Project

The goal of the project is to design, implement, usability test, and refine a useful visualization component that can be used within the Snap-Together Visualization environment.  The project is intended to be open-ended, ambitious, and require teamwork.  Success can not result from implementing a required specification as in Homework3, but instead results from following the usability methodology and producing a quality product.  The project has multiple milestones during the semester.

Teams and topics:

Form a group of 3 students and rank order the project topics starting with your favorite.  In class, we will finalize the teams and topics.  Hand in 1 page that includes:

• Team Name
• Names and PIDs of team members
• Topic

teams

Design:

Design the visualization and user interface.  In your design, keep in mind that the visualization will be used as a component within the Snap environment, so focus your efforts on the main part of the visualization and consider how it can be interactively linked with other components.  Hand-in a short report that includes:

• scenarios, design tradeoffs, and design rationale (1-2 pages)
• description of design with pictures (1-3 pages)
• basic implementation plan, and who will do what (<1 page).

background reading:  short, long.

Initial implementation:

Produce an initial implementation of your design in Java and Swing.  We will have a demo day for you to show your initial implementation.  At the demo, hand-in a short 1 page report that lists what has been accomplished, and what has yet to be done in the implementation.  Incorporate demo feedback into later refined implementation.

Implementation stuff:  Snap component development materials

Usability evaluation:

Conduct a small usability test on the initial implementation.  Identify usability problems, and refine the visualization design.  Hand-in a report a short report that includes:

• usability procedure undertaken (<1 page)
• usability problems identified, and usability benefits of your design (1-2 pages)
• modifications to the visualization design (1-2 pages)
• basic implementation plan, and who will do what (<1 page).

Final implementation:

Finish and polish the final implementation.  Incorporate results from the initial implementation demo and the usability evaluation.  We will have a demo day for you to show your final implementation.  At the demo, hand-in a short 1-2 page final report that includes:

• list of what has been accomplished
• dream list of ideal additions or improvements
• list who did what for the entire project.

If there is time, we have short presentations of final implementations in class.

Zip up and email your final implementation and all your reports from the project to GTA Beth.