·         The design, development, and deployment of a product are the first steps toward a finished product ready for distribution in the marketplace. The next step is the evaluation of the user experience in order to gather data on the usability of the product. Testing centers (also called living labs) have been provided with built-in cameras and sensors to record user experiences of the invited volunteer and paid testers.

A newer evaluation method or data-gathering method uses the Internet. There are Websites that will pay testers or give testers free products to test a Website in order to discover design flaws and assess usability of a Website. The following Website pays Internet users to become testers: UserTesting.com (http://www.usertesting.com/be-a-user-tester/).

Write a four to five (3-4) page paper in which you:

1.    Assess the reliability of data gathered via paid Internet users.

2.    Describe and assess the evaluation method being used by the testing company, i.e., nonvisual and verbal recording of browser activities and tester’s vocal comments.

3.    Evaluate the natural settings of the test environment for Web users. Note: Test environments are usually labs designed to conduct testing. Natural settings refer to the user’s normal operating environment.

4.    Speculate about the validity of the data gathered from various users, each with their specific demographics.

5.    Imagine you want to evaluate the Capital College Website (www.capitalcollege.edu ) using a usability test like UserTesting.com. Include a usability evaluation that you would apply to the Capital College Website.

6.    Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

·         Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

·         Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

·         Create a simple usability evaluation for an existing software application or product.

·         Describe common usability guidelines and standards.

·         Define the different types of interaction styles.

·         Use technology and information resources to research issues in human-computer interaction.

·         Write clearly and concisely about human-computer interaction topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

IN2007 Human Computer Interaction 2015/16 – Coursework 2
Submission deadline: 13 December 2015, 5pm, via Moodle
You are now asked by the client (the Muggle Quidditch UK league) to evaluate the design you created in
coursework 1. For this coursework, you will need to plan and conduct an evaluation with at least 5 users in
order to discover usability problems with your design. You will record the screen and audio of each
evaluation session. You will need to describe in detail how you carried out the evaluation in a report. You will
present the findings of your evaluation, including an assessment of the severity of the problems you found
and recommendations on how to improve your design.
Your coursework submission must consist of the following two items:
• A client-facing report, which should include:
o A detailed description of the user test (3 pages max). This should describe in detail how you set
up and conducted the evaluation (e.g. who your participants were and how you recruited them,
the tasks they were given, the session set-up, etc.). Please provide references to any additional
items you have used or created during the evaluation in the report; these additional items need
to be included in the appendix.
o A summary of the main findings of the evaluation, including an assessment of the severity of the
problems found and recommendations for improving your design aimed at addressing the
problems you found. (2 pages max)
o The appendix to your report must include any items you created or used during the evaluation
(no page limit) e.g. recruitment notices, screener, consent forms, log sheets, feedback
questionnaires, etc. You do not need to include the whole of your prototype but you should
provide an example e.g. the Home page. You must also include signed consent forms for all
your participants in the appendix.
• A “highlights video” showing snippets from your video/audio recordings that give concrete examples of
the most severe usability problems which you have documented in the report (one file, 2.5 minutes max,
2GB max file size).
Please keep all recordings of the user testing sessions safe, as they might be required as evidence that you
carried out the evaluation. You must include signed informed consent forms for all participants and a
highlights video in your submission. If you do not and it looks like you invented data, your coursework will
receive 0 marks and you will be referred to the academic misconduct panel.
You are encouraged to produce a prototype which is suitable for evaluation based on the wireframes in
coursework 1, however you do not need to correct any mistakes in the design. For this coursework, you will
be marked on the quality of your evaluation instead of the quality of your design. You will not receive any
marks for the quality of your prototype, only for how you evaluated it. If you did not submit coursework 1,
please speak to the module leader as soon as possible.
Although the two courseworks are inter-related (you will be evaluating the system you designed in the
previous coursework), they will be marked independently. It is possible for students to get low marks in the
previous coursework, but bring their overall coursework marks up by conducting a thorough and competent
evaluation of their design. Every design can be improved through careful evaluation, so you will not lose
marks if your evaluation highlights important usability problems to address.
Marking Scheme
• Quality of evaluation: appropriateness of evaluation process; detail of description, including how
evaluation was set up and what items were produced, how data was gathered and how this was
analysed. (50 marks)
• Quality of findings: depth of description and explanation of usability problems found, assessment of
severity, recommendations for improvements to design. (30 marks)
• Quality of highlights video: demonstration of usability problems encountered. (15 marks)
• Quality of your report: neatness, structure, coherent expression, spelling and grammar. (5 marks)
Practicalities
• Your main report and appendix must be submitted in one file via the Moodle Turnitin submission area.
No zipped files are allowed, please use Word or PDF. Please note that there is a 20MB file limit and it is
your responsibility to figure out how to fit into the file size limit. Please also note that you should leave
good time for uploading the files before the submission deadline. Late coursework will not be marked.
• The highlights video must be submitted in one file via a separate submission area in one file. There is a
2GB file limit. Please stick to common video formats such as MP4, mov, wmv or avi.
• You can improve your wireframes from the previous coursework if you want to and are encouraged to
turn your wireframes into a prototype to use in your evaluation. You will not receive any marks for your
prototype though – only for your report of how you evaluated it.
• This assignment counts for 50% of the overall module marks.
Academic misconduct
This is an individual assessment. Plagiarism of any kind (e.g. from books, journals, the web or other
students) will be referred for academic misconduct. You will also be referred for academic misconduct if you
invent user data or fail to get user consent.

