Assignment 3.4: Scenarios and Storyboards

Due: Tuesday, November 5, 3:00pm

This assignment is a component of Milestone 3. Be sure you have reviewed that larger context for this assignment.

The goal of this assignment is to choose a design direction to pursue in the remainder of this course. You will select a design direction, choose two focus tasks as your emphasis, and sketch task walkthroughs showing how your focus tasks are accomplished with your selected design.

First present your current design problem. Your design problem may be the same as in Assignment 3.2, but if your understanding or focus has changed, be sure to reflect that here.

Then present the three distinct designs you have proposed. These may be the same as in Assignment 3.2, but also may have evolved to have each have a more distinct direction or focus.

Select a design to pursue in the remainder of this course. This might be a design you presented in Assignment 3.2, or it might be a new design you have developed after consideration of potential design directions. Sketch key aspects of the design needed to illustrate its approach to your tasks.

Select two focus tasks to pursue in the remainder of this course. These might be tasks you presented in Assignment 3.2, or they might be new tasks you have developed after consideration of potential design directions.

Prepare one paragraph describing your rationale for the selected design. For example, address what makes your selected design more compelling to pursue than your other designs. For each focus task, prepare another paragraph describing your rationale for the selected task. For example, address what makes your selected tasks more compelling to pursue than your other tasks or discuss why your two focus tasks will work well together in defining and exploring your design. In your rationale, draw upon data from your design research and feedback from critiques. Convey a strong understanding of which design you chose, which focus tasks you chose, and why you chose them.

For each focus task, create a storyboard conveying context and detail around interaction with your design. A storyboard should include one or more characters and settings, should establish motivation and satisfaction, and should provide insight into the design and the task. Storyboards should not include unnecessary details or frames. As needed, ensure clarity of your story through captions, other brief descriptions, selective use of color, or other techniques.

For each focus task, also develop a step-by-step task walkthrough. This should focus on the design itself, sketching each significant step in accomplishing the task. This will typically be a sequence of images, with each image annotated to indicate how a person moves forward in the walkthrough. Your focus task provides the context for sketching this additional level of detail in your design, and your task walkthroughs should aim to be sufficient as the starting point for developing a paper prototype.

We recommend you work on paper, then capture high-quality images (e.g., avoid shadows). You may alternatively use an informal drawing tool, but be sure you do not adopt a tool that will start to embed unnecessary assumptions or decisions in your design process.

Submission

Due: Tuesday, November 5, 3:00pm

Within the Drive folder for course project files:

Identify the Slides deck corresponding to this assignment for your group. The deck provides a template for this assignment. Edit the deck in-place, so that you can easily share it in critique.
Prepare a Slides deck with the following structure:

Design & Task Selection
- 1 slide: Current design problem.
- 3 slides: Proposed designs.
- 1 slide: Selected design title and brief description of its key idea or approach.
- 1 slide: Sketches illustrating the overall design approach.
- 1 slide: Rationale for selected design.
- 1 slide: Selected focus tasks and rationale for selected focus tasks.
For each focus task (2 total):
- 1 slide: Focus task title and storyboard.
- Multiple slides: Sketches of a step-by-step task walkthrough with the selected design.

Reminders and requirements:

Submission via Canvas is also required, in support of grading.
- Remove instruction slides and template markings from your deck before submission.
- Export a PDF of your deck, via the menu: File -> Download -> PDF Document (.pdf).
This is a group submission. Ensure your section and names of all group participants are appropriately clear.
Review and follow guidance on Clarity and 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 Drive folder for course project files is here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Sm12CpuMNsKBqk6E_Ri875hfFs0A-IRS?usp=drive_link

Submit via Canvas here:

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1746586/assignments/9776564

In Class

Be prepared use your focus task walkthroughs to begin developing a paper prototype of your design.

Completion Grading

This assignment will be graded on completion of the following components:

Current Design Problem

This may be taken directly from your Assignment 3.2, or it may be updated if your framing of the design problem has evolved in defining tasks and exploring designs.
3 Proposed Designs

Each Design should consist of:
- Title and brief description of its key idea or approach.
- Sketches illustrating the overall design approach.
Selected Design Title & Summary

This might be a design you presented in Assignment 3.2, or it might be a new design you have developed after consideration of potential design directions.
Selected Design Overview

Sketch key aspects of the design illustrating the overall design approach.
Selected Design Rationale

Prepare one paragraph describing your rationale for the selected design.
Focus Tasks & Rationale

Select two focus tasks to pursue in the remainder of this course. These might be tasks you presented in Assignment 3.2, or they might be new tasks you have developed after consideration of potential design directions.

Prepare a paragraph for each focus task describing your rationale for the selected task. For example, address what makes your selected tasks more compelling to pursue than your other tasks.
Focus Task Storyboards

For each focus task, create a storyboard conveying context and detail around interaction with your design.

A storyboard should include one or more characters and settings, should establish motivation and satisfaction, and should provide insight into the design and the task.

Storyboards should not include unnecessary details or frames. As needed, ensure clarity of your story through captions, other brief descriptions, selective use of color, or other techniques.
Focus Task Walkthroughs

For each focus task, develop a step-by-step task walkthrough. This should focus on the design itself, sketching each significant step in accomplishing the task.

Task walkthroughs should aim to be sufficient as the starting point for developing a paper prototype.
Clarity and Presentation

Prior Samples

Samples are from prior offerings that had different requirements. Samples are also intended only to illustrate a variety of approaches, and were not selected to be ideal or exemplary. These may help to see how prior students approached elements of a project, but be sure to understand and consider requirements and feedback in your own work.

Prior offerings have not included focus task walkthroughs at this point in the project sequence. Prior groups often used their paper prototypes to prepare such task walkthroughs in their final presentations. We are having you sketch task walkthroughs earlier in your process, so your task walkthroughs can both convey more of your design in Milestone 3 and help inform your development of a paper prototype in Milestone 4.