Friendly User Interface Design For Architects In An Energy Simulation Tool

An energy simulation tool is a tool to predict the energy consumption of a building. Today there are many energy simulation tools in the market. However, architects find that the existing energy simulation tools do not meet their needs. One thing that does not meet their need is the user interface. In relation to that, we carried out a user interface survey to know which user interface is preferred by architects. We found that architects prefer visual user interface (user interface that uses image) than textual user interface (user interface that merely uses text). In inputting value, they prefer to input it using drag-and-drop style rather than typing using keyboard. We also find that architects do not like to input too many values in the user interface.