You will be doing an inclusive design project, aided by performing the first few lifecycle stages of persona development. So you'll need to pick two slices of the population along some diversity dimension (one marginalized by current software, one probably not), and a software product or feature subset to design/redesign.
I encourage you to pick a project of personal interest to at least 1 member of your team.
Project Installment 1: Project formation
Turn in the following:
- What software project you picked (name and brief description of project, about 1 paragraph total)
- What underrepresented population you picked
- A situation/use case your underrepresented population is in that makes clear why they would be using your software (about 1 sentence).
- Example 1: writing a term paper for class.
- Example 2: making a transportation decision (car vs. bus vs. walk vs...).
- Example 3: reading a document.
- What issues make your software a potentially poor fit for this population? (1 to several sentences)
- A situation/use case your mainstreamer is in that makes clear why they would be using your software (about 1 sentence).
- Example 1: writing a term paper for class.
- Example 2: making a transportation decision (car vs. bus vs. walk vs...).
- Example 3: reading a document in poor lighting conditions -- BUT the software is also suitable when reading in good lighting conditions.
- A justification why this is a good/interesting project from the standpoint of there being a reasonable amount of USABILITY work to think about
- Who your team members are (about 4 people/team)
Here are some samples of what you need to turn:
Sample 1
Sample 2.
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
Tentative Grading policy: 1 point per bullet item above, 7 points possible.
2. The presentation (10 minutes to present, 5 for questions.):
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
Project Installment 3: Conception and (Early) Gestation
In this installment, you'll be taking your underserved population through "conception" and the earliest bit of "gestation" (ie, through the book's "Step 4"). You'll also be doing a light version of this for your mainstream population.
Summary: Turn in the following:
- 1, 2: As a team, your hand-in needs to include most of the elements of Figure 4.2, page 22. Use that as your checklist.
1. Conception stuff to turn in for your underserved population (as a team):
- a. “Affinity diagrams” of Fig 4.2: A (potentially unreadable) snapshot of the entire affinity diagram. eg, like Fig 4.7.
- b. A list of the "facets" you settled on in (a) -- in case I can't read them in your snapshot above. There should be about 5 of them, and all should be somehow pertinent to your population's ability to ultimately gain useful benefits from your software prototype. (So, for example, "curly hair" would not be a pertinent facet -- unless the software has something to do with helping with a person's hair.)
- c. sort of like “Data sources” of Fig 4.2: (must be readable): A list (or mark-up of the list you turned in before) of all the data sources you actually drew from somehow in your affinity diagram, and what “label” each data source ended up under. (What are “labels”: they are the "facets", like "Motivations" in Abby, or the pink boxes in Fig 4.8.)
Example: If you drew 7 factoids from paper X, 3 ending up under “interests” and 4 under “motivations”, then
tell me you used paper X and that the labels its stuff ended up under were "interests" & "motivations".
- d. “Persona skeletons” of Fig. 4.2: (must be readable) All of your skeletons. eg, like Fig 4.10 (left). You should have 2-4 skeletons for your underserved population
- e. “Prioritized Persona skeletons” of Fig. 4.2: results of the team’s prioritizing of the skeletons. (Just tell me the priorities that got assigned to the skeletons you turn in above for your population.)
2. Conception stuff to turn in for your mainstreamers (as a team):
- a. In one paragraph, briefly describe assumptions you want to follow for your mainstreamers. Also give a use case in which a mainstreamer would be using your software (hopefully you can copy it in from your Installment #1 document). Warning: Your mainstreamer cannot be "sort of like" your underserved population, even situationally. For example, if your underserved population is illiterate, your mainstreamer must be fully literate in the language the interface uses; if your underserved population has low vision, your mainstreamer must have good vision, be in suitable lighting, etc.
- b. No data sources: instead, just assumptions you want to use about your mainstreamers for each facet you came up with in item 1.
- c. Persona skeletons, as in item 1 above. You need at least 2 skeletons for your mainstream population
- d. “Prioritized Persona skeletons” of Fig. 4.2: As in item 1 above, for your mainstreamers.
Example of what to turn in:
Dementia.
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission
.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
You can find a tentative grading policy for Project Installment 3 here.
Project Installment 4: Rest of gestation, persona foundations, concepts
In this installment, you'll flesh out your skeletons into full-blown personas, including foundations for the underserved population one.
Group: Turn in the following (just 1 copy of this per group):
- 1. Gestation stuff to turn in (as a team):
- (a). Underserved population: Persona, including footnotes etc. to make it a “Persona Foundation document” as well, as per the sequence in Fig 4.2: 1 persona you developed from the selected skeleton.
