Mobile Interaction Design 2

In the first phase many different ideas were generated. In this

second piece of work, you will produce a working prototype,
simulating the user experience on a conventional computer.
The aim is to extend your understanding of what might make
an interface usable or unusable.
This section is due on the 9th of April.

Service
Jo walks up to a poster advertising a gig in Cape Town by a
well-known group. She holds her phone near it and she then is
able to:
1. Book a ticket for the event. The service allows her to
select from three seat areas (costing R100, R250 and
R350, respectively). No billing information is needed as
the cost of the ticket is added to the mobile phone bill.
2. Find out more information. Selecting this option gives
access to a range of content such as tour dates, photos, venue and travel
information. Jo is also able to go straight to the booking
functions (see 1 above) without returning to the initial
www.rfidjournal.com/article
/articleview/1943/1/1/
service screen.
3. Rate the band. Jo can rate (on a scale of 1-5) the group. This rating is
combined with those already submitted to the RFID chip on the poster and
the average rating is computed. When Jo sends her rating to the poster,
the average rating so far is shown on her screen.
The user can do (1) and (2) as many times as they like; (3) is only possible once
per session.

Activities
1. Build a PC-based simulator for the service. In doing so, carefully note the
following:
a. Ensure that the window-size you use is approximately that found on
fully-featured mobile phones.
b. Input should only be via key-strokes. An example simulator can be
found at www.yospace.com.
c. You can write your software in any environment/language you wish,
but you must be able to demonstrate it to me.
d. Your interface design must take account of the design principles we
have discussed in the lectures: also, see Section 2.3.1 in Mobile
Interaction Design. (You should also consider the function,
information and visual access ideas presented in Chapters 8, 9 and
10 of the book).
2. Write a report detailing your design and its rationale (see below).
3. Carry out an heuristic evaluation of someone elses prototype (see pgs207209 of Mobile Interaction Design).

Write-up
You should submit a report on your work by Monday 9th April, 2007. The report
should address the following:
1. The users experience. Present a series of screen-shots to show how a user
might complete the various services provided. Include a brief description
to explain your images.

2. How you have accommodated design principles. Be specific illustrate

your discussion with reference to particular parts of your interface.
3. The value in creating the prototype: what did you learn about usability and
small screen, key-input interfaces? How useful would your prototype be as
a tool for refining the service to develop a commercial implementation?
4. Present the findings of your heuristic evaluation of another persons
system. Include the name/ student number of the other person.