i213 Spring 2011: UI Design and Development

January 12, 2012

First Assignment

Yes, already, but its short and hopefully interesting.  If you have an idea that you would like to pursue in the course, be prepared to make a short “pitch” to recruit other students in class on either  January 19th.  This should be about 2-3 minutes, laying out as best you can 1) who your user is, 2) what their pressing need is, 3) why this is an opportunity and 4) any partners or users you already have lined up.  Preferably you can do this without Powerpoint, but if you need it, it will be there.

April 7, 2011

Final Submission

Due: April 26th, 2011 (Presentation and Prototype)

Due: May 10, 2011 (Report)

Objective: In this assignment, you will complete your final project. There are three deliverables: 1) a demonstration prototype of your software, 2) a report that describes your project’s motivation, design method(s), implementation (concise) and evaluation, and 3) a 10-minute presentation describing your design process, prototype, evaluation and results.

What to do:

1. Revise your software demo based on feedback from other students, potential users and obtained during class. The functionality included in the demo should be based on two factors. First, supporting all of the tasks and activities that you would like during your user testing. Second, making a compelling demonstration for the final class presentation. You should be able to make progress from your first and second prototypes, including additional functionality, a refined look-and-feel, help features, interaction with live data sets, etc.
2. Conduct your user testing, based on your experiment design, and feedback from the TA and Instructor. Make sure to follow appropriate policies with regard to informed consent and records release. (Example forms are provided here and here). You should include the TA as a subject in at some part of your user testing protocol.
3. Prepare a presentation that summarizes your process, focusing on the most interesting observations and results, and demonstrates the capabilities of your software. Again, your goal is to describe what is really new and innovative about your approach, and how you have demonstrated its usability and benefit. You should aim for a ten-minute presentation, with five minutes for questions. Practice beforehand, with an audience if possible! If you go over, you wont be given extra time.
4. Make the presentation in class on April 26th or 28th (your position will be determined by random lottery). Your final project grade will be determined in equal parts by the final presentation and the final report.
5. Draft a report, describing your project’s motivation, design method(s), implementation and evaluation. Be concise – up to a maximum of twelve pages single-spaced 12-point text. Your goal is to describe what is really new and innovative about your approach, and how you have demonstrated its usability and benefit. Some sections your report should include are: Abstract, Introduction, Problem Statement, Design Process, Final Prototype Implementation (very concise, use images where appropriate, and include a description of what features have not been implemented), Evaluation Method, Evaluation Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References. In your report some of these sections may be combined, but in general all these topics should be covered. Refer to recent CHI proceedings for examples of how interactive systems are described and evaluated.

What to turn in:

E-mail to the professor and TA a link to each of the following before 3:30 PM on April 26th:

1. Cover sheet including yourself and your partners’ names, and the title of your project. Include a paragraph about what each person contributed to the final prototype, evaluation, analysis, presentation and report. Describe the tools you used to develop your final demo, how they helped and/or created additional obstacles [1 page].
2. A link to your final demonstration software, including any instructions on how to install and/or run it, if needed.
3. Your final presentation slides, movies and/or any supporting materials.

Additionally, e-mail to the professor and TA a link the following before 11:59 PM on May 10th:

1. Your final report, accepted in PDF format only! [maximum of 12 pages]

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

March 15, 2011

Experiment Design Assignment

Due: Thursday, April 19th, 2012 at Noon

Objective: In this assignment, you will develop a plan for testing your user interface. This includes deciding the tasks to support, the users to test, where to test, the method of testing and the metrics used to evaluate success.