Can be formatted any reasonable way (eg, like Abby's foundation document or like Appendix B). But everything you assert about your persona must be fully footnoted/commented to substantiate every aspect, to the same degree that the one in Appendix B is. (Fig 4.15 suggests using Word’s “comment” feature, but I prefer footnotes).
- (b). Mainstream population: A persona, formatted as in (a) above, but no foundations.
- 2. Concepts for a few persona facets for your underserved population, with a set of concept sketches clearly labeled by facet and the feature space you're trying to brainstorm about.
The concepts are a way to brainstorm possible design remedies for your underserved population.
Here is an example.
- Format: write the facet down, and show several alternative concepts to show how you could support this facet in some feature you need in the software. A concept is a sketch (pencil is fine). Alternative concepts are alternative ideas for supporting the same facet for some feature of your software. For example, the three figures (line graph, words, and bar graph) show 3 different concepts for ways to show energy usage in ways that will work for some particular visual facet (eg, a facet about color blindness).
- How many facets: 2 to 4.
- How many concepts per facet: 2 to 4.
- Remember that the idea is to not get in the way of the mainstreamers, while still helping the underserved population. ONE UI that works for both populations. Stated another way, this is about inclusive solutions, not solutions that have to be customized for different populations
Some samples of what to turn in:
Writeup of persona with foundations, Concept sketches.
You may choose to turn in a single combined document, or turn in your concept sketches as a separate file(s).
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission
.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
You can find a tentative grading policy for Project Installment 4 here.
Project Installment 5: Concept-driven Very early prototype + Your InclusiveMag derivative
In this installment, you'll turn in the beginnings of a low-fi prototype for developing one (or at most two) selected concepts. You'll also finish specifying your x-Mag method.
Group: Turn in the following (just 1 copy of this per group):
- For each of 2 to 4 facets or attributes (from the previous assignment), select one concept (also from the previous assignment). The selected concept(s) are the starting point for your prototype.
- (a). Which concept(s) did you select and why/what criteria you used. (Just a few sentences is fine.)
- (b). Sketch the beginning of a low-fidelity prototype (ie, sketches of screens) on how you are developing it/them. Your pencil is fine, don't go to computer art yet. See the figure for an example of a screenTransitionDrawing as a prototype. (But yours would be in pencil, not all polished like this one.)
- (c). In previous assignments, you've figured out your scope, diversity dimension, facets, and personas. The only thing missing is the analytic process you'll use to put it all together. To fill in that gap, turn in which of the following (analytic) processes you'll use for your x-Mag derivative of InclusiveMag: a version of the Cognitive Walkthrough (CW; this is the one you've experienced with GenderMag), or a version of Heuristic Evaluation. (Other possibilities exist, but if you want to consider some other analytic method, ask Dr. Burnett first for permission.) Turn in one sentence saying which one you choose, + list the Heuristics and/or CW questions your process requires you to use. (Refer back to the InclusiveMag paper for previous teams' choices. Sample: GenderMag Heuristics, Sample: GenderMag CW subgoal forms, Sample: GenderMag CW action forms.)
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission
.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
You can find a tentative grading policy for part of Project Installment 5 here, but it doesn't include everything yet.
Project Installment 6: Complete prototype (various fidelity levels), plus x-Mag evaluation results
In this installment, you'll complete your prototype, at least to a medium-fidelity stage. A few of your screens will need to be high-fidelity,
Turn in the following (just 1 copy of this per group):
- 1. One to two scenarios/use-cases for your underserved persona and one for your mainstreamer. (If you're lucky, these can be copied from your earlier Project 1.) Details:
- a. Use case for your underserved persona: Turn in a sentence or paragraph. eg, "[your underserved persona] is in a car seat in the back seat while her parents are driving, and thinks the car is too hot, so she turns on the air conditioner and adjusts the temperature to something she likes."
- b. Use case for your mainstreamer: Turn in a sentence or paragraph. eg, "[your mainstream persona] is in the front seat driving, and thinks the car is too cold, perhaps because his daughter in the back seat has just turned on the AC so low that a cold draft is blowing on him. So he [whatever he does with the UI]."
- 2. Your complete prototype for the use case(s) in item 1. Details:
- What is a prototype: These are drawings (like in the ScreenTransitionDiagram figure), not source code. Optionally, the drawings can be "executable" via html links or Powerpoint action buttons or etc., but this is not a programming exercise.
- What format: ScreenTransitionDiagrams (one example is in the ScreenTransitionDiagram figure). These are screens (a new one for every change in screen content or appearance) and arrows connecting the user action to the next screen/update they would see.
- How many screens: As many as it takes to show the use cases start to finish. I'm guessing 6-10 screens per use case. (Of course, if the two use cases result in identical UI actions and screen appearances, then you'd have 6-10 total for that use case.) If your use case produces only 6, add another use case. In total, you should have 15-20 screens.
