Homework 1

Human-Computer Interface Critique


810:171

Software Systems


Goals

  1. To integrate the ideas about interfaces that you have read about and worked with in class.

  2. To understand these ideas better through having applied them to a real software system.

Tasks

Work in the pairs assigned below. Complete the following tasks as a team.

  1. Select some software package of which both of you are competent users. That might be a word processor, a web browser, an image processing package, or anything of reasonable complexity.

  2. Analyze this program's user interface. Base your analysis on material that we are covering in Designing the User Interface. Be sure to address issue raised in the following sections, but do not think that you must limit your analysis to these issues.

  3. Prepare a paper that presents your analysis in a professional manner, both in style and substance.

Submission

Submit at or before 9:30 AM on Tuesday, January 30 three stapled copies of your paper. One copy must list your names as the authors, and the other two copies must be anonymous. I prefer that you deliver them to me in person at class time, but you may submit them early at the department office in 219 Wright.


Team Assignments

Each pair of partners is on a line:

Mike Janssen [JANSSEM8312@uni.edu]       Scott Drilling [DRILLIS5204@uni.edu]
Chris Turner [TURNERJ4957@uni.edu]       James Brito [BRITOJ2136@uni.edu]
Daniel Woldekirkos [WOLDEKD9356@uni.edu] Joshua Summers [SUMMERJ5397@uni.edu]
Nathan Klostermann [KLOSTEN2962@uni.edu] Kwong Choo [CHOOK1635@uni.edu]
Drew Jones [JONESA8597@uni.edu]          Lisa Swanson [SWANSOL6476@uni.edu]
Adam Petrie [PETRIEA0099@uni.edu]        Derek Lawless [LAWLESD1386@uni.edu]
Troy Pfiffner [PFIFFNT5079@uni.edu]      Chris Johnson [JOHNSOC8535@uni.edu]
J.J. Haag [HAAGJ2799@uni.edu]            Eric Potratz [POTRATE6152@uni.edu]
Jennifer Hebl [HEBLJ3755@uni.edu]        Curtis Driscoll [DRISCOC3075@uni.edu]
Edward Fordjour [FORDJOE4299@uni.edu]    Joe Bain [BAINJ5436@uni.edu]
Abigail Peterson [PETERSA2125@uni.edu]   Mark Mcconnell [MCCONNM1201@uni.edu]
Nicholas Kledis [KLEDISN9325@uni.edu]    Jennifer Sampson [SAMPSOJ0055@uni.edu]
John Huss [HUSSJ2604@uni.edu]            David Schmudde [SCHMUDD7272@uni.edu]
Shivangi Kothari [KOTHARS9043@uni.edu]   Travis Davis [DAVIST0021@uni.edu]
Chad Mormann [MORMANC7474@uni.edu]       Derek Weatherman [WEATHED2602@uni.edu]

If your partner refuses to work with you or poses some other major problem to the completion of your project, let me know as soon as possible by e-mail. The general policy for this assignment is: You must work with your assigned partners; papers from individuals will not accepted. Only exceptions approved by me well in advance will result in relaxing the policy.


Eugene Wallingford ==== wallingf@cs.uni.edu ==== January 18, 2001