What to do:

1. Decide 3-4 tasks that you would like to support during your user testing. The tasks should provide the user with a complete and realistic feel for how the eventual application will work (or, for large projects, how some aspects will work). This should include both high-level user tasks (decide where you want to eat dinner using this interface), as well as specific, low-level tasks (use the interface to search for a restaurant open at 10PM).
2. Decide the context where you will test each of these tasks. The location should be as realistic as possible, while allowing for controlled measurement and evaluation.
3. Decide how you will recruit participants for your final user study. Aim for testing each task with between 5-15 users. Each task should be tested by appropriate users fitting the characteristics outlined in your persona descriptions.  Make sure to conduct a pilot test with design team members or other students before subjecting real users.
4. Determine whether it is possible to include a control condition for the testing. For example, if you have designed a new interface for web search, a control condition could be using Google search. This allows you to measure how your new interface compares with current alternatives. Ideally, you should test each task using both your own prototype and at least one control condition. Those without a suitable control condition should compensate by either including more users and/or more performance measures (see below).
5. Decide the methods you will use to evaluate performance for each task you want to test. This could include quantitative methods for metrics such as efficiency and error rate, as well as qualitative methods for metrics such as subjective satisfaction. Ideally, you will test each task using at least two quantitative and one qualitative method. Decide how you will measure user performance (for example, task execution time or number of errors), behavior and/or responses (for example, using audio, video, screen recorders, interview transcripts and/or detailed notes) .
6. Decide how you will address any learning and/or fatigue effects – either between tasks, and/or between the control and experimental conditions.
7. Decide the conditions of success. For experiments with a control, this may be some relative improvement over the control condition. For experiments without a control, this may be some absolute measure of efficiency, accuracy, subjective satisfaction, etc.
8. Decide the materials you will need to conduct the usability test. This includes the script you will use to conduct the test, the prototype itself, and any questionnaires you will administer before and/or after testing. This should include a demographic questionnaire capturing important user details (age, gender, education, experience with your proposed kind of technology and/or application, etc), as well as informed consent and records release forms allowing you to conduct the test with the user and/or capture audio, images and video. (Example forms are provided here and here).

What to turn in:

The preferred method of turn-in is a PDF document, including each of the following components. To avoid a late penalty, e-mail a link to your group’s submission to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Thursday, April 19th:

1. Cover sheet including yourself and your partners’ names, and your chosen focus. Note the time, duration and attendance of each brainstorming session. Include a paragraph describing what each person contributed to the assignment [1/2 page].
2. A list of tasks that you intend to test during your usability testing.
3. Description of your control condition(s) and experimental variants, if any (it is highly recommended to include a control if possible) [1/2 page].
4. Details about how many users that you will test for each task, and how you plan to recruit participants, including for the pilot test. If the same persona applies to multiple tasks, it is fine if the same user is tested for all of them, making sure to account for any learning / fatigue effects [1 page].
5. Description of the methods that you will use to evaluate the usability of each task, and how you will measure document user behavior and responses. It is recommended to evaluate each task using at least two quantitative and one qualitative methods. Mention how you will address any learning and/or fatigue effects – either between tasks, or between the control and experimental conditions. Provide the location where you will test each task [2-3 pages].
6. A list of conditions of success for each of the tasks [1/2 page]
7. A description of the supporting materials that you will need for conducting your user test – including forms, testing scripts, questionnaires, props, and the prototype itself [1 page].

The total length of your report should be less than 8 pages. Brevity, clarity and focus on the goals of the assignment will be rewarded.

E-mail a link to your group’s project page to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Thursday, April 19th.

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

Functional Prototype Assignment

Due: Thursday, April 7th, 2011 at Noon

Objective: In this assignment, you will refine your interactive prototype based on the heuristic evaluation. You will also provide enough functionality so that your prototype can be tested by users in a realistic way.

What to do:

1. Review the formative evaluation you have collected, and that provided by the other group. Decide the points that you plan to address in your next prototype, and any general changes you would like to make.
2. Decide the tasks that you would like to support during your user testing (see the next assignment). The tasks should provide the user with a complete and realistic feel for how the eventual application will work (or, for large projects, how some specific aspects of the future application will work). The interface should support both high-level user tasks (decide where you want to eat dinner tonight), as well as specific, low-level tasks (search for a restaurant open at 10PM).
3. Revise and/or re-implement your interactive prototype based on the tasks that you intend to support. It is not essential that you implement all of the back-end functionality, or that you provide a completely refined graphic presentation (polished icons, visual design, etc.). However, your prototype should be complete from an interaction perspective – the user should be able to use all of the functions that he/she needs to perform the tasks that you have outlined. Moreover, the interface should provide sufficient functionality to gracefully allow exploration the user might do to perform these tasks. Any potential user errors should also be handled gracefully. In short, the system should provide a realistic and complete experience for the user while performing the tasks you have described.
4. In class on April 7th, be ready with your interactive prototype. Prepare a presentation describing its functionality, and providing an overview of your experimental design. You will receive feedback from the rest of the class, including the TA and instructor, on your prototype and experimental design, including whether or not you have provided enough functionality to support testing with real users.