- What to use as an art tool: Anything you want that can be "demo'd". Possibilities include Mockups tool (see main class web page and Canvas site), Powerpoint, Photoshop, your favorite html editor, CogTool, any UI prototyping tool, etc.
- High-, medium-, low-fidelity:
- The high-fidelity screens are polished, with the sizes, fonts, colors, etc. you really want (like in the ScreenTransitionDiagram figure).
The medium-fidelity ones are not quite as fleshed out (some aspects of a screen polished, some parts still just sketched). The low-fidelity screens are just sketches that have been scanned in, but can be "walked through".
- At least 1 of your screens must be high-fidelity. At least 25% or 2 screens (whichever is larger) must be medium-fidelity; the rest can be low-fidelity.
- 3. An evaluation of one scenario/use-case from item 1, using your xMag method.
- For example, if your xMag method uses a specialized Cognitive Walkthrough, turn in the forms you filled out. If it is a specialized Heuristic Evaluation, turn in the evaluators' notes and the heuristics you used.
- Point out anything on the evaluation that you then fixed in your prototype (and tell us where in what screen we can see your fix.)
- 4. Also turn in your most up-to-date personas (with the foundation embedded in the underserved persona). These will not be graded this time, but we need them to properly grade items 1-3 above.
- 5. Bring printouts of the prototype and personas to class to spread out over the room for our last Design Gallery.
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
Sample turn-ins: here and here
You can find last year's grading policy for Project Installment 6 here. We'll use it as a tentive grading policy for this year.
.
Project Final Installment: Complete Project + Presentation Slides
Summary: Turn in the final versions of everything: personas, prototype, justification, and presentation slides
Group: Turn in the following (just 1 copy of this per group):
- 1. A use case for your underserved persona and one for your mainstreamer. Details:
- a. One-two Use cases for your underserved persona: Turn in a sentence or paragraph. (Same specs as in installment 6).
- b. One Use case for your mainstreamer: Turn in a sentence or para\
graph. (Same specs as in installment 6).
- 2. Your complete prototype, at least half of which is hi-fidelity. Details:
- What is a prototype: (Same specs as in installment 6).
- What format: ScreenTransitionDiagrams (Same specs as in installment 6).
- How many screens: As many as it takes to show the use cases start to finish. (Same specs as in installment 6).
- What to use as an art tool: (Same specs as in installment 6).
- High-fidelity prototype: The high-fidelity screens (at least half of the prototype) are polished, with the sizes, fonts, colors, etc. you really want (like in the ScreenTransitionDiagram figure).
- Medium-fidelity screens: The rest are medium-fidelity. They're completely filled out and laid out, but the fonts, colors, etc., are not specified or not final.
- 3. For the design decisions you made in your prototype, include a justification based on your personas, your x-Mag evaluation, the feedback you have received, and/or principles you've learned in class of each of your design decisions in the prototype. Be detailed about the dataflow of persona-to-decision or of feedback/research--to-decision: (eg, "Our 'Sally' persona facet says she does not like games, so our prototype's 'X' feature is...")
- 4. Also turn in your most up-to-date personas (with the foundation embedded in the underserved persona).
- 5. Turn in your powerpoint file from your 20-minute team presentation (you can update it to improve it until the due date), which emphasizes the above items. Namely:
- (About 5 minutes): Your underserved persona with an emphasis on 'dataflow' (research) on why the facets on your final persona ended up the way they now are
- (About 1 minute): Your mainstreamer persona.
- (About 1 minute): The software problem you're solving, and the use cases for each persona your prototype addresses
- (Most of your presentation): Using the prototype diagrams to structure it, spend most of your time telling us about the design decisions you made, explaining 'dataflow' of why you made each one.
- Tie the decisions to something concrete: your persona facet, or you x-Mag evaluation, or feedback you received, or etc. Be specific about the specific basis (eg what feedback in which Design Gallery, or which feedback on graded homeworks, or which facet) that led to your decisions, and specific about what aspect of your prototype each thing lead to
- Spend most of this time on the underserved population's use-case through the prototype, with just 1-2 minutes on the mainstreamer's
- At the end of the 20 minutes, there will be about 5 minutes available for QA/discussion, while the next team is setting up.
At this point, you'll also turn in individually an estimate of what % of the work everything did from the time of the midterm until now. An online form is available for this.
How to turn it in: TEACH 468 Submission
568 Submission.
When everything is due: See class schedule for the due dates.
Here is the grading policy from last year. You can use it as the tentative grading policy for this year.
Date of last update: Nov. 26, 2019
