Communication with user:

i. Messages are communication provided on the screen to the screen viewer.

ii. Screen messages fall into two broad categories: system and instructional.

iii. System messages are generated by the system to keep the user informed of the system’s state and activities.

iv. They are customarily presented within message boxes.

v. They reflect the system state, as it exists at that moment in time.

vi. Instructional messages, sometimes referred to as prompting messages, are messages that tell the user how to work with or complete, the screen displayed.

vii. They may be provided in message boxes and also within the screen itself.

viii. And the easiest and most efficient way to create user-friendly interfaces is to add self-explanatory icons.

ix. These small images that take a couple dozens of pixels will most of the times have more meaning than a full paragraph of text.

x. It's more comfortable and efficient to insert an icon than it is to write some text explaining a certain function.

xi. Icons are very important to the user-interface.

xii. People want to use an application's features to the maximum, and don't like to it when they can't find how to complete a specific task.

xiii. This is why developers should always create shortcuts to the main tasks that can be accomplished using their application.

Clear text message

i. Wording of the interface and its screens is the basic form of communication with the user.

ii. Clear and meaningfully crafted words, message and text lead to greatly enhanced system usability and minimize user confusion that leads to errors and possibly even system rejection.

iii. Words

• Do not use technical words, made up words or terms.
• Do not use abbreviation or acronyms. Always use the fully spelled out form the first time it is encountered in the interface.
• Consider the usage of contradiction or short form(won’t vs will not, un- ,-ness),Complete words is preferred.
• Positive terms(avoid the prefix “ir”, “in-“ “dis-“ and “un-“
• Simple action words.
• Words should be consistency throughout the system.

iv. Sentence and Message

• Should be brief, simple, directly and immediately usable
• Affirmative statement is easier to understand than negative statement.
• Active voice is usually easier to understand than passive voice.
• Use the same grammatical structure for elements of sentence.
• Imply that the system is awaiting the user’s direction, not that the system is directing the user.
• Negative tones or action or threats are not very friendly
• Encouraging message would be better than insulting message.
• Should remain factual and informative and should not attempt humor or punishment.