Investigation 9: Interactive Prototype Demo

Due: Monday, November 9 or Wednesday November 11, in class
Preparation: You should have analyzed and prioritized your findings from the low-fidelity test.
Submitting your work: You will give a presentation in class and submit slides through your shared folder on Google Drive, described below. I will provide my feedback in a separate document on Google Drive. I will record your grade on CLEo.
Collaboration: You should complete this investigation with your assigned team.

Grading: This assignment will be graded out of 50 points. Criteria are provided below.

Overview

In this investigation, you will build a high-fidelity, interactive prototype of your revised design using HTML/CSS, InVision, or another computer-based tool.

Interface Redesign

Use the results of your lo-fi prototype tests to revise your user interface design. Develop new and/or revised scenarios for your tasks by storyboarding your ideas. The tasks for your lo-fi prootypes should be a good starting place. Update or replace simple or partial tasks that did not adequately cover your proposed functionality. Also incorporate feedback from users. If you are making significant changes, meet with me to present your new tasks, design ideas, and storyboards.

Prototyping

Your prototype should be computer-based and interactive, but will not be a fully functional application. Depending on your skills and interests, you may implement your prototype using HTML/CSS, InVision, or another computer-based tool. I have an educational license for InVision that you can use; I will provide the license key through a CLEo announcment.

As with the lo-fi prototype, you should implement just enough functionality so that a user can evaluation your application. Your prototype will be a mock-up in that it will not work for all tasks or all data. You will probably need to hardcode some data and some paths through the interface. Enough parts should work so that you can test the usability of your design for your three target tasks.

Your prototype should reflect the look and feel of your application: visual design and interaction design. Consider the target display size and other conventions for mobile or Web applications.

You have a short period of time to complete this prototype, so you should focus on showing only what is essential. For example, you may wish to skip splash screens that appear only briefly or configuration screens that are rarely used in favor of features that are more central to the user experience. You will likely have to make some difficult choices!

Presentation

Rather than a written report, for this investigation you will present your work in class.

On either Monday or Wednesday, your team will present your project to the class, including a live demo of your prototype. Presentations will be short and sweet - 20 minutes per team (plus 5 additional minutes for questions and critique). Presentation dates will be assigned by the instructor. All members of your team should speak during the presentation. Each team's project will then be discussed/critiqued for an additional 5 minutes.

You will also submit your slides through Google Drive, whether as a PowerPoint file, a PDF, or as a Google Slides presentation.

Please follow this outline:

Introduction: Introduce yourselves and your project.
Tasks: Present the three target tasks for your design. If these tasks changed as a result of your lo-fi prototype test, briefly explain how and why you changed them.
Demo: Demonstrate the three tasks in your interactive prototype.
Iteration and rationale: Discuss design changes you made based on the lo-fi test and the reasons for those changes. You may want to show before-and-after images of the lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes.
Reflection on prototyping: How did your focus change from the lo-fi prototype to the interactive prototype? What was added and why? What was left out and why? How did your prototyping technology influence the choices you made?
Acknowledgements: Who contributed what to this investigation?
Discussion and critique (after your 20 minute presentation).

Advice:

Use slides effectively. Try to replace text with images wherever possible. Make sure text is not too small.
Cover the required scope within the 20 minutes allotted. Practice and time your presentation.
Ensure presenters make eye contact with the audience and speak loudly enough to be heard.
One of the most common mistakes in tech presentations is trying to demo while speaking. One person in ten can do this effectively. Most lose the audience (or their own train of thought). Have one person demonstrate the prototype while the other speaks. Practice coordination.

Assessment

Tasks (5 points): Are there three target tasks?; Do the tasks form a compelling story for the project?; Are the tasks too easy, too hard, or just right?; Is it clear how (or if) the tasks were updated based on the lo-fi prototype?
Prototype implementation and demo (20 points): Does your prototype implement all three target tasks?; Does your prototype reflect appropriate visual design for a mobile or Web application?

Iteration and rationale (5 points): Is it clear what changes you made based on the lo-fi test? Is it clear why you made those changes?
Reflection on prototyiping (5 points): Have you reflected thoughtfully on how the change from lo-fi to hi-fi prototyping affected your design?
Presentation organization (5 points): Have you (approximately) followed the recommended outline, including the introduction and acknowledgments?
Presentation execution (5 points): Do all team members contribute to the presentation?; Is your presentation, including the demo, easy to understand and follow? Is it evident that you have practiced (or not)?; Do you complete your presentation in about 20 minutes?
Discussion and critique (5 points): Do you respond thoughtfully to comments and suggestions from the audience?; Do all team members participate in the discussion?

Presentation Dates and Order

Monday, November 9: Petfolio; Connect; Walla Walla Citizen-Gov Communication App
Wednesday, November 11: Gondrew News; Outdoor Activity Finder

Janet Davis (davisj@whitman.edu)

Created November 2, 2015
Last revised November 2, 2015

Acknowledgments: All parts previously adapted by Björn Hartmann and Maneesh Agrawala at UC Berkeley and by Jim Boerkel at Harvey Mudd College.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.