3.1Information Design and UX (Universal Design, UX/UI, Accessibility, Human Interfaces)

It is not enough for an IT system to work correctly at a technical level—whether the actual user can accomplish their goal without confusion matters just as much. The FE exam focuses less on visual polish and more on differences in design philosophy: who uses the system and under what circumstances. Universal design, UX/UI, and accessibility each support "usability" from a different angle, and confusing them leads to misreading what a question is really asking.

3.1.1Universal design and accessibility

• Universal design is the philosophy of designing a product from the outset so that as many people as possible can use it as-is, regardless of age, disability, or language (e.g., step-free entrances, intuitive pictograms). It differs in starting point from barrier-free design, which retrofits accommodations for specific people afterward.
• Accessibility means users with visual, hearing, or motor impairments can still reach and use information and services. On the web, concrete measures include alt text for images, sufficient color contrast, full keyboard operability, and screen-reader support. While universal design refers to an overall design philosophy, accessibility focuses specifically on the property of reachability.

3.1.2UX/UI and human interfaces

• UI (user interface) is the concrete operable screen and interaction method where the user meets the system (button placement, screen transitions, input forms). UX (user experience) is the entire experience from first learning about a product to finishing using it (encompassing not just ease of use but satisfaction, trust, and expectations formed even before adoption). UI is one component that makes up UX, and it is entirely possible for a UI to look good while the UX is still poor (e.g., a visually polished screen where users still cannot reach the feature they need).
• Human interfaces broadly cover mechanisms for exchanging information between people and machines. A GUI (graphical user interface) is operated via icons, windows, and menus, while a CUI (character user interface) centers on typed commands; more recently, voice UI (smart speakers, etc.) and gesture input (touch, gaze, motion) have also become common. Choosing the right style depends on the purpose and the user's physical constraints.

Consider redesigning an in-house expense reporting system. If the development team polishes the button colors and updates the icons to a modern style, but a visually impaired employee using a screen reader cannot tell what each button does, that is an accessibility failure. Furthermore, if the approval process spans five screens with no indication of progress, causing users to be repeatedly bounced back, then even if each individual screen (UI) looks fine, the UX as a whole has failed. The natural order of improvement here is to first tackle structuring information along the user's line of thought (e.g., explicitly breaking the process into four stages—input, confirmation, submission, approval status—and always showing the current stage), and only then refine each screen's UI (input form layout, clarity of error messages). In addition, a design that indicates a required field using color alone (a red outline only) may fail to communicate for users with certain color perception characteristics, so pairing color with icons and text labels is a practical example of universal design. In choosing a human interface, offering voice input (a voice UI) as an option for applicants filing reports away from their desk on a smartphone lets them operate the system even when typing is impractical, lifting the overall UX.

3.1.3Section summary

• Universal design = built for everyone from the start; barrier-free = removing obstacles afterward. Do not conflate the two
• UI = the concrete operable screen; UX = the entire experience (broader than UI). "Good looks" does not guarantee good UX
• Accessibility = reachability (alt text, contrast, keyboard operability, etc.). Choose GUI/CUI/voice UI/gesture input to fit the situation