Design Process and Human-Computer Interaction - Case Study Example

? Case Study, Computer sciences and Information technology Case Study, Computer sciences and Information technology A good design requires good and accurate thinking in order to create a good system. Creating designs involve making decisive choices that are user oriented. Software engineering or development is a creative field that may require the use of prototypes to inform the designer during the design process. Prototypes help inform the design process and enables designers see mistakes before the final project is delivered to the client. Interactive systems design is essential in creating software interfaces. The aim is to illustrate how the prototypes can help designers generate and demonstrate what they intend to deliver. Designers can get feedback from clients and users of the software before completing the development process. The prototypes enable developers choose among the best alternatives in order create the best solution (Langer, 2008). This is usually accompanied with reason in the documentation of why the designer chose the alternative. A prototype is just a representation or a model of an interactive system. The software may not be presented in its full detail, but the interface must be fully presented. The interface may only handle a small code or algorithm in the system, but it is essential in interactive systems. Prototypes usually require several design phases that would take the user through scale of the interactive system. It is essential for software prototypes to develop into final software products because it carries the user’s expectation. When a user is pleased with a representation of the software prototype, it is logical to deliver to the expectation of the user. The process of creativity in software design is intuitive and oriented on new discoveries. Generating new ideas is more essential than evaluating existing ideas to ensure that everything is in order. Creating an interface is a process that involves the inclusion of Human-Computer Interaction. Human Computer Interaction is a multidisciplinary subject that combines scientific elements with design (Dix, 2004). Interface design is a creative process but requires software engineering skills to evolve into operational software. Scientific methods are also used to study the effectiveness of the interfaces and software. Different design processes requires different prototype applications prototypes are either part of the design or just design objects. Prototypes that are viewed as design objects have benefits that include support of creativity and helping developer to generate ideas. The prototypes can also help a designer explore the design working space and discover some issues about the user. The prototype also encourages communication between the user and developer during the design process. This is likely to reduce the amount of errors that are usually generated during the development process. There are four dimensions that can be used to define prototypes and their application. The first dimension is the representation technique, which describes the form of prototype used. They include computer simulations and paper sketches. The next dimension is the precision that involves a level of detail where the prototype is evaluated. The evaluation criteria used is whether the prototype is highly polished or rough. The interactivity dimension describes the extent in which the user can interact with the prototype. This is best achieved when the prototype is fully interactive (Pilone & Miles, 2008). The evolution is the final dimension, which describes the expected life cycle of the prototype. Some of the expected lifecycles include iterative and throw away life cycles. This project design requires the use of representational prototype because it involves the use of computer simulations. This is because the project takes the form of a computer program. A number of sketches on paper are considered a prototype, but a computer simulation is the most appropriate prototype in this case. An online prototype is applicable in this instance because it is expected to run on a computer (Sarmento, 2005). Such prototypes include animations, interactive video presentations, and computer programs written in scripting language. This project prototype would be an application developed with interface builders. Online prototypes are considered to be more expensive than offline prototypes that are usually sketches done on paper. Online prototypes require programming skills to develop and to implement due to interactivity and visualization techniques. It is essential to build the interface prototype as a fast development initiative. This is achieved in the early stages of software development and design. Some programmers also believe that they do not have to develop interfaces but to go straight to the code. This system’s prototyping is an iterative process as it is essential in providing information about unique aspects in the project. The purpose of this prototype is to illustrate the user’s expectations in order to develop it into software. This is beneficial to the developer in order to get the user’s response on the project design. There are a number of activities involved in the development of this system. A proper management plan is required in every development stage of the design of this system. The following are the stages involved in the design process of the system: Selecting significant software packages that would be part of the system. The next activity involves designing the components of the system, which includes the database structures, procedures, inputs and outputs, system interfaces, technical environment and the entire system architecture. The step that follows involves the development of system procedures for the purpose of converting it from existing systems to new systems. A walkthrough of the design is required to ensure that the design is technically complete. The next step involves beginning the development approaches including user support and system maintenance. This process is followed by the implementation process. It is essential to ensure that every point of the design is well managed so as to avoid conflicts and errors. Activities of the design phase do not involve much iteration because the system is not large. It is necessary to produce a prototype before embarking on developing the complete system. It is essential to have proper timing in order to carryout a walkthrough, which is determined by the use of design methodologies. The database of this system is meant to play an integral part in ensuring the functionality of the system. The database design is part of the system design and is essential in every development step. The management of the design process is meant to have the following processes: The design stage summary indicates all the user requirements. Design stage objectives are meant to create a way forward through requirement specification (Seffah ET al.2005). Design activities involve activities including prototyping that leads to the design stage roles and responsibilities. Other design activities that follow include; system design, developing the design decision paper, physical database design, data dictionary development and project management. The implementation and testing stages are the final management activities in the design of this system. These design stages are essential in developing a complete system that meets user requirements. References Dix, A. J. (2004). Human-computer interaction. Harlow [u.a.: Pearson Prentice-Hall. Langer, A. M. (2008). Analysis and design of information systems. London: Springer. Pilone, D., & Miles, R. (2008). Head first software development. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. Sarmento, A. (2005). Issues of human computer interaction: Industry and applications. Hershey, PA: IRM Press. Seffah, A., Gulliksen, J., & Desmarais, M. C. (2005). Human-centered software engineering: Integrating usability in the software development lifecycle. Dordrecht: Springer. The Designs Receptionist Interface Customer Check in interface Read More