Defensive Design

Defensive Design

1. User Interface

   • Menu Driven Interface
     • A menu driven user interface limits the user to being able to pick from a displayed list of choices

2. Screen Widgets

   • A hard-coded menu is difficult if not impossible for the user to get wrong, but at times more flexibility is required. A good compromise is to accept information through graphical widgets, rather than input texts

3. Repeat Entry

   • Text entry is the most flexible way of accepting inputs from the user, but also the most problematic. Users can mistype, or enter data into the wrong field, or simply input text that doesn't make sense

4. Input Box

   • The data input type that is most vulnerable to problems - deliberate or otherwise - is the input box