CS 3724 Spring 1999 -> Homeworks
homeworks

[ Homework 1 || Homework 2 || Homework 3 ]

 

Homework 3 -- Usability Inspection of the CS Web Site
Due at the beginning of class on Thursday, 29 April, 1999

Note: This is an individual assignment, not a team assignment. The Honor Code applies. Work on this assignment is to be done individually. Since more than one possible answer exists for each problem, your grade will depend on how well you make the case for your answer.

The purpose of this homework is to perform a usability inspection of the CS Web site, to give you practice in conducting this kind of evaluation.

You should first thoroughly explore the CS Web site. Then,

Each of the three usability problems is to be described in no more than one page. On that page, include in the following order:

  • Identify and explain the usability problem
  • Design guideline violated and why
  • Redesign suggestion, including figure(s)

So you will produce 3 pages, one for each of the problem/guideline/redesign combination.

Please hand in TWO COPIES of this assignment -- one for us to grade and one for us to give to Ms. Birch. Your suggestions may actually be used to improve the CS Web site! On the copy for Ms. Birch, you may omit your name, or you may include it, along with further contact information (your phone and/or e-mail address), if you desire.

Clearly indicate which copy is to be graded and returned to you, and which one is for Ms. Birch.

 

 

Homework 2
Due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, 20 April 1999.

Due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, 20 April unless your team has their in-class presentation (Project 5) that day. If and only if this is the case, you may have until the beginning of class on Thursday, 22 April to turn in this homework.

Note: This is an individual assignment, not a team assignment. The Honor Code applies. Work on this assignment is to be done individually. Since more than one possible answer exists for each problem, your grade will depend on how well you make the case for your answer.

For the first and fourth examples of "in-class exercises" (see week of 2 March on calendar), do the following. To clarify, the first example is the one that says: "Still Processing your request." The fourth is the one that says: "Layout on electronic order form."

  1. Using words/language of the usability domain, describe the essence of the usability problem illustrated by this example. In cases where the example illustrates more than one usability problem, select the most prominent (or at least an important one, not a minor or trivial one).
  2. From the following five choices, identify the most applicable part of the Interaction Cycle, and briefly explain your choice. Your explanation is essential; your grade for this part depends on a precise, concise, and valid rationale:
    - Planning
    - Translation
    - Physical actions
    - Assessment
    - Independent
  3. From the user interaction design guidelines presented in class, quote the one guideline that most closely applies (i.e., the primary one that this example violates in its design). In some cases there may be more than one guideline equally applicable. Specify one. The format for this should be: {guidelines lecture overhead page-number: "guideline quotation">. For the quotation part, you can use a bullet item from the overheads or, sometimes to be more specific, a bullet item plus a star item. Examples:
    Guidelines 24: "Make system take blame for errors."
    Guidelines 27: "Control visual complexity of outcome presentation. Group related information."
  4. Give a redesign of this example based on improving its usability. For example, rewrite a poor message, rename inappropriate buttons, change the layout, etc. For redesigns involving graphics, hand-drawn figures are acceptable.

Number your answers 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d so they will be easier to grade and discuss in class. Start each problem on a new page, so they are self-standing. As an example, we have worked out the assignment for the second example from the "in-class exercises", the one that says: "A field in a form for an Inventory Control System has this label." One possible solution:

  1. Label for data field not precise or concise, not an effective visual cue for what to enter in this field, how to enter it, and/or what format to use.
  2. Translation. Label doesn't provide effective visual cue to support user in determining what to do regarding typing data in this field, nor how to do it.
  3. Guidelines 13: " Provide effective affordances -- visual cues (e.g., in labels, data field formats, icons) that help users get access", OR (better):
    Guidelines 14: " Provide effective affordances. " Use precise wording in labels for menus, buttons, icons, fields"
  4. Change field label to something like: Part Number

 

 

Homework 1
Due at beginning of class on Tuesday, 16 February 1999.

CLARIFICATION OF HOMEWORK 1:

In part 1 of the homework, you should explain the situation to your boss and assess the validity of the design premise.

In part 2, you propose a ***plan of action*** to address the two questions at the end of the paragraph.

There is, of course, no single "correct" answer to this problem, but there will be some answers that are better than others, and probably some that will miss the mark.

NOTE: This is an individual assignment, not a team assignment. The Honor Code applies. Work on this assignment is to be done individually.

Real message from a student this year (someone in a previous HCI class here at Va Tech, used with permission):

Over Christmas break I was talking with some people working on a new cellular phone system for Germany. The person in charge of interface design was asking about the strategy for interface development that we discussed last semester. He raised an interesting question which I wasn't really sure how to respond to. The system that they are designing is largely undefined, it's never been done before and they can't really accurately anticipate the types of tasks and actions and information that users are going to need access to on a regular basis. The interface design head argues that this is a reason to model the interface after the underlying system architecture (hardware, software, network). His claim is that in a situation where you don't and can't know how the system is going to be used the most important characteristic of it is an internal consistency. In other words, the interface needs to reflect the object model such that when a user attempts to perform an action that has not been anticipated that the system behaves in the manner that the user expects it to based upon the other tasks they have successfully performed. While I agree that there are certain objects that make as much sense to a user as to a designer (such as an account, in this case, with billing information) some of the object model is designed around technical issues like where's the server and how are we going to communicate with it. In practice this means that much of what he is talking about will mean structuring an interface around a bunch of data structures which aren't necessarily designed to make a lot of sense to the user. I just wondered what you would have to say about that; what do you do in cases where you really can't come up with a list of possible or even probable tasks? If you can't effectively design around the user because you don't really know what the user might do then how can you still take user issues and usability into account?

Your assignment: Suppose you are a member of the development team. You are not even the designated usability person, because there isn't one in this project. However, you are taking this course and you feel you should write a memo (not more than 400 words) to your boss, the project manager, about this situation.

In particular, address:

 


 

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