Milestone 4 Report

This assignment is a component of Milestone 4. Be sure you have reviewed that larger context for this assignment.

The goal of this report is to communicate your paper prototype and its iterative revision.

You are free to directly reuse content produced for earlier assignments in this milestone. However, you should revise content as needed to ensure your milestone report reflects your current work. Similarly, we expect that feedback received throughout this milestone will have been addressed or implemented in this report.

Milestone 4 has focused on development of a paper prototype, using multiple methods to evaluate the paper prototype, and iteratively the paper prototype through insights gained in evaluation. In this milestone report, aim to communicate the insights and decisions that informed your design.

This report should have three sections:

1. Initial Paper Prototype

   Present your initial paper prototype, including an overview image of the paper prototype and detailed images showing each step in a walkthrough of your two focus tasks. These may be taken directly from Assignment 4.1, but ensure each walkthrough clearly communicates how the tasks were envisioned in the original paper prototype.

   Reflect on the process of designing your paper prototype. Starting from the storyboards and sketches you developed in Milestone 3, identify two design decisions that you made in the transition from sketch to prototype. These might be localized decisions (e.g., details of a specific portion of the design that you needed to resolve in prototyping) or they might be cross-cutting decisions (e.g., decisions that spanned across and impacted many aspects of your prototype). Describe each decision and the rationale for making that implementation decision.

2. Evaluation Insights and Process

   Reflect on the combination of methods you used to evaluate and inform the iterative design of your paper prototype.

   Reflect on insights developed through heuristic evaluation. Describe two key insights corresponding to your largest or most difficult issues identified in your design through heuristic evaluation. A key insight might correspond to a specific part of your design (e.g., a part of your design that required revision based on insights raised by one or more heuristics). Alternatively, a key insight might be cross-cutting (e.g., an insight raised by one or more heuristics which informed a need for revision across multiple aspects of your design). In describing key insights, be sure to include associated heuristics.

   Reflect on insights developed through usability testing. Describe two key insights corresponding to your largest or most difficult issues identified in your design through usability testing. A key insight might correspond to a specific part of your design (e.g., a part of your design that required revision based on insights raised in usability testing). Alternatively, a key insight might be cross-cutting (e.g., an insight raised by usability testing which informed a need for revision across multiple aspects of your design, a high-level insight raised by participants which shaped your understanding of your design).

   Finally, reflect on differences between insights surfaced in heuristic evaluation versus usability testing. In one or two paragraphs, described differences in findings across methods. For example:

   • What portions of your design received more feedback and revision with one method versus another?
   • What types of insights were surfaced with one method but not with another?
   • Did different methods surface different insights about the same portions of your design?
   • Are there insights from usability testing that you now think could have been surfaced in heuristic evaluation? What were such insights, and what heuristics might be raised them?
   • Are there insights from usability testing that you think could have only been surfaced through usability testing? What were such insights, and why would they be difficult to raise using heuristic evaluation?

3. Prototype Revisions

   Identify three high-level themes that characterize major issues in your design and revisions in your paper prototype. A theme might be defined by a single major insight that required revision, or a theme might be defined by multiple smaller revisions that contributed to an overall change in the approach or usability of your design.

   For each theme:

   • Summarize the specific evidence from your heuristic evaluations and usability tests that informed your understanding of this issue and the need for revision.
   • Document the revisions made in addressing this issue. Including images showing relevant portions of the prototype before and after revisions to address this issue.

   Themes described here likely draw upon and may even directly overlap insights identified above (e.g., if your identified insights strongly correspond to major revisions in your paper prototype). However, be sure to focus on themes in how such insights motivated and contributed to revision (e.g., a theme in revisions might span across multiple insights)..

4. Final Paper Prototype

   Present your final paper prototype, including an overview image of the paper prototype and detailed images showing each step in a walkthrough of your two focus tasks. These may be taken directly from Assignment 4.3, but ensure each walkthrough clearly communicates how the tasks were envisioned in the final paper prototype.

Submission

Due: Wednesday, November 27, 8:00pm

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:

  Initial Paper Prototype

  • 1 slide: Overview image of paper prototype.
  • For each focus task (2 total):
    • 1 slide: Focus task title.
    • Multiple slides: Step-by-step task walkthrough with the paper prototype.
  • 1 slide: Prototyping reflection

  Evaluation Insights and Process

  • 1 slide: Heuristic evaluation insights.
  • 1 slide: Usability testing insights.
  • 1 slide: Evaluation process reflection.

  Prototype Revisions

  • For each of 3 themes in revision:
    • 1 slide: Summary of evidence informing need for revision.
    • 1 or 2 slides: Related revisions.

  Final Paper Prototype

  • 1 slide: Overview image of paper prototype.
  • For each focus task (2 total):
    • 1 slide: Focus task title.
    • Multiple slides: Step-by-step task walkthrough with the paper prototype.

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.

• All group members must submit an individual Contribution Statement for this Milestone.

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:

Grading

This milestone report will be graded on a scale of 36 points:

1. Initial Prototype: (4 points)

   Present your initial paper prototype, including an overview image of the paper prototype and detailed images showing each step in a walkthrough of your two focus tasks.

2. Reflection on Initial Prototype: (2 points)

   Identify and reflect on two design decisions that you made in the transition from sketch to prototype.

3. Insights from Inspection-Based Methods: (3 points)

   Describe two key insights corresponding to your largest or most difficult issues identified in your design through heuristic evaluation.

4. Insights from Usability Testing: (3 points)

   Describe two key insights corresponding to your largest or most difficult issues identified in your design through usability testing.

5. Method Comparison Reflection: (2 points)

   Reflect on differences between insights surfaced in heuristic evaluation versus usability testing.

6. Prototype Revisions: (3 x 4 points)

   Identify three high-level themes that characterize major issues and revisions in your paper prototype.

   For each theme:

   • Summarize the specific evidence that informed your understanding of this issue.
   • Document the revisions made in addressing this issue. Include images showing relevant portions of the prototype before and after revisions to address this issue.

7. Final Prototype: (8 points)

   Present your final paper prototype, including an overview image of the paper prototype and detailed images showing each step in a walkthrough of your two focus tasks.

8. Clarity and Presentation: (2 points)