does not just happen; a strategy or plan for realizing a consistent interface is required.

This paper discusses several strategies which have been successfully applied in a software engineering department on a large software application more than half-a-million lines of code, over sixty developers, and four departments. The strategies address aspects of a consistent design, tools to implement consistent designs, methods to establish political support for consistency, and practices to incorporate consistency into the organizational culture.

The Old Way

The strategies discussed in this paper were implemented in an industrial product development environment, where the end-product is medical imaging equipment. The user interface is only one part of the product, rather than the basis of the product as in a text...