What to turn in:

The preferred method of turn-in is a PDF document, including each of the following components. To avoid a late penalty, e-mail a link to your group’s submission to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Thursday, April 7th:

1. Cover sheet including yourself and your partners’ names, and your chosen focus. Note the time, duration and attendance of each brainstorming session. Include a paragraph about what each person contributed to the assignment [1/2 page].
2. The list of changes that you decided to make based on the heuristic evaluation. Include the original comment, the severity rating provided by the other group, your own assessment, and what you to did to address it [1-2 pages].
3. Describe the tools you used to develop your prototype, how they helped and/or created additional obstacles [1/2 page].
4. Provide a link to your second interactive prototype, as well as directions about how to install and/or run it. Supplement with screen shots [1-2 pages].
5. Be ready with your presentation, supporting material and your interactive prototype to be presented in class on April 7th.

The total length of your report should be less than 4 pages (not including any prototype screen shots). Brevity, clarity and focus on the goals of the assignment will be rewarded.

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

March 10, 2011

Formative Evaluation Assignment

February 22, 2011

Balsamiq Prototype Assignment

Due: Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at Noon

Objective: In this assignment, you will test your low-fidelity prototype(s) and use the results to inform the design of the first interactive prototype for your final project.

What to do:

1. Select the low-fidelity prototype(s) that you would like to start with. The prototype(s) should support walking through at least three of the tasks described in your scenarios.
2. Each member of the design team should evaluate the low-fidelity interface with regard to the design heuristics (both Neilsen’s and Norman’s) we have learned in class. These evaluations should be done independently of one another, making sure to take detailed notes of your observations.
3. Select one other person to “test” your low-fidelity prototype. Ideally this would be someone from your proposed user group, or at least someone not from the design team (for example, another member of the class).
4. Ask the test user to step through at least three of the tasks outlined in your scenarios using the low-fidelity prototype. Utilize the “Think-Aloud” protocol described in class. Once again, take detailed notes of the pilot user’s observations.
5. Schedule a design team meeting to integrate your observations and the observations from your initial user study. The output of this should be a set of revisions / suggestions / design directions to be implemented in your first interactive prototype. Make sure to note the source of each of these revisions / suggestions / directions, whether they came from one or several of the heuristic evaluations conducted by the design team members, from your initial user study, or emerged during the brainstorming.
6. Design the prototype using Balsamiq Mockups. (This software has a 7-day free license.  You can ask the professor for a key if you need it for longer then that.)  You are free to use another tool (Powerpoint, Flash, HTML, etc.) if thats easier for you.  Once again, the prototype should be sufficient to at least “walk through” three of the tasks that you have included in your final project proposal. Utilizing wizard-of-oz techniques is fine, and recommended when you have not implemented some of the underlying functionality.
7. In class on March 10th, be ready for your interactive prototype to be tested. This includes providing enough guidance, documentation and/or supporting material so that the user can understand the intent and operation of the prototype.

What to turn in:

The preferred method of turn-in is a PDF document, including each of the following components. To avoid a late penalty, e-mail a link to your group’s submission to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Thursday, March 10th:

1. Cover sheet including yourself and your partners’ names, and your chosen focus. Note the time, duration and attendance of each brainstorming session. Include a paragraph about what each person contributed to the assignment [1/2 page].
2. If your revised and/or developed new lo-fi prototypes, please provide new pictures. These pictures should include enough detail and supporting text so that we can understand how the eventual system is intended to work [2-3 pages].
3. The final integrated list of your revisions / suggestions / design directions. Make sure to indicate the original source of each of them, whether they came from one or several of the heuristic evaluations conducted by the design team members, from your initial user study, or emerged during the brainstorming [1-3 pages].
4. Provide a link to your Balsamiq prototype.  Include directions of how to install and/or run it if it is not done using Balsamiq.  Supplement with screen shots if helpful [1-2 pages].
5. Describe the tools you used to develop your prototype, how they helped and/or created additional obstacles [1/2 page].
6. Be ready with supporting material and your interactive prototype to be tested in class on March 10th.

