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Menus: Types of User Interfaces

There are three main types of user interfaces: command-based, menu-based, and direct manipulation. Menu-based interfaces have the advantage over command-based interfaces in that users do not need to remember exact syntax, just command names. Menus allow users to select from options revealed by buttons or controls and should not be used for primary navigation. Options can be organized into scrolling, walking, or hierarchical menus depending on the number of options and relationships between them.

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Syed Fahad Shah
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697 views

Menus: Types of User Interfaces

There are three main types of user interfaces: command-based, menu-based, and direct manipulation. Menu-based interfaces have the advantage over command-based interfaces in that users do not need to remember exact syntax, just command names. Menus allow users to select from options revealed by buttons or controls and should not be used for primary navigation. Options can be organized into scrolling, walking, or hierarchical menus depending on the number of options and relationships between them.

Uploaded by

Syed Fahad Shah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Types of user interfaces

User interfaces can be classified into the following three categories:


Command language based interfaces
Menu-based interfaces
Direct manipulation interfaces

Menu-based interfaces
Menu-based Interface
An important advantage of a menu-based interface over a command language-based
interface is that a menu-based interface does not require the users to remember the exact
syntax of the commands. A menu-based:
interface is based on recognition of the
command names, rather than recollection

Menus
Menus allow users to take an action by selecting from a list of choices
revealed upon opening a temporary, new sheet of material.

Usage
A menu is a temporary piece of material emitted from a button, an action, a pointer, or another control
that contains at least two menu items.
Each menu item is a discrete option or action that can affect the app, the view, or selected elements
within a view.
Menus should not be used as a primary method for navigation within an app.

he label of an emitting button or control concisely and accurately reflects the menu items contained
within the menu. Menu bars typically use single words as labels, like file, format, edit, and view,
while other contexts may have more verbose labels.
Menus display a consistent set of menu items, each of which may be enabled or disabled based on the
current state of the application.

Behavior
Menus appear above all other in-app UI elements.
Dismiss a menu by tapping outside of the menu, or by tapping the emitting button (if visible).
Generally, selecting a menu item will also dismiss the menu. An exception is when a menu allows for
multiple items to be chosen, for example, by using checkmarks.
Menus appear above all other in-app UI elements.
Dismiss a menu by tapping outside of the menu, or by tapping the emitting button (if visible).
Generally, selecting a menu item will also dismiss the menu. An exception is when a menu allows for
multiple items to be chosen, for example, by using checkmarks.
Menus are positioned over their emitting elements such that the currently selected menu item appears
on top of the emitting element.

Scrolling menu
When a full choice list can not be displayed within the menu area, scrolling of
the menu items is required. This would enable the user to view and select the
menu items that cannot be accommodated on the screen. However, in a
scrolling menu all the commands should be highly correlated, so that the user
can easily locate a command that he needs. This is important since the user
cannot see all the commands at any one
time. An example situation where a scrolling menu is frequently used is font size
selection in a document processor (as shown in fig. 9.3). Here, the user knows
that the command list contains only the font sizes that are arranged in some
order and he can scroll up and down to find the size he is looking for. However, if
the commands do not have any definite ordering relation, then the user would

have to in the worst case, scroll through all the commands to find the exact
command he is looking for, making this organization inefficient.

Walking menu
Walking menu is very commonly used to structure a large collection of menu
items. In this technique, when a menu item is selected, it causes further menu
items to be displayed adjacent to it in a sub-menu. An example of a walking
menu is shown in fig. 9.4. A walking menu can successfully be used to structure
commands only if there are tens rather than hundreds of choices since each
adjacently displayed menu does take up screen space and the total screen area
is after limited.

Hierarchical menu
In this technique, the menu items are organized in a hierarchy or tree structure.
Selecting a menu item causes the current menu display to be replaced by an
appropriate sub-menu. Thus in this case, one can consider the menu and its
various sub-menus to form a hierarchical tree-like structure. Walking menu can
be considered to be a form of hierarchical menu which is practicable when the
tree is shallow. Hierarchical menu can be used to manage large number of
choices, but the users are likely to face navigational problems because they
might lose track of where they are in the menu tree. This probably is the main
reason why this type of interface is very rarely used

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