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object relationship matrix

a technique for organizing the objects in an application and establishing links between them. All the primary objects in the application are listed along both axes of the matrix, and their relationship is described in each cell of the matrix.…

object-oriented programming

(OOP) a programming technique and a characteristic of programming languages often associated with graphical user interfaces. Object-oriented programming treats data items as “objects” belonging to a category of related objects with similar functionality called a “class”. Classes are organized in…

objects-and-actions design methodology

an approach to interface design based on analyzing the task domain: determine what data (objects) needs to be manipulated and what functions (actions) can be performed on that data without consideration of how the interface needs to look or behave.…

observation room

during usability testing, the observation room is a separate room from which experimenters can observe the user without disturbing the user, often observing through a video connection or through a one-way mirror. The observation is almost always explicit — the…

observational study

watching people’s behavior to find patterns and design-relevant activities. For instance, observing people working in an office environment to determine their work processes and computer usage patterns.

Casual observation can be used to gain a basic understanding of a situation…

obviousness

a principle that user interfaces should be clear and straightforward. Nothing should confuse the user. An interface should be simple, avoid jargon, use natural language, and avoid hiding features. It should fit a user’s task — if you want to…

OCR

optical character recognition; using image recognition techniques so that a computer can convert an image of text (from a scan or photograph) to the computer-readable alphanumeric representation of that text. The challenge to successful OCR is in correctly interpreting the…

one-way mirror

a piece of glass that is mirrored from one side but can be seen through from the other side, sometimes used in user testing or focus groups so that observers may watch the session without being distracting or disruptive.

OOUI

object-oriented user interface; using representations of objects from the real world as the central metaphor within the user interface and allowing users to manipulate those objects in a way similar to the physical world in order to accomplish their tasks.…

opaqueness

or opacity; the property of an interface whose method of use is not at all apparent in its design and must be learned.

open captions

like closed captions, open captions present text that represents the audio portion of a video, except open captions are displayed explicitly on the screen.

open card sort

a type of card sort that asks users to suggest categories that topics group into. Users are provided with a list of topics (e.g. content pieces to go on a website) and are asked to group them and to label…

Open Look Graphical User Interface

a GUI standard introduced for X-Windows systems on Unix platforms. A thoughtful standard heavily-influenced by the Xerox Star interface, the Open Look guidelines are well worth review. However, the Open Look interface failed to catch on in the marketplace where…

opportunistic goals

user goals that are formulated on the spot in reaction to prominent system events or displays that suggest those goals.

option sheet

a type of form or dialog box for selecting among options not specific to any particular object. For instance, a Preferences dialog.

orphan page

strictly speaking, a web page with no outgoing links. From a practical point of view, an orphan page is any page where it is not obvious to users where to go next, so they abandon the website. Pages are ideally…

orthotics

OOBE; the interactions and first impressions a user has with technology when first opening the box it comes in and installing it, as opposed to the point-of-sale experience or the interaction experience of an expert user.

The out-of-box experience affects…

out-of-box experience

OOBE; the interactions and first impressions a user has with technology when first opening the box it comes in and installing it, as opposed to the point-of-sale experience or the interaction experience of an expert user.

The out-of-box experience affects…

output device

the way a computer conveys messages to a person; computer hardware such as computer monitors and the windowing systems that run on them, and also including speakers and devices that provide tactile feedback (e.g. force-feedback joysticks).

overwrite mode

a method of editing text where what is typed replaces the text at the current cursor location, as opposed to “insert mode” where the text is inserted at the current location without deleting any text.