The total length of your report should be less than 6 pages (not including any revised lo-fi prototype pictures). Brevity, clarity and focus on the goals of the assignment will be rewarded.

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

February 10, 2011

Lo-Fi Prototyping Assignment

Due: Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at Noon

Objective: In this assignment, you will build on your user research to start visualizing solutions. You will begin by refining your personas. Using these personas as “actors”, you will create three storyboards or scenarios, each depicting a task that your system will support. Finally, you will mock up at least three low-fidelity prototypes of possible solutions you could develop.

What to Do:

1. Schedule a group meeting. Most of the tasks described below should be completed during one or two collaborative brainstorming sessions including the entire design team.
2. Starting with the personas you made for the last assignment, decide the primary user personas that you are aiming to satisfy. Define each of their primary goals in using your system. Further refine each persona, by providing additional details and/or pictures. By the end, they should be full-featured descriptions that can be used as a reference by the design team. Aim for a total of 3-5 personas, identifying 1 (or 2) of them as the primary focus for your project.
3. Starting from the primary persona’s goals, decide three key tasks that your system will support. Tasks are specific sets of actions that will allow users to achieve their goals. These tasks should address a broad set of important user priorities. Using your personas as actors, depict in a scenario how your system would be used to achieve each of these tasks, preferably using a storyboard representation. (Use graphics, even if you can’t draw or sketch! Stick figures are awesome and encouraged!)
4. Using paper, index cards, post-its, cardboard, tape, glue and anything else you can imagine, build at least three paper prototype alternatives that can be used to mock “perform” the tasks depicted above. Use the reading for motivation, and again, be creative!

What To Turn In:

The preferred method of turn-in is a PDF document, including each of the following components. To avoid a late penalty, e-mail a link to your group’s submission to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Thursday, February 24th:

1. Cover sheet including yourself and your partners’ names, and your chosen focus. Note the time, duration and attendance of each brainstorming session. Include a sentence or two about what each person contributed to the assignment [1/2 page].
2. A list of core user personas. Include pictures, demographic details, and any other details that you feel are necessary to make the persona come to life and serve as a useful resource for the design team. [2-3 pages].
3. At least three storyboards depicting the tasks that your proposed system will support. These can either be scanned in, or composed electronically [2-3 pages].
4. Pictures of your low-fidelity prototypes. Bring it in to show during class on Feb 24th [2-3 pages].
5. Reflect on the experience of prototyping. What was easy for you? What was hard? Was it fun? [1/2 page]

The total length of your report should be less than 10 pages. Brevity, clarity and focus on the goals of the assignment will be rewarded. Illustrative graphics are welcome and encouraged!

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

February 1, 2011

Participant Observation Assignment

Due: Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at Noon

Objective: In this assignment, you will be conducting a contextual interview with a prospective set of users, and deriving a set of work models and notes based on that experience.

What to Do:

1. Identify 2-5 different users, covering each of your user / stakeholder categories, and ask each for their permission to interview them. If they agree, set an appointment to interview them in a location where they currently perform the task that you wish to study. Before starting the interview, you may want to have them complete the informed consent form (example here). If you also intend to capture video/audio/photos, have them complete a record release form (example here).
2. Conduct the contextual interview, following the master and apprentice relationship model. For each interview, one group member should be the apprentice, while the others take notes (larger groups should split up into groups of 2-3). You can also use a voice recorder (with the subject’s permission). Alternate roles for each subject. Each interview should last between 30-90 minutes.
3. During a group interpretation session, generate an affinity diagram and at least 3-4 distinct five work models drawing from your users. These should be at a level of detail appropriate to the task you are studying and the data that you have collected. Do this as soon after the interview as possible (up to a maximum of 48 hours), to make sure that the observations are fresh in your mind.  Choose the most useful and appropriate models for your project.
4. Create 2-5 personas, representing each kind of potential user. Typically, each persona will consist of a textual description, supplemented by graphics if necessary. The persona should include details like their age, education, professional history, access to technology, idealized goals and current difficulties with regard to the task in question.
5. List a set of current task scenarios and a set of hypothetical usage scenarios that you would like to support in your eventual system design.
6. Prepare a presentation to introduce your project to the rest of the class. Start with your focus, personas, and any supporting observations from the contextual inquiry that motivate your problem. Then walk the audience through some or all of the tasks described in your scenarios. Aim for a 5-minute presentation (with an additional five minutes for questions), to be made in class on Tuesday, February 15th.

