Review of Thursday S Programmers Meeting

Monday, March 29, 2004

2 documents will accompany prototype: a User’s Reference Manual and a Design Document (explaining how and why it was designed as it was – includes all phases of the design beginning with Needs Assessment). Pay attention to when changes are made in the prototype that the manual and design document are updated to match.

Review of Thursday’s programmers meeting –

2 things going on: (1) conveying design specs to programmer; and (2) a lot of project management decisions had to be made. Because of the scope of the task, Kevin decided to simplify the initial things and then add on later. JOIN does owner add new participant. So now it isn’t part of the create feature and later she may be able to add it later when it is seen as a repetition. Kevin has figured the bare minimum and that will be what the programmer will focus on. She will be asked to work from May to Dec during the transition period from prototype to implementation – this depends on funding from WIN-WIN. Hence, she should be comfortable with essential functions and add email in JOIN and discussion board. Three functions are a minimum: Profile, Group, and Log-in; add resources and access resources are part of the minimum. We do not need the secret question word if the person forgets his/her password. The system will automatically send the userid the password.

RAPID PROTOTYPING

Using wire-frames and Ruijuan’s programming inform the solution in rapid prototyping. This will be discussed in depth tomorrow. Ability to create groups and have local work spaces is what makes this system unique. We will be able to discuss the individual features in the WIN-WIN meeting even though some will not be working in the prototype. The discussion board will really be an add-in after May due to time and the mail server because it would have to be moved. There isn’t a problem with the programmer being able to do it; there simply is no reason to build it to function now and then have to reprogram when the new server is purchased for the final implementation. Tuesday Kevin will discuss their vision and pyramid schema in an independent meeting. Today we will finish the Add and Access Resources wire frames, as well as Search and Communicate functions with email, chat, and attach a document. Thursday we will do a teaming activity.

Wednesday we will meet with WIN-WIN. 3 agenda items:

• Wire frames
• Visual Design Suggestions
• Facilitator Role

We will present wire-frames and features. We need feedback from the client on the wire frames. Ask why questions of the client to get their feedback/suggestions on visual design. Ask what they envision or how they see it – not what they want. Do they see the CoP as consistent with the visual design of the WIN-WIN website? Get info from them on search – what do they think it is? The facilitator role in the CoP list should be given to the client – this will remind them that this is an essential role, i.e., clear old announcements, approve categories and new topics. They need to understand that all features may not be fully functional in May.

Monday – Team Meeting

George put the following topic on the table: The stuff of working together requires a lot of concentration – tuning out requires remediating the person who “checked out”. This is unproductive. On the other hand, if everyone was vocalizing their ideas it would make things go smoother. Getting the stuff straight is easier when everyone stays tuned in. Linzee says sometimes in a tug of war it seems to be personal. Jann: doing more than one thing means you miss things and then it has to be repeated and regurgitated which imposes delays on the group. Maybe laptops closed should be implemented except for the note taker. George: we should monitor this issue. Fawzia: we don’t need the laptops; let’s put them away. Kenyon: doesn’t believe it would necessarily keep people engaged. Jann: discourse means you are trying to get agreement. Colin: in collaboration situations, the facilitator should say put it away. Kenyon & Linzee: I blog my thoughts often once a week. Jann: maybe allowing time in the schedule for blogging is a good idea. More engagement by the entire team is needed. Linzee: we need to be spending more time during the day on our individual tasks like papers, subgroups. We should divide our time. Linzee & Colin: let’s set up the design document and start documenting the phases. Jann: laptops okay on subgroup work but not on group work. George & Colin: take notes on their laptops. George: we have aired the issue and if it arises again we will implement swift action.

Document Ownership:

Design Document: Linzee Liabraten

Will provide a framework so the load can be divided on Wed.

Facilitator Roles Document: Kenyon Walker

User Manual: Jann Rustin & George Motz

Wire Frame: Search Existing Resources

Question – we believe we can leave the interaction tools on the interaction space when the search function is invoked because only participants with a login will get access to this function.

Wire Frame: Access Resource

This function is to access existing resources on the system – no ability to add a resource; that’s a different function. Browse the path will populate the available resources in that specific interaction space. Select the one you want and click submit. Change verbiage from browse to find so you don’t confuse the user.

There is concern about interaction space search versus system wide search. It doesn’t seem useful in the interaction space.

