The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

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Due: See Syllabus

Objectives of Assignment:
The objective of this assignment is to apply the various skills and techniques that have been learned in this course to a user interface design problem. In Assignment 1 a methodology for finding out information about the user population was developed. In Assignment 2, this methodology was coupled with a brainstorming session in order to come up with the most creative deisgn. With Assignment 3, practice was gained in building a detailed design specification and using this to evaluate how a user might interact with the proposed design.

The assignment also has a sub-objective, that of giving practice in developing a “good” user interface within the constraints of the design software. The classic constraint in user interface design is the small amount of time allowed to build an acceptable interface for the user. Due dates for this assignment impose a similar constraint requiring decisions about which user interface features can be included in the design, given the amount of time available. A second set of constraints is the constraints of the external user, the software and the hardware environments. User interface designs need to adapt to the history of prior interfaces, to the consistency requirements of similar interfaces, and to the limitations of the hardware and development software that will be used. To simulate a portion of these constraints, you are being asked to design a prototype of your system in HTML, Flash, Dreamweaver, .NET, Visual C++, Java, Objective C or any other languages or tools you are confident with. Since CSIS 2000 or CSIS1010 is required to take this course, it is assumed that you at least know HTML.

The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

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Directions:
Your basic task is to build a prototype of your proposed user interface. The prototype will be a real implementation. You will use the prototyping system to create your design. If, for example, your design contains a videodisk, a window with some sort of animation in it that simulates the video playback from the videodisk would be appropriate. If your design is for a device requiring the user to push buttons, you can simulate the buttons in your prototype by creating “soft” buttons which the user can select with a mouse.

Note that your primary task is building your prototype. You have already specified your design in detail in Assignment 3.

This assignment will have 4 steps. They are:

Learn your prototyping system well enough to develop screen layouts or screen pictures of your design. You are not being asked to build a complete implementation of your design, but enough of a prototype to allow users to perform simple tasks with the design.

Build your proposed interface design in your prototyping software. You do not have to have a complete working system but rather a simulation of how the system might work in different situations for a user. If you can build a full implementation with creativity, up to 5 extra points will be awarded to outstanding projects. The system has to work well enough for you to give a user a representative set of tasks (about 10) to do in Assignment 4 – your usability study. However, you are very welcome to use “Wizard of Oz” techniques in your prototype rather than building a complete working prototype.

Test your prototype out with a set of friends using the prototype. Ask them to try to make the the prototype fail. Make sure that all links in the prototype work and that it is robust enough to send to your instructor (who has a history of making the most robust systems die.)

Write up your design including a description of the shortcuts you made in preparing your working prototype.

Reminder: Please plan sufficient time for your project implementation, so start to work on your prototype as early as possible to avoid last minute failure.

You should turn in:

The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

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A copy of your prototype:
Submit your prototype to Canvas via a zipped file, which should include all your prototype files and instructions to run your software.

Your program should be an executable. You need to provide detailed instructions on how to run the software. Since you are being given a choice of the type of prototyping system, there is a high likelihood that we will not be able to run your program on our systems. We will try to run all the systems briefly before commencing grading. If we cannot get your system to execute, we will contact you to determine what is the problem and to see if you can fix it easily. Don’t assume that we have special DLLs or development environments. Your executable code must run on Windows or Mac. If we cannot run your code, you will have to make an appointment with the instructor and to demonstrate your prototype.

(2) A writeup of your assignment (submitted electronically):

A maximum of four pages written on the prototype that has been built.

An introductory paragraph telling your reader what the report is about and what the reader can expect to find in the report – possibly with a rationale for the various sections of the report.

A short description of your user interface in one or two paragraphs. This is not a description of the design but of the purpose your user interface serves. For example: “This is a user interface for programming a home outdoor light management system. Its basic features are a 10 character by 2 line LCD display screen in a hand held remote controller.”

A description of the final design. This should be presented in complete detail so that it is possible for a programmer to implement the design. Use printouts of specific screens to show what the user will see and the actions available to the user at each state.

A discussion of the changes you had to make in your design given the constraints of the prototyping system. You should indicate where in your design you are using “Wizard of Oz” techniques and where you are providing the user with full functionality.

For example, if you determined that it would take 20 hours to program a particular animation you had included in your paper and pencil design, you might try to fake this feature by making your display rapidly switch between two or three displays to look like the animation.

A discussion of how creative you believe your design is. List features in the design that you have not seen in use anywhere. List combinations of features or a clever new use of the features that makes your design more workable.

A conclusion describing what is good about your design and what you are not very happy with but have had to include in the design given the constraints of the design problem and the tradeoff decisions you needed to make.

A summary of what was presented in the report. Add some panache here extolling the qualities of your prototype.
Written Presentation Requirements:

Your paper must be typed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Figures and graphs must be clear and legible. Be sure to put on a cover page indicating your name, student number, title of work, course and date. You will be judged on the visual appearance, grammatical correctness and quality of writing of your paper as well as its contents.

Only the first three text pages of the paper will be read and graded. This does not include references, figures or tables. Papers should have 1 inch left, right, top and bottom margins. They must be text with paragraphs, full sentences and all the other appurtenances of a written presentation. They cannot be itemized lists of points. Text font size should be either 10 or 12 points. You may choose your own font style, but a serif font is preferred.

Checklist for your assignment:

1. Is the gradesheet attached to the front of your assignment?
2. Have you put your name (s) on your assignment?
3. Do you have all 7 items in your writeup that were requested?
4. Is your writeup the length requested?
5. Have you checked your report for grammar and spelling mistakes?
6. Have you made a zipfile of the assignment if it is huge? This assignment, in particular, may require a zipfile because of the sketches.
7. Did you save a copy of the assignment to yourself as a backup?
8. Did you receive a verification from Canvas that your assignment has been submitted?
9. Have you made sure that you are building an executable file that will run on Windows or Mac?

What you will be graded on:

You will be graded on the quality of your user interface, the creativeness of your design in solving the user interface problems you encountered and your ability to incorporate into the design process, the user data you collected in Assignments 2 and 3.

The design of a prototype of your chosen user interface using a rapid prototyping system

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By admin in Essays on April 6, 2017