epfl - pxs, week 5/6 - from requirements to design

EPFL, spring 2011 – week 5!from requirements to design

requirements definition ➝ creating problem and vision statements ➝ brainstorming ➝  identifying persona expectations

➝ attitudes, aspirations, social, cultural, environmental factors ➝ general expectations and desires ➝ behaviour desired from the product ➝ how does the persona think about basic elements of data"

(e.g. email: message and people)

➝ constructing context scenarios ➝  identifying requirements"

object, action, context"data and functional requirements"business, brand, experience, technical, customer and partner (3rd party)

exercise ➝  for your design idea define requirements"

object, action, context

➝  5min alone ➝  5min in pairs with feedback

defining the interaction framework how is the product structured and how does it behave to meet user goals

➝  define form factor, posture and input methods ➝  define data and functional elements ➝  determine functional groups and hierarchy ➝  sketch the interaction framework ➝  construct key path scenario ➝  check designs with validation scenarios

step 1: !factor, posture and input methods ➝  form factor"

smart phone, PC, kiosk system ➝  posture"

how much attention will user devote to interacting with product – how does the product behave in response (should be based on usage contexts and environments)

➝  input"more on that in mobile i/o lecture, touch screen, numerical keypad, voice etc.

step 1:!exercise ➝  define form factor, posture and input methods for your design idea

➝  5min alone ➝  5min in pairs

step 2:!functional and data elements ➝  data elements

➝  e.g. pictures e-mails, SMS etc. and their important attributes clear from scenario

➝  their relationships (grouped, sub-structure) ➝  functional elements (operations on them)"

e.g. for Vivien scenario (see moodle) needs to reach contacts by"voice activation, assignable quick-dial buttons, select contact from list, select contact from header of email, memo, appointment, auto-assignment of a call button in proper context (upcoming appointment)

➝  check with context scenario what solution would: ➝  accomplish user goals most efficiently, ➝  best fit design principles, ➝  fit technology and cost parameters, ➝  other requirements?

➝  pretend the product is human ➝  apply principles and patterns

step 2:!exercise ➝  define data and functional elements for your design idea - at least

three tasks should be supported

➝  5min alone ➝  5min discuss in pairs

step 3: !functional groups and hierarchies ➝  what needs a lot of screen estate? ➝  which elements contain others? ➝  how to arrange containers to optimize flow? ➝  which elements are used together, which aren’t? ➝  in what sequence will they be used? ➝  what interaction principles and patterns apply? ➝  how does the personas’ mental model affect organization?

step 4:!sketch the interaction framework ➝  time for rectangles – on whiteboards (plus camera) ➝  one or two people together – one thinks in terms of the narrative of

the design ➝  boxes represent functional group and/or container ➝  what is the central screen – how can you get there from within and

without?

steps for interaction design

➝  design the UI structure of the application ➝  document it as a navigation map of the application’s views

Navigation map of an imaginary Contacts application.

Task flow should utilize the views/services of other applications, when available. Design it accordingly.

Note: Ideally this is already a part of the application’s UI concept.

exercise

➝  sketch with a pen and paper the following interaction as a navigation tree: carry out the task that resembles most your design idea on your mobile phone (enter an event into the calendar, receive SMS)

➝  what kind of alternative interactions (e.g. short-cuts) are provided? ➝  compare the interaction of your device to your colleague’s devices

•  5-10min (alone) •  5-10min (all/discussion)

wireframe examples ➝  hand drawn sketches

➝  Quick and fast reviews ➝  Encourage experimentation and honest critique

➝  annotated wireframes ➝  describe the functional elements ➝  elements are explained ➝  annotations enables the wireframe to be

understood

➝  high fidelity wireframes ➝  includes images, colors, fonts well thought

value at later stages

Use both illustrations and texts to communicate the interaction design.

General description

ID

Purpose

Access from

Contents

Menu

Functionality

Exceptions

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wireframe examples

➝  a wireframe “map” showing an overview of all the screens and the interactions between them

Descriptions of interaction between the screens

Sketches of the screens

Wireframes wireframe examples

step 5:!key path scenarios ➝  depict primary pathways (that persona takes with greatest frequency,

often) ➝  focus on task level ➝  must describe in detail each major interaction with the system ➝  storyboarding + key path scenario narrative – e.g. in powerpoint, pdf

to feel the flow

step 6:!check designs with validation scenarios

➝  key path variants"less travelled, common exceptions, secondary persona needs

➝  necessary use scenarios"necessary but infrequent

➝  edge cases"atypical cases that must be handled

writing the design documents

➝  agree about the tools ➝  “Standard” MS Office

products: Visio, Word, PowerPoint

➝  other professional tools ➝  shareware tools

➝  agree about the level of design details and used file formats

➝ concepts (ppt) ➝  light UI (Visio) ➝ complete UI specification

(Word with Visio images)

visual design framework ➝  in our case: stick to the visual style and language on the target device ➝  colour coding ➝  legibility ➝  branding ➝  look and feel ➝  apply to screen archetype

refine design

design validation and usability testing

some mobile UI guidelines Guidelines! Links !

Forum Nokia (Nokia Series 40, Nokia Series 60 )

http://www.forum.nokia.com/Tools_Docs_and_Code/Documentation/Usability/UI_Style_and_Visual_Guidelines.xhtml

UIQ (Sony Ericsson, Motorola) http://developer.uiq.com/

Windows Mobile http://developer.windowsmobile.com/

Android http://developer.android.com/index.html

iPhone http://developer.apple.com/iphone/

dotMobi Mobile Web Developers Guide

http://mobiforge.com/designing/blog/web-developers-guide-released

UI design patterns

➝  example sources of general UI design patterns ➝  http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html ‘Research Based

Guidelines’ ➝  http://www.welie.com ‘Patterns in Interaction Design’ ➝  http://designinginterfaces.com/ ‘Patterns by Jenifer Tidwell’ ➝  http://ui-patterns.com ‘Patterns by Anders Toxboe’ ➝  http://patterntap.com ‘Pattern Tap’

➝  http://quince.infragistics.com/ ‘UX Patterns Explorer’ ➝  http://www.androidpatterns.com/