Wire Frame: Add Resource

Change text to say: find the document to upload

Wire Frame: Communication

Discussion Template: compose message

Chat Template

Email Template

Attach resource

March 30, 2004

Portfolios should reflect: white paper, prototype, design document, & user manual

Rapid Prototyping – review by Kevin

Dorsey, LT, Goodrum, DA, Schwen, TM (????) Rapid Collaborative Prototyping as an Instructional Development Paradigm

Nixon, EK, Lee, D. (2001) Rapid Prototyping in the Instructional Design Process. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 14(3) pp. 95-116.

Fuccella, J. & Pizzolato, J. (????)Divided Approach to web site design

Be prepared to justify your design and be prepared to change it. The difficulty from a design standpoint when you have done the research etc., you have to be flexible to change it when there is a good reason.

Traditional design shops offer more time to develop prototypes than we have for this project. Our audience analysis upfront and client meetings are helping to accelerate this for our prototype. Linzee: Contrast to traditional ISD was informative in Nixon article. Steps in one stage are outputs to new stage. Colin: In rapid prototyping you don’t get to go through all the changes. Kevin: a next week requirement for a prototype will be used to guide the process. It’s almost like a straw. You want people to give feedback so you can go back and revise – multiple iterations. When you are really close, the company will bring in programmers, etc. this is also why ppt and paper are used in rapid prototypes. Fawzia: Team building – personal and whole team commitment to meaning.

Dorsey et al.: Paradigm shift to just a few models instead of all the models available. Kevin: ADDIE is often referred to as the traditional ISD model. You don’t need to know the 60-80 models out there. You may, however, have to adapt the model depending on your situation.

Divided Approach to web site design: Linzee this really would have helped before doing my graphic designs in former positions. You get married to visual design instead of the content model – wire frame stages. Jann: it will help talk to the client. Kevin: it is helpful for putting models to wire frames. We struggle w/reification because the tendency is to jump ahead to wire frames and avoid doing the content model-navigation map-templates-wire frames. You should learn how to glean what you need from readings because everything is not directly useful to every project. You will use parts and pieces of models and theories to inform your design.

Prototyping models your final product that allows you to test attributes. First construct a model of the final product – use paper, html, powerpoint, dreamweaver, etc. High fidelity prototype looks like final product. Low fidelity doesn’t – it acts like the final product. It is used to involve others in participatory design. High fidelity gets client distracted by the way it looks. A hi-fi system means it is as close to real as possible. You want to use a hi-fi prototype when look and feel is really important to your organization, i.e. when branding is important. So it is dictated by the client. You may start lo-fi but leave lots of time for hi-fi prototyping. Reusable prototyping – you’re creating parts and pieces to resuse. Modular prototyping – you build it by adding new parts.

Horizontal prototype covers the breadth of features and functions. You wouldn’t be looking at the lower levels (drill downs). Vertical prototype covers narrow slices of features and functions – so you can show how you go from one level to the next; follow a user all the way through the system. We are doing mostly vertical and reusable prototyping in a low fidelity prototype. You cannot go backwards from hi-fi to lo-fi, Kevin advises you always start with low fidelity.

Abstract Prototyping by Constantine and Lockwood article – low-tech and low-fidelity prototypes are cheap to produce. In larger organizations the division of labor is stronger and you are competing for programmer time. Low-fi helps because you don’t need the programmer to create it.

Visual Design

Van Duyne, DK., Landay, JA., Hong, JI (2003) The design of sites: Patterns, principles, and processes for crafting a customer-centered web experience.

Fawzia: concentrate on “customer” instead of “user” Jann: focus on how the customer uses the site. From the customer perspective, if it’s a difficult navigation, you lose sales. Fawzia: if it’s too hard, they won’t return. Kevin: users has computer or druggie connotation. Customer evokes issues of trustworthiness, brand value, ease of use. Today people are looking for a positive experience. Key issues: performance, content, brand value, and ease of use. Download time is also a major consideration. Company-centered, technology-centered design, User-centered design, and Design-centered design is contrasted with “Customer-centered design, which emphasizes customers and their tasks above all, and sees technology as a tool that can empower people” (p.12). In our project, usage-centered design is closely related to customer-centered design; it adds the marketing component, however, in this book.

CH2- Making the Most of Web Design Patterns. Jann: patterns people recognize. Shading of buttons to help people see things in 3-d for example. Representations of artifacts can make your site successful. Using patterns that are familiar to people – you don’t want them thinking about what

Ch3 – know your customer as people so that you design for it, i.e., color deficiency users. How are your customers the same, how are they different. Use that info when you design. You have to know what the customer is trying to do and the possible options of how to do it. Task analysis – task and how it can be accomplished is important. Build scenarios, sketch storyboards, observe customers, interview. Post-it w/paper is used for Affinity Diagram. The affinity diagram is a “visual explanation of the customer’s problems and need, all in one place. Affinity diagrams can eventually become the basis for your initial information architecture, and they are good starting points for scenarios and storyboards” (p. 52).

