All/most deliverables should be posted to a single website hosted on Github, so that the work can be easily cloned to other machines.
Develop a paper prototype for your design. It should convey all critical aspects of your design, including support for testing your two primary tasks.
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these examples are from external/previous offerings, so their reports may not map to our current project. Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
No more than one page of text (~500 words) as a link to the appropriate page of your project website on Slack.
Capture and submit detailed images of your paper prototype. Include:
Images do not count against your page limit, and are therefore effectively free. You should embed images throughout your document, keeping them near the text that references them. The limit applies to the approximate amount of text you would have if all images were removed.
Submit as a link to the appropriate page of your project website on Slack.
Bring your prototype to class. You will need it to conduct a Heuristic Evaluation.
This milestone will be graded on a scale of 9 points:
Conduct a heuristic evaluation of your paper prototype and another group's paper prototype. You will be delayed in completing this if you do not bring your prototype to class.
Each team will pair with another team, and trade one team member who did the same set of readings. So, each HE grouping should have representatives of two groups only, but among the 3 members of the HE grouping, all 10 Heuristics should have been read.
One half-team will conduct a heuristic evaluation of the other’s paper prototype. The two half-teams will then reverse roles. Each half-team will therefore conduct and receive one heuristic evaluation, and each team will therefore receive two evaluations of their prototype.
I will provide a worksheet with Nielsen’s heuristics: Nielsen-heuristics.pdf
Evaluators will use the heuristics worksheet to record issues identified in evaluation. Include what heuristic is violated, and a severity rating (ranging from 0 for no problem to 4 for usability catastrophe). Evaluators should take a photo of their Heuristic Evaluations to document their work (in case I have difficulty tracking down who did what evaluations from other teams' deliverables).
In the deliverable that your team submits, should be included a digitization of each Heuristic Evaluation received, who the Evaluator for each HE was, and who (from your team) facilitated each HE. Include notes on how your paper prototype needs to be revised based on what you learned in heuristic evaluation. Your tasks and scenarios are likely stable, but revise them if your evaluation reveals a need.
Make revisions according to the Heuristic Evaluation, documenting what you changed and why. (Note: this differs from the examples below).
Examples from prior offerings include:
No more than ~500 words of text, submitted as a link to your project webpage via Slack.
Capture and submit detailed images of your heuristic evaluation work. Include:
The evaluated project will keep the heuristic ratings feedback, so they can use them to improve their design. The evaluated project should be careful not to lose these, as their contents will be submitted in the next assignment. Similarly, be careful to keep a detailed record of any changes that are made, as these will be submitted in the next assignment.
Submit as a link via Slack.
This milestone will be graded on a scale of 4 points (3 group points, 1 individual):
You conducted a cognitive walk-through for your own paper prototype and should incorporate revisions suggested from that process in this Usability Testing check-in (it does not have to happen before your first usability test, although that would be ideal). Complete one usability test with your paper prototype (users for usability testing can be a Williams student, but no one in the class, and no one that the researcher knows/has-eaten-a-meal-with). Then, revise your paper prototype with feedback from the cognitive walk-through and the usability test.
Present your iterative revisions and your plan going forward:
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these examples are not exactly what is being requested in our deliverable, so their reports may not map to our current project. Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
No more than ~1500 words of text (3 pages) posted as a link to your Project Website on Slack.
Images do not count against your page limit, and are therefore effectively free. You should embed images throughout your webpage, keeping them near the text that references them. The limit applies to the approximate amount of text you would have if all images were removed.
Be prepared to discuss your iterative revision of your paper prototype in class.
This milestone will be graded on a scale of 12 points:
Complete your three usability tests and finalize your paper prototype according to what you learn.
Present the results of your usability testing and your final paper prototype:
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these examples are from external offerings, so their reports may not map to our current project. Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
No more than 1,500 words (three pages of text) posted as a link to your Project Website on the appropriate Slack channel.
Images do not count against your page limit, and are therefore effectively free. You should embed images throughout your webpage, keeping them near the text that references them. The limit applies to the approximate amount of text you would have if all images were removed.
