Homework 1

Homework 1: Problem Scenarios and Claims

Due before class Thursday, January 23

One of the case studies presented in our UCS collection describes the requirements, design, and evaluation of Garden.com. This was a highly-acclaimed Web site that sadly no longer exists due to competition from more established gardening supply companies like Burpee. In this homework you will review the Requirements Analysis phase of the case study as an introduction to the development of problem scenarios and claims.

Your assignment is to first review the Requirements Analysis for this design case, then to write (1) your own problem scenario, and (2) one example of a claim that the scenario implies. Indicate by underlining or bold-font emphasis the specific text in the scenario that is associated with the claim (like the linking in the UCS tool).

Use the scenarios and claims in the Garden.com as models, but try to make sure that your scenario covers different aspects of a real world garden shop experience. (If you need more help in writing scenarios or claims, review the VSF example in Chapter 2.) You may want to talk to relatives who garden, browse gardening sites on the Web, or visit Meadowbrook Gardens (etc.) to help you come up with ideas, or you may generate ideas based on the field data and other information in the case study. Use an actor from the case study scenarios (George, Susan, Maddy), or invent your own.

Clearly there are many 'right' answers for this exercise. You will be graded on the form of your scenario (e.g., does it include the actor's goals and mental experiences, not just actions, see Chapter 1), and the originality and insightfulness of the claim you analyze (e.g., does it capture something interesting about the problem with both positive and negative sides).

What to turn in:

Your paper should consist of a paragraph discussion of the requirements you identified, a scenario describing these requirements, and a claim you identified in the scenario.

Format your paper in 12-point Times or Times New Roman font, single-spaced. Write no more than one page. Your name and your student number (SS#) should appear in the the first two lines at the top-right of the page in bold; the heading "Homework 1: Problem Scenarios and Claims" should appear at the top-left the page in bold.

Extra Credit:

After you have completed the homework assignment, you can earn extra credit by filling out the survey at http://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1043011645574.