Matching your message to the audience:

· How much does the audience already know?

· How can you best convince them?

· Organize your presentation into an outline of topics and subtopics.

· Arrange your topics in the best order to support your argument.

· Devote one page (or more) to each topic.

· Make sure the information you need to present fits into the time allotted for the presentation.

Keep screens simple:

· The rule of thumb for a bulleted list is to show no more than five on a screen, each with three to four words.

Use colors, typefaces, and type sizes that are legible from the intended viewing distance:

· San serif type (such as Helvetica) is easier to read when projected than serif (such as Times).

· A subtle background color such as gray is easier to read than white.

· Avoid using dithered colors on the background; they don’t provide enough contrast.

Use a simple and consistent technique for page navigation, so you don’t before an audience:

· Create a summary page that serves as a map so you can return to a particular topic.

Make sure your design choices are visible on the device and in the room where your presentation will be shown:

· If presenting to a small group of people (8-10), a regular sized monitor is probably sufficient. For bigger groups, you’ll want to use some type of projection screen.

Have someone review your presentation to make sure everything works as planned and to check your spelling.

Use illuminations and charts where they would better communicate your purpose than words:

· Animation can be particularly memorable way to illustrate a point.

· Organize information in manageable portions—don’t present too much detail or too many concepts in the same lesson. One concept per lesson is a good rule of thumb.

· Think about how students will interact with the application. make the design of your application simple and clear so the student can concentrate on learning the subject being taught instead of how to use the application.

· Provide some means of orientation and clear, consistent navigation controls so the student knows where he or she is in the application and how to move around.

· Test your design by implementing part of the application and testing it on typical students. Make sure the lessons are effective, the text is clear, and handling of errors is adequate.

· Plan for maintenance. Any training program needs to be updated over time, so keep your design general and flexible.

· They need to be well-organized, because access to information is so flexible.

· An effective way to structure hypermedia documents is to divide information into discrete units consisting of single concepts or ideas. Devote a new page to each concept. When you build links between pages, the interaction of ideas will seem more natural to readers.

· Design your document around a metaphor. For example, Daily document uses a calendar metaphor. A metaphor immediately gives the user a context for your application, but to be effective, it must illustrate the entire application.

· When you use record fields in a document, whether for a database, presentation, or other purpose, don’t place objects over the record fields on the background.

· Overlapping background objects can have a significant impact on the speed of page flipping and scrolling through text.

· When you create a database front end, you don't need to use record fields. The work of accessing and displaying data is done by the scripts that communicate with the external database, so you can use regular fields on the foreground of a page.

· First step in application design should be the application planning:

·· the purpose of each object and script

·· the script’s effect on other objects in the application

·· the variables used in the script and their initial values

·· the source of a script’s data

·· the data you want the script to produce

·· the steps required to turn the source data into the end-result data.

· Know your users. Before you can decide on design elements and communication methods, you must target your audience. For example, you add more keyboard functions to a data entry screen than to a game application.

· Convey the purpose of your application immediately to the user. Introductory text, graphics, or animation can help.

· Design for the intended display device. For example, EGA monitors substitute dithered colors for some VGA pure colors.

· Test the user interface as early as possible in the development phase.

Controls give users a sense of power over their on-line environment:

· Make controls consistent and obvious throughout an application. Tailor controls to the users’ experience based on their experiences with other applications

· Provide feedback to the user. For example, highlight a button when a user clicks it.

· Never leave the user at a dead end. From any page, users need to be able to exit, go to the other pages, and get help.

· Use context-sensitive controls, such as hotwords.

· Display the hourglass cursor if activating a control starts a time-consuming process.

Page Design. How you arrange objects and text on the page can help or hinder users:

· Keep pages simple and consistent. Navigational controls should appear in the same place on all pages.

· Don’t crowd the page visually or conceptually—pages should include no more than three concepts. However, the smaller the pages in a document, the faster scripts run. Experiment to find a good balance between page size and performance.

· Use the page design to convey important information. Readers assume large objects have greater importance and like-colored objects belong together.

· Balance the elements on a page. Some pages may still use an asymmetrical layout yet are still balanced.

Color is an extremely powerful tool in graphical user interfaces:

· Use color sparingly for best effect. A rule of thumb if you’re unsure of color: use gray with one color for contrast. Use colors consistently throughout the book.

· Choose background color first then tailor accent colors accordingly. Differentiate accent colors based on intensity (lightness) rather than choosing different hues.

· Understand the physical impact of color. Some colors cause eye fatigue and afterimages. Also, 5% to 10% of the population is color-blind or color-deficient. When in doubt, use gray.

· Make color meaningful, not merely decorative. Be aware of cultural differences in the interpretation of colors and their emotional impact.

· Use both layout and color to give distinction and provide guidelines. Don’t depend on just one of the other.

Words are not as easy to read on a computer monitors as on paper:

· Make text look consistent and use readable fonts, sizes, and colors. Vary text with different sizes and styles of one font rather than using different fonts. Use bold and color for examples—italic or underlines text is harder to read.

· Consider whether the user needs to print and select your fonts accordingly. If users will print text, place it in record fields for better printed resolution.

· Minimize text. Text lines should be short. Margins should be left-justified; leave the right margin ragged. Eyes tire quickly when reading solid blocks of text, particularly on a monitor. Wen possible, convey ideas graphically.