AC7: Generating Designs
The purpose of this activity is to practice designing UIs by sketching.
Your goal is to design an interface for controlling the
LCD projectors in a classroom like this one. Here's some relevant information
from analysis.
Hardware
The room you're designing for has:
- Two LCD projectors, both projecting against the front wall;
- One cable for a laptop;
- One desktop PC permanently installed in the room;
- Ten numbered whiteboards around the walls, each with its
own camera focused on it.
Users
- Lecturers are generally faculty members,
aged 30-70. All have laptops. Some prepare
lectures using PowerPoint; others
prefer handwritten notes that they transcribe
to blackboards or whiteboards. They don't
have time to take a training class about A/V
equipment.
Tasks
- Give lecture, which includes as subtasks:
- Show slides.
- Write on board, which may include
as a subtask:
- Hide slides to avoid distraction.
- Show other material such as
videos, web sites, or demos.
- Do small-group activity. Activities
happen at the whiteboards around the room.
This task includes as subtasks:
- Explain the activity, which
may involve showing a slide, writing on the
board, or showing a web page.
- Discuss a group's results by
showing its whiteboard so that the whole
class can see it easily.
Design Sketches
Design the interface that controls what the
two LCD projectors display. (Assume that your interface
will run on the built-in PC, so you have a keyboard, mouse,
and high-resolution display.)
Sketch at least three different designs.
To help broaden your thinking, consider alternatives like this:
- a direct manipulation design
- a menu-and-forms design, using standard widgets
- a wizard
...but you aren't limited to these.
Discussion
After drawing your sketches, discuss their pros
and cons. Think about:
- How simple are your designs? Can you reduce them
further, or force elements to do double-duty?
- How well do your designs support the tasks?
- Which aspects of usability matter for these users and these tasks?
How do your designs fare on those aspects?
- What if MIT decided to staff the classroom
with an full-time A/V operator?
- How flexible are your designs for unexpected
or new tasks?