Task summary: This assignment presents you with three scenarios describing apps that need to be developed for a variety of audiences. In part 1 of this assignment, you will design user interactions for one of these apps, in the form of a high -fidelity paper prototype i.e. a representation of the interface that will be printed on paper for testing. In part 2, you will explain your design decisions and in part 3, you will test and evaluate your prototype.
Assignment instructions:
You are a user experience designer for a company that develops apps for a variety of audiences. You have been asked to take part in ONE of the following design projects the company is working on.
For this assignment you must choose one of the scenarios below:
Option 1: An app for primary school teachers and parents to communicate with each other. The teacher can send messages to parents of the whole class, or for individual students. Parents can read and reply to these messages as well as start a new message. A parent may have more than one child in the school.
Option 2: A mobile app to help people of different ages and abilities to develop good habits. The app allows a user to set goals for the good habits they want to develop (for example tidying up their bedroom, going for a run, or taking their medication) and how frequently they want to achieve these goals. They can then track how well they are achieving the goals and receive notification, reminders and rewards.
Option 3: An image search application for a smart TV device with a remote controller. The app allows the user to pause the TV, draw a frame around an object (for example the dress an actor is wearing) and search for other images of similar object on the Internet. The user can then scroll through the results and share them by email or other messaging tool that have been previously set up.
Complete the following tasks for your chosen scenario.
Part 1 – Create a user persona and design a high-fidelity prototype
Create a persona for a typical user of the app, informed by your user research. Your persona should be sufficiently detailed to give the members of the team a good understanding of who they are, so that the app design will be user -centric.
Consider two typical tasks that users will need to complete using the app and design a high-fidelity prototype with a series of screens to show the full interaction for completing these tasks from beginning to end. Your prototypes should be suitable for printing on paper as full size (i.e. filling as much of an A4 page as possible in landscape or portrait format with one screen per page) so that you can test them for part 3.
Note:
You do not need to create a fully functioning app; only a printable paper prototype is required. You also do not need to create designs for every interaction for the whole app; just create sufficient screens needed to complete the two typical tasks you have identified from beginning to end. You may use any appropriate design or drawing software to create your prototype as long as you create the designs from a blank screen outline. You MUST NOT use any templates, starter kits that you modify or AI generated designs. You are being assessed for the design decisions you make, so these decisions must be your own.
In part 1 of your report, you should submit:
- The persona you have created – if you include this as an image, make sure
- the text is legible in your submitted document. High-fidelity prototypes showing the interactions for two task flows. You should include a description of the task flows so that the narrative for the screens sequence is comprehensible. (You do not need to include any explanation or justification of your design as you will do that in part 2).
Note that the word count for this part is a 1600 word equivalent – this means that the amount of work and time required to complete this part should be similar to that of producing a 1600-word academic report. Since most of the work is design -based, it is expected that your written work will be significantly less than 1600 words.
Part 2 – Explain and justify your design decisions
In part 2 of your report, justify the decisions taken for your high -fidelity prototype design, and support them with references to relevant theories, principles and guidelines.
You should refer to screenshots of the user interface, discussing how and where these principles and guidelines have been applied.(1200 words)
Part 3 – Test and evaluate your design
Evaluate your interface using the following methods
- Nielsen usability heuristics
- Think aloud tests – Set up think aloud tests for the two task flows in your prototype with you as the moderator and ‘computer’, using printouts of your design from part 1. You are advised to record the test sessions, so that you can review the recording later when writing your report. You may also include screenshots from the video recording in your report to illustrate any points you are making.
In part 3 of your report, present the results of your evaluation and analyse your
findings with reference to appropriate literature, making appropriate
recommendations. (1200 words)
Learning outcomes (LO)
By completing this assessment, you will have shown and be assessed on all four of the learning outcomes:
- Demonstrate a theoretical and practical understanding of underlying concepts and principles associated with HCI methods and techniques.
- Apply appropriate HCI theories and practices to the design and implementation of interfaces.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of user interfaces using appropriate methods. Graduate Attribute
- Reflective Practitioner: Undertake critical analysis and reach reasoned and evidenced decisions, contribute problem-solving skills to find and innovate in solutions.
