CAD SYSTEM EVALUATION BASED ON USER INTERFACE EFFICIENCY

Abstract

Differences between contemporary CAD systems made by different manufacturers are mainly reflected in their user interface. In this paper, we describe a method developed for an objective assessment of user interface efficiency. The method is based on calculating the active time of using a system, which is inversely proportional to efficiency. Active time is defined as the product of the number of elementary actions (mouse click, keyboard input, etc.) and the average duration of those actions. The average duration of actions was determined by statistical methods, using data collected from the application that we specifically developed for this purpose. Using active time as a measure, the evaluation of the interface is accomplished in an objective manner, since the influence of user skills is eliminated. We demonstrated the applicability of our method by testing four commercial CAD systems. The results can be used as one of the criteria for choosing one of the CAD systems, but they can also be a useful guide for improvements in interface design. The method described in this paper can be used to evaluate the efficiency of user interface of any computer system.