Paper prototyping
- Synonyms and see also - cognitive walkthrough; heuristic evaluation; prototype; usability testing
Paper prototyping is a variation of usability testing where representative users perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface that is manipulated by a person "playing computer" - who doesn't explain how the interface is intended to work.
Paper prototypes are "disposable", quickly generated versions of designs. They are also called mock-ups. They are - indeed - most often created on paper, but there is nothing in principle to stop them being electronic. Some paper prototypes are hand-drawn, while others use printed-out screen shots.
Paper prototypes or other mock-ups are used clarify requirements and enable draft interaction designs and screen designs to be very rapidly simulated and tested. They're used to clarify requirements and enable draft interaction designs and screen designs to be very rapidly simulated and tested.
Paper prototyping can be used for virtually any type of human-computer interface - software, website, hand-held device, or even hardware. Its purpose is to get quick feedback from users while the design is still (literally) "on the drawing board."
Personas
- Synonyms and see also - user archetypes; user profiles; target customer characterisations
Personas are fictional "stand-ins" for actual users that serve to drive the interactive decision making for interface design projects. Personas are not real people - they are archetypal, theoretical constructs - but they should always be considered so during a design process.
Personas come in two flavours:
- Primary persona - this is the archetype, the single most important person, for whom a site should be designed. The primary persona should always "emerge" from the set of secondary personas; it should not be created from scratch.
- Secondary personas - typically between three and seven of these are generated from the ethnographic research first, before the primary persona.
Personas - along with process flows, use cases and scenarios and specifications of content types - should serve to guide the interactive and graphic design of web pages.
Practice Power Law
A mathematically-expressed statement that describes the increase in human performance on tasks over time.
The Practise Power Law states that people improve (their performance over time on a given task) at a decaying exponential rate. The Law can be written:
Tn = T1 n-a
Where
a = 0.4
Tn - the time taken to perform a given task after n trials
T1 - the time taken to perform a given task after the first trial
n - the number of trials
Process flows
Process flows - also called user flows and process charts - are easy-to-understand diagrams showing how steps in a process fit together.
Process flows - which occasionally look a bit like storyboards, other times like mini-wireframes all hooked up together - typically include three main types of symbol:
- Ellipses - which signify the start or end of a process
- Rectangles - which show instructions or actions
- Diamonds - which show the decisions that must be made
Symbols are connected one to the other by arrows, showing the flow of the process. Process flows are particularly useful if one needs to explain the core interactions to someone new or not deeply involved with the project. A process flow can be informed by prior requirements capture work, particularly task analysis, use cases & scenarios, personas, taxonomy work, and so on.
A process flow diagram can be used to:
- Define and analyze processes
- Build a step-by-step picture of the process for analysis, discussion, or communication
- Define, standardize or find areas for improvement in a process
This makes them useful tools for communicating how processes work, and for clearly documenting how a particular job is done. Furthermore, the act of mapping a process out in process flow format helps you clarify your understanding of the process, and helps you think about where the process can be improved.
Production methodology
- Synonyms and see also - methodology; protocols; agile; agile usability engineering
A production methodology is intended as a set of procedures for creating (digital) communication projects, which focus on core inter-related tasks of Discovery, Definition, Origination and Implementation. It also includes a rationale: namely, that best-practise sequencing of enumerated necessary tasks is a good way to ensure quality; that iteration is central to user-centred design; and that agile is better than waterfall when considering website development. And it is underpinned by philosophical assumptions about user behaviour and the importance of user-centred design principles.
Agile versus waterfall
The "traditional" way of running projects incorporates a waterfall methodology, in which - as the visual allusion indicates - a project is broken up into (typically quite large) phases of flat activity, that must be completed and closed off completely before the project can move on (go over a fall) into the next phase of activity. In the last decade, this waterfall methodology has been challenged by the concept of an agile methodology. Agile methodologies are inherently user-centred and iterative.
Prototype
A prototype is...
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