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Project 2: Interfacing Project
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Team Size: 1
Duration: semester

Your instructor recognizes that students in this class come from a wide variety of interests and backgrounds. With that in mind, she will try to accommodate diverse interests and projects. Your project should make use of the concepts of the class. Pick something which will allow you to deal with human-computer interface considerations. The instructor strongly encourages a project in which you will develop an interface and have hands-on experience in coping with screen design. The instructor hopes that such a project will enhance your technical skills, as well as your understanding of class concepts. Use of Web creation software or Visual BASIC are development tools which might be especially appropriate for your project. If you would like to develop a Web page for a professor or a department in the School of Business, the instructor will be happy to connect you with the appropriate people.

The instructor will also consider projects that do not involve screen development. In-depth term papers on modern interfaces may be appropriate for such projects. Please discuss this with the instructor if you are thinking about such a project.

Screen Design

Ideally, any interface you create should have an interaction or transaction with a user. In other words, the interface should take input from the user and output some new form of information, such as another screen or a message. In addition, the interface should take account of user errors and have some error messages. Since time is limited, your interface may not have all outputs or error messages possible, but you should have sufficient (2-3? each) so that your instructor can evaluate your design.

Also as part of your design, you should state the objectives for your system (due Jan 27 and resubmitted at the end of the project). These are objectives that the system is to accomplish, not the objectives for what you are going to do. A scope statement, also due Jan 27, will describe what you think you will accomplish. However, be aware that the instructor will not hold you precisely to the scope as you describe it on Jan 27; generally this statement is to ensure that you do not try to do too much in the time allotted.

The final project should include a disk with your screens in an executable format and a short paper describing your objectives, scope, description of the target user (novice or experienced, frequent or intermittent, etc.) and performance requirements, system design showing major screens and error handling (perhaps using a state transition diagram), performance aids (such as tutorials, checklists, templates, manuals), whether your objectives appear to be accomplished or partially accomplished by what you've done so far, strengths of your system, weaknesses in your system or enhancements yet to be made, and a user evaluation form filled out and signed by an outside evaluator. See the evaluation forms at the back of the book (pp.485-493). A verbal report will also be due the last night of class. You should allow about 15 minutes to describe your project to the other students. You may want to show your screens and discuss pretty much the same thing as described in the previous paragraph.

Paper

The objectives and scope statement due Jan 27 should include your topic and what aspects you intend to research. You should also write a statement on the need for such a study - in other words, why is your paper important?

The final report to the class should summarize your paper and offer insights not previously covered in class. It is anticipated that at least 5 sources would be used, many of which would be articles published in the last 2-3 years. The paper would likely be 15 to 20 pages (12 point, double-spaced, 1-inch margins).

S. Harrington

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Last Updated: 12 March 2000