Conducting a Usability Evaluation and Cross-Platform Design

ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION
Conducting a Usability Evaluation and Cross-Platform Design
Assignment Overview
Now that you have completed your first user experience design prototype, it is time to think about ways to
evaluate designs to ensure that your application will appeal to users and help you achieve the intended
goal. In this assignment, you will evaluate the prototype of one of your classmates, and do some thinking
about what it would take to convert your food ordering system from a Web-based platform to a mobile
platform.
Assignment Preparation
You will need to access the link to a classmate’s online food ordering system prototype, as found in the
second discussion in Unit 4, before you begin Part B: Conduct an Expert Review of a Prototype. You may
choose the prototype you would like to review. Important: If you have not already uploaded your
prototype to the discussion area, do so right away.
Usability evaluation is about testing your user interface designs with a representative group of users.
Ideally, you need to learn if users can complete their tasks successfully using the interface, how long it takes
for them to complete the tasks, how satisfied they are with the application, whether modifications to the
design are needed to improve user performance and satisfaction, and to see if the application meets
usability objectives. Review the readings and resources related to usability test plan, as well as the
accessibility standards from Unit 4, and you will be ready to complete the assignment.
Assignment Instructions
Part A: Create a One-Page Test Plan
Create a usability test plan that would—if you performed it—predict the quality of your users’ experience
with this online food ordering system. In Travis’s 2013 article, “1-Page Usability Test Plan,” the author
describes an agile, one-page test plan that can help you think through the process of testing your food
ordering user experience design.
Think carefully through the areas described in the plan and develop a summary of a test plan that will work
for the food ordering system. Use Microsoft Word to write your summary.
Part B: Conduct an Expert Review of a Prototype
Conduct an expert review of a classmate’s prototype, demonstrating your understanding of best practices
for layout and style. The expert review is one of the many methods of usability evaluation that you explored
in your studies. You will also demonstrate your knowledge of how human factors should shape interface
design. In this part of your assignment, conduct a usability test in the form of an expert review of the user
interface design prototype created by one of your classmates, as described in Nielsen’s 1995 article, “10
Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.” Note: You are not completing the full test plan you
developed in Part A. This is a different process.
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Select a classmate’s prototype from among those posted in the second discussion in Unit 4. This is your
own choice.
Review Nielsen’s article and concisely explain how well your classmate’s prototype meets each of these
heuristics. Please address each of the 10 heuristics individually; if any of them do not apply, indicate this in
your assignment.
After you have completed the review for your classmate’s prototype, please send the evaluation to your
classmate by an e-mail. Most likely, you will also receive an evaluation. The usability evaluation you receive
will give you an idea of how a potential user views your user interface design. You will, of course, still
receive feedback from your instructor when you submit this prototype as part of your assignment.
Part C: Exploring Strategies for Mobile Design
With this final section of the assignment, you will return your focus to your own prototype.
Describe best design methods for converting your Web-based application into a mobile application.
Some UX design experts advocate for a mobile first design strategy that is easier to modify for Webbased applications, and new tools make it possible to design for multiple devices at the same time.
When you designed your food ordering system application, you focused on a Web-based
application. Now you need to consider what it would take to convert your Web-based food ordering
system to a mobile platform.
What are some of the challenges you face in converting a Web-based application to a mobile
application in terms of user experience design?
How is the user experience likely to be impacted if the food ordering system is delivered on a
mobile platform?
Describe how human factors should be considered when converting a Web-based application into a
mobile application. In your analysis, address at least five of the human factors you explore in this
course, as well as accessibility considerations.
Assume you have converted your food ordering system to a mobile platform, and the restaurant
owner has decided to open an identical restaurant in rural Russia. Describe additional changes you
would make to your user interface design to address the needs of a new persona that is part of
Russian culture, and to provide an engaging user experience.
Refer to the Conducting a Usability Evaluation and Cross-Platform Design Scoring Guide to ensure that you
meet the grading criteria for this assignment.
When complete, compile all three parts (usability test plan, expert review, and cross-platform mobile
design strategies) in a single Microsoft Word document and submit it as an attachment in the assignment
area.
Submission Requirements
Your assignment should meet the following requirements:
Written communication: Communicate effectively. While content is the most important aspect of
your assignment submission, organization, readability, grammar, and spelling are also important.
APA format: Resources and citations must follow current APA guidelines.
Document type: Submit the assignment as a Microsoft Word document.
Resources
Conducting a Usability Evaluation and Cross-Platform Design Scoring Guide.
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APA Style and Format.
The 1-Page Usability Test Plan.
10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.
Conducting Expert Reviews: What Works Best?.