Overview

This is the first installment in the team-based User-Centered Design project. This installment includes the following phases listed in the course text:

• Needs analysis (Specifying the root concept)
• User and task analysis
• Functional analysis
• Setting Usability Specifications

Product Concept

As a team, you need to decide what kind of interactive system you will design and how it will meet a need for its users.

Here are some suggestions for thinking about project possibilities:

• Products that frustrate you (or people you know) that you could improve
• Possible products that solve a problem at work or at an organization
• Web sites that provide a useful service

Here are some possibilities:

• A web site for offering commercial services (e.g. house keeping, home maintenance, apartment finding, banking)
• A web site for learning about products or services
• An application for organizing class notes and assignments
• An application for managing an event (e.g. conference, tournament, wedding)
• An application for running an organization or office

Finally, your project should have the following characteristics:

• The product entails a significant amount of human interaction
• You can establish who uses this product
• You have access to its users (or potential users) and can interview them
• You can develop a low-fidelity prototype of your design

Each team number should provide a list of ideas. The ideas do not need to be presented in the project report, but I would like you to post your ideas on the team discussion board. Do this within the first week of the project.

User and task analysis

For this phase, each team member should talk with at least two potential users of your interactive system. You should learn about the following issues:

• User goals and needs
• Background and user motivation
• User knowledge of the domain
• General computer experience of user (what kinds of applications does the user work with?)
• User experience with similar interactive systems

Also review the user characteristics found on pp. 38 - 43 in the text.

When interviewing your users, it often helps to conduct the interview in the environment where the interactive system would operate. This way you can ask users to demonstrate their current approaches to performing the tasks you would like to automate. Section 3.3.3 (pp. 48 - 50) provides some ideas on learning from users.

Based on what you have learned from the interviews, outline the tasks that your interactive system will perform or support.

Finally, consider measurable outcomes for specifying whether your designed system meets the usability goals. These include expectations for how easily and quickly users can complete their tasks. Also consider user satisfaction (see questions on p. 54 for some examples).

The Report

• Root concept. A high-level description of the overall goal of your product (one paragraph).
• User and task analysis. A detailed description of your user population, their needs and task environment. This may be presented as personas and scenarios (a paragraph for each persona or scenario), but also include summary statements.
• Functional analysis. An expanded specification of your product's characteristics and capabilities (several paragraphs). The specifications can include lists and task diagrams. See pp. 44-49 for ideas.
• Usability specifications. A summary explaining how your product fits the needs of your user population, including measurable outcomes for determining the success and usability of your design.

The exact format of your report is up to you, but keep in mind that "usability" and "readability" are two of your top priorities in putting your report together.

In addition to the sections above, make sure your report has the following:

• List of team members
• How each team member contributed to this assignment
• Name and contact information of team member for submitting the report

Grading

This installment for the team project is worth 20 points. Complete and well edited reports will receive at least 16 points. More credit will go to submissions that provide thoughtful and specific descriptions and explanations.

Submission

One team member (contact person) should submit your report using any widely available format (e.g. Word, PDF, HTML) to dlweb.