This milestone will be graded on a scale of 12 points:
Create your digital mockup based on your final paper prototype. The mockup should effectively communicate your design in a manner appropriate for your final report, website, and pitch. Implement your digital mockup to include key frames that illustrate your design. It should convey all critical aspects of your design, including walkthroughs for your two primary tasks.
Note decisions or changes you need to make as you transition from paper to a digital representation.
Present your digital mockup together with discussion of the decisions and changes you made:
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these examples are from external offerings, so their reports may not map to our current project. Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
No more than ~500 words of text (one page) posted as a link to your Project Website page on the appropriate Slack channel.
Images do not count against your page limit, and are therefore effectively free. You should embed images throughout your webpage, keeping them near the text that references them. The limit applies to the approximate amount of text you would have if all images were removed.
This milestone will be graded on a scale of 12 points:
Prepare a single-page "pitch webpage" documenting your process of getting the design right. This single page should motivate your final design in an evidence-based manner. Briefly summarize each of the previous steps of this project as motivation, and provide links to the in-depth deliverables you turned in. Previous deliverables can be placed into an 'Appendix' (as a tab on the main page, perhaps?), and referred to for more in-depth insight.
Your report should follow the outline below, and will be graded using the guidelines that follow. As the Understanding to Make Project is essentially the UX Design phase, reading about some tips for providing a convincing pitch might be informative: What are the elements of an effective elevator pitch? and How do I improve my storytelling? Be concise!
If you completed all of your deliverables above, you will have the appendices for this report nearly completed. But it is critical that you revise and update that content (especially with respect to feedback received previously) as well as provide a cohesive story for your single-page report. You have received extensive feedback throughout your design process, and evaluation of your report will include how you have addressed and incorporated that feedback to improve relative to your prior milestones.
Envision this report as a UX Design Project Portfolio webpage. Something like this UX Design Project Portfolio webpage that documents the process in more depth, with links to further reading into the details, but for your own UX Design process and findings.
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these samples are from different courses, so details of assignments may not be the same (they're definitely not). Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
No more than three pages of text (3*500 words) on your course website, following the above outline.
Images do not count against your page limit, and are therefore effectively free. You should embed images throughout your webpages, keeping them near the text that references them. The limit applies to the approximate amount of text you would have if all images were removed. Do nit have repetitive text distributed throughout your website.
Submit as a link to your project website, via Slack.
Names of participants should be replaced with pseudonyms in all documents. It is important to protect participant anonymity, even in the case that reporting seems harmless.
This report will be graded on a scale of 25 points:
Prepare a presentation of your process in getting the design right. It should encompass all of your work in Project UXD: Understanding to Make.
A suggested organization of this presentation is:
I strongly recommend rehearsing your presentation beforehand. For example, arrange to practice together with another group or two, giving each other feedback on your presentations.
Note that I have not provided recommendations for the number of slides in each section of this presentation. You can deliver your presentation using as many or as few slides as you want, as long as you successfully address the above points and the presentation falls within the time restriction.
Examples from prior offerings include:
Note that these examples are from external offerings, so their reports may not map to our current project. Also note these samples are intended to illustrate a variety of approaches, none of which is intended to be ideal or exemplary. Be sure to understand and carefully consider project requirements and feedback from the instructor in the context of your own work.
Your presentation must be in PDF format. Submit via a link to your course website on Slack.
To minimize switching time, I will have all presentations on a single laptop running macOS. You should optimize your presentation for portability (e.g., ensure any necessary fonts are embedded). If I detect any obvious formatting issues on the presentation machine, I may fix them or contact you to fix them. But you are ultimately responsible for your presentation.
Names of participants should be replaced with pseudonyms in all documents. It is important to protect participant anonymity, even in the case that reporting seems harmless.
The instructor will have a feedback form they keep during your presentation: Rubric-UnderstandingToMake-presentation (please note the time limit is 8 minutes)
The content of this presentation will be graded on a per-team basis on a scale of 10 points:
The delivery of this presentation will be graded individually on a scale of 4 points: