Week 9 To-Dos

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Week 9 Objectives:


(1) lectures
(2) reading
(3) create high-fidelity prototype
(4) buddy team feedback on high-fidelity prototype
(5) interview 1 user to evaluate hi-fi prototype
(6) challenge report #4
(7) reflect on survey results and draft action plan

Week 9 To-Dos

1. Lectures
Watch the week 9 lecture videos.

2. Reading
Choose 1-2 of the videos or articles from the reading list this week. Enter your reading reflection (250 word max) into the week 9 entry of the design notebook. Put your full name in bracket after the reading reflection paragraph. More details are available under Deliverable 1.c.

3. Create High-Fidelity Prototype
This week, further develop your app on Figma into a fully interactive high-fidelity prototype, including all the screens as well as all the user interactions, as specified in the user flow for each feature. You need a functioning prototype that users can interact with in preparation for the mock evaluation with buddy team next week. Include screenshots of your high-fidelity prototype in the design notebook.

4. Buddy Team Feedback on High-Fidelity Prototype
You and your buddy team should share your Figma prototypes with each other. Take a look at your buddy's team interactive prototype (i.e., you should be able to interact with the prototype by clicking on various interface components), and provide your buddy team with 5 recommendations to improve upon the design, functionality and usability of their app. The receiving team should describe which recommendation they find useful and might incorporate. Details are available under Deliverable 2.b. The writeup should go into the week 9 entry of the design notebook.

5. Interview 1 users to evaluate hi-fi prototype
As a team, find a user---someone you know from outside of this class, or another student in CS449/649 who is not in your team and not in your buddy team---to interview. The interviews, from this point on, focus on hi-fi prototype evaluation. For this week, share your Figma prototype. Your prototype should be interactive (i.e., the user should be able to interact with the prototype by clicking on various interface components). During the interview, ask the users for some general feedback on the design, functionality and usability of your app. Now is the chance to spot any confusion that users might have, and correct for them in your design revisions. Note that for prototype evaluation interviews, with the user's permission, you can opt to take audio and screen recording (i.e., the camera needs to be on the screen, not anywhere else) of the user interacting with the prototype; these recordings should not contain any identifying information (e.g., names, faces). You can transcribe audio recordings, if you wish. Notes, images, screen recordings and audio recordings/transcriptions collected (again, without identifying information) should be kept for a minimum of 1 year on a password-protected computer, data server and/or cloud service. Add a section to the design notebook to capture a summary of your findings.

Make sure you obtain their verbal consent responses, and store these responses in a spreadsheet in a password-protected computer, data server or cloud service; the TAs and instructors might ask to see this spreadsheet at a later time. Keep your raw interview data private and viewable to your team only; DO NOT put the raw data (notes and images) in the design notebook. In the design notebook, you just have to summarize your findings from the interviews. Make sure that the data is anonymized and stored in a password-protected computer, data server or cloud service. In the raw data or any report summarizing the data, interviewees should be referred to by their code names (e.g., P1, P16) instead of their real names.

An important note: your interviewees must be adult (age 19+). Our ethics protocol does NOT allow you to interview children. Note that the definition of minor varies by province. To be safe, interview someone who is 19+. You should also stay away from interviewing students/employees in K-12 schools and hospital staff (e.g., doctor, nurses), because doing so would involve the school board's and the hospital's ethics board. If you were to interview an employee of a company/organization about work-related things, you will also need permission from their manager before conducting the interviews with the employees.

6. Challenge Report #4.
Complete challenge report #4 in the design notebook. This challenge report focuses on your assumptions about the design choices you made in the high-fidelity prototype, why you assume these design chhoices are appropriate for your application, and what you learned through user interviews and/or buddy team feedback that challenge these assumptions. Make sure you gather the necessary information from user interviews and/or buddy team feedback in order to answer the questions in the challenge report.

7. Reflect on Survey Results and Draft Action Plan
Early next week, the aggregated team health survey results will be distributed to your team's private Slack channel. As a team, discuss the team health survey results. What is your team doing well vs can improve on? How can your team and your buddy team communicate better and streamline the way you work together? Discuss these questions with your team and buddy team, and draft an action plan in the design notebook to describe the concrete steps your team will take to improve the work processes within your team and with your buddy team.

Due Friday (July 9)
● Design Notebook Entry (1.c, 3.b, 3.d) - the entry should capture your attendance to team meeting, your individual reflection, the documentation of your design activities (high-fidelity prototype), and buddy team feedback.
● User Interviews (3.a): Prototype Evaluation - complete the writeup by adding a section to your design notebook entry.
● Challenge Report #4 (3.c) - complete the writeup in the design notebook.
● Team Monitoring (1.b) - reflect on survey results and draft action plan