Reliable data: results that would be found consistently if you ran the survey over and over with the same type of audience under the same conditions. Also make sure you have enough participants, and get a high enough response rate so that you achieve statistical validity – results that are highly likely to be right.

Customer-centered Design Focuses on

People – Tasks – Technology – Social Issues

CLIENT STATUS REPORT DISCUSSION for tomorrow’s meeting

• Wire frames
• Visual Design Suggestions
• Facilitator Role

Discussion of Facilitator’s role – Kenyon went over an 8 point list. We discussed what would be specified in some of those bulleted items. Noanie gave Kenyon the CoP paper section of

March 31, 2004

CH4-Fawzia: Customer-centered design - it’s an iterative design process; customer-centered to meet customer’s goals what do they want; usability timing – how long, were they successful, what were the problems Kevin: was the user 3 clicks from accomplishing task or was it 5 clicks Sometimes observations have to be done to identify problems. Colin- storyboards match the wire frames, except we don’t have the text at the bottom Kevin: we will have place holder content when Ruijuan sets up the coding. Our system is more vertical prototyping. Colin: instead of just doing analysis you are redesigning; Customer is involved in all stages. Kenyon: does WIN-WIN know how they want to measure success. Kevin: our usability testing will be on low-fidelity prototype; adding a skin and functionality to all tools would be hi-fi and we don’t have time to do that. Hence, our testing will be on the lo-fi prototype.

Ch5: iterative development process: discovery, exploration, refinement, production, implementation, launch, maintenance. First 3 are Design, next 2 are Implementation, and last is Evaluation when looking at ADDIE. Pattern Groups: see pg. 25 of textbook. Jann: keep client in the loop. High level questions – how do you envision CoP being used.

Kevin: branding for CoP is missing. Metaphors and tag lines need to be brainstormed. Colin: testing was really emphasized and hard to get to. Jann: since Microsoft shoved sw out the door until the market would no longer tolerate it without testing. Kevin: By way of example: WordPerfect was best, they kept testing and didn’t release it until they felt it was perfect. So if the user started w/ Word even though it was junk in version 1, they didn’t want to change. MS grabbed the market. Colin: errors cost 10-100 times to fix. Kevin: make sure content is right, but some errors you can let go when you are trying to get sw to market.

Pyramid Model discussed with W-W. It was agreed that it is one implementation or way of doing something. They wanted to get components identified for measuring. Result was that a white paper should focus on the pyramid model. George: If you had 2 pyramid models interacting w/one another could it constitute a CoP?

Kevin: Yes. Kenyon/Fawzia’s white paper will totally change and push the due date out. W-W needs a document that grounds the model in theory and practice. Based on best practices they may have various white papers that talk about different implementation models, such as Lori’s pyramid. Forest Park is an example of the Service Learning Implementation Model. Later, for example, an implementation model would contextualize a high school community of practice.

CoPs, After-school & CTCs will be primers. George and Colin will help in identifying the bridge between school and community. In the pyramid, it’s about the school but there is an aspect of it that looks at community.

Review of slides for Client Meeting: Make sure wire frame for View Profile has Groups Joined: (….populated by system). Take Edit Profile change to (populated by system). Show select participants to the side of Create Group template. Create/edit/view profile page needs a participant list. View Profile doesn’t have the text labels – it is actually populated with the data.

Discussion – Suggestions -visual design - branding- facilitator role

Client Meeting

Wire frames are structural representations of screens. We will focus on 3 wire frames. Based on meeting w/programmers we differentiate this CoP with the following tasks:

• Create/edit/join groups
• Add resources
• Log-in / profile
• Localized chat

Process has moved from role models and essential use cases in our last meeting to content models, flowcharts, templates and wireframes. Wireframes represent the functionality and represent task and tools. They are abstractions not focused on visual Look and Feel of the page. Vertical Prototyping method employed to cover a narrow slice of features and functions that work on the abovementioned tasks.

Log-in: user id is person’s email address (add: user id is your email /com to the wire frame)

Forgot password will cause the password to be sent to the email address by the system.

Guest user id and password is automatically assigned

Eileen: Is there an email feature in system – Kevin: Yes

Welcome Page: Categories-Topics-Groups

Interaction space is only at group level

Kevin: 3 levels to the solution system. It will grow horizontally not just vertically. 3 levels allow for the tree to expand quickly but keep it organized.