Instant-access start menu for an imaginary WIMP based future operating system

This work has been done as a software engineering research-based course work using the principles of designing a user-interface. The objective of the research was to finding out how the current WIMP based operating systems’ start menu can be made more usable to the users. In an imaginary WIMP based future operating system, the mouse and voice can be made more usable in regard of accessing the start menu. In this paper I propose a user-interface for the WIMP based start menu which I named ‘Instant-access start menu’. I have broadly described the possible ‘look and feel’ and functionalities of such start menu and its accessibility features. I have listed all the user interface design principles that I have used to design my start menu. I have also mentioned briefly about the user interface metaphors I have used to design it. At the end, I have narrated the usability of my designed start menu along with the usability engineering attributes my start menu contains.