What To Turn In:

The preferred method of turn-in is a PDF document, including each of the following components. To avoid a late penalty, e-mail a link to your group’s submission to the professor and TA before 12:00 PM (Noon) on Tuesday, February 15th:

1. Cover sheet including your names, and your chosen focus. Also include 1-2 sentences about what each person contributed to the assignment. [1/2 page]
2. Summary of each contextual interview, including the person’s gender, approximate age (20s, 30s, etc.), job title, the location of the interview, who conducted and who took notes, how long it took to complete, etc. For privacy, don’t use people’s real names or any other uniquely identifying information. Also, include any difficulties you had or surprises you encountered in conducting the contextual interview.  If you used another method discussed in class, describe the results of that as well. [2-3 pages]
3. A picture of your final affinity diagram.
4. A copy of each work model that you generated. Use one page for each model, aiming for the level of detail shown in the examples in the book. These can be done either using pen and paper, or a drawing program on a computer. On a separate page, include a 1-2 paragraph description of each model, including key points, surprises, potential ambiguities, and any difficulties you encountered in constructing the model.
5. The list of current scenarios, and those that you would eventually like to support in your future design. One paragraph for each scenario should be enough. Aim to document between 4-8 current and future scenarios.
6. The list of personas that you will use to motivate your eventual design. For now, about a half-page should be enough for each persona. Aim to document between 2-5 personas.
7. Reflect on the experience of doing a Contextual Inquiry. What was easy? What was hard? What did you expect? What was surprising? Did you ask too many questions? Did you ask too few? What types of questions worked best? Which lead to poor answers? Which lead to in-depth answers? Which work models were difficult to produce? Which were easy? Which helped most in developing your understanding? Which helped least? [1 page]
8. A copy of the presentation that you will make to the class. Come ready to present on February 16th.

The total length of your submitted report should be less than 10 pages. Brevity, clarity and focus on the goals of the assignment will be rewarded. Illustrative graphics are welcome and encouraged!

Please contact the professor or the class TA if you have any questions with this assignment.

January 25, 2011

Group Pitches Due next Thursday

Your group project pitches are due next Thursday in class.  Each group will have 5 minutes (max) to describe:

• Project you are working on
• Users, and how you plan to access them
• Team member introductions
  • Your name and background
  • What skills you bring
  • What skills you would like to develop

At this point the emphasis is more on the team, then on the project.  Team sizes of 2-4 are preferred.  I am aiming for 10-11 projects in the class.  There are currently 34 students registered.  That tells you what size group to aim for.  If you want to join a group, or need more members for your group,  or are up for considering either, you will have a chance to introduce yourselves later today.

January 11, 2011

First Assignment

Yes, already, but its short and hopefully interesting.  If you have an idea that you would like to pursue in the course, be prepared to make a short “pitch” to recruit other students in class on either  January 18th or 20th (or, as a last resort, the 25th).  This should be about 2-3 minutes, laying out as best you can 1) who your user is, 2) what their need is, 3) why this is an opportunity and 4) any partners you already have lined up.  Preferably you can do this without Powerpoint, but if you need it, it will be there.

• You are currently browsing the archives for the Assignments category.

• Pages

  • About
  • Schedule

• Archives

  • January 2012
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011

• Categories

  • Announcements
  • Assignments
• Powered by WordPress
  
  Entries RSS
  Comments RSS