CS 422 – Spring 2006  Final Exam
 
Question:

For your second class project you designed an interface for a 40" diagonal (1024 x 768 pixel) LCD display. For the final we are going to increase the size of the display to a 6' (2 meter) tall by 3' (1 meter) wide freestanding vertical display. We are also going to increase the resolution dramatically to 72 dots per inch (typical for a monitor) so the total resolution of the display is roughly 5200 x 2600. We are also going to add a speaker so the display can give audio feedback to the user.

Basically the display is as big as a person, which will seriously affect how the person interacts with the display. The display still has a touch-screen. The display should have the same functionality as in the second project.

You job is to come up with a new series of sketches for the user interface. It is important that you defend your decisions based on the principles that we have discussed in class. It is also important that your work be well organized.

Your design should take into account the following, and your writeup should address the following:

diversity of users
    •    novice
    •    knowledgeable intermittent
    •    expert frequent users

    •    also keep in mind different sizes of users, and different languages

- - - - -

Eight golden rules of interface design
    •    strive for consistency
    •    cater to universal usability
    •    offer informative feedback
    •    design dialogues to yield closure
    •    offer error prevention and simple error handling
    •    permit easy reversal of actions
    •    make sure users to feel they are in control
    •    reduce short term memory load


CS 422 – Spring 2006  Final Exam (makeup exam)


Question:

In the class project there was brief mention of being able to transfer data from the kiosk via Bluetooth to a user's handheld. For the final you will design the hand-held side of the system.

The handheld starts out with data for whole city at some low resolution, e.g.
    - maps showing main streets in the city
    - main attractions (soldier field, art institute, etc)
    - cta routes and timetables
The handheld can hold data for certain parts of the city at high resolution
    - this data gets swapped in and out depending on available memory
The data currently in the handheld may be out of date

A person with one of these handhelds can go to the local area kiosk (from the project)  and download current updated data
    - more detailed local maps
    - current events in the city and the neighbourhood
    - updated restaurants and their updated menus
    - what’s playing at the current theatres etc
    - current cta info (latest schedules, alerts for the whole system)

What does the user interface for the data from the second class project look like on the handheld? You job is to come up with a new series of sketches. It is important that you defend your decisions based on the principles that we have discussed in class. It is also important that your work be well organized.

handheld hardware
    - 640 x 480 full colour screen (assume you have the entire screen)
    - 4” diagonal screen
    - touch screen with stylus (pen based rather than finger based)
    - 4-way directional joystick
    - assume it has a pretty fast processor and whatever OS you prefer
    - assume the handheld is usually not connected to a network
        so you don’t have to deal with emergencies or calling cabs

Your design should take into account the following, and your writeup should address the following:

diversity of users
    •    novice
    •    knowledgeable intermittent
    •    expert frequent users

    •    also keep in mind different sizes of users, and different languages

Eight golden rules of interface design
    •    strive for consistency
    •    cater to universal usability
    •    offer informative feedback
    •    design dialogues to yield closure
    •    offer error prevention and simple error handling
    •    permit easy reversal of actions
    •    make sure users to feel they are in control
    •    reduce short term memory load