IN2007 Human Computer Interaction 2015/16 – Coursework 2
Submission deadline: 13 December 2015, 5pm, via Moodle
You are now asked by the client (the Muggle Quidditch UK league) to evaluate the design you created in
coursework 1. For this coursework, you will need to plan and conduct an evaluation with at least 5 users in
order to discover usability problems with your design. You will record the screen and audio of each
evaluation session. You will need to describe in detail how you carried out the evaluation in a report. You will
present the findings of your evaluation, including an assessment of the severity of the problems you found
and recommendations on how to improve your design.
Your coursework submission must consist of the following two items:
• A client-facing report, which should include:
o A detailed description of the user test (3 pages max). This should describe in detail how you set
up and conducted the evaluation (e.g. who your participants were and how you recruited them,
the tasks they were given, the session set-up, etc.). Please provide references to any additional
items you have used or created during the evaluation in the report; these additional items need
to be included in the appendix.
o A summary of the main findings of the evaluation, including an assessment of the severity of the
problems found and recommendations for improving your design aimed at addressing the
problems you found. (2 pages max)
o The appendix to your report must include any items you created or used during the evaluation
(no page limit) e.g. recruitment notices, screener, consent forms, log sheets, feedback
questionnaires, etc. You do not need to include the whole of your prototype but you should
provide an example e.g. the Home page. You must also include signed consent forms for all
your participants in the appendix.
• A “highlights video” showing snippets from your video/audio recordings that give concrete examples of
the most severe usability problems which you have documented in the report (one file, 2.5 minutes max,
2GB max file size).
Please keep all recordings of the user testing sessions safe, as they might be required as evidence that you
carried out the evaluation. You must include signed informed consent forms for all participants and a
highlights video in your submission. If you do not and it looks like you invented data, your coursework will
receive 0 marks and you will be referred to the academic misconduct panel.
You are encouraged to produce a prototype which is suitable for evaluation based on the wireframes in
coursework 1, however you do not need to correct any mistakes in the design. For this coursework, you will
be marked on the quality of your evaluation instead of the quality of your design. You will not receive any
marks for the quality of your prototype, only for how you evaluated it. If you did not submit coursework 1,
please speak to the module leader as soon as possible.
Although the two courseworks are inter-related (you will be evaluating the system you designed in the
previous coursework), they will be marked independently. It is possible for students to get low marks in the
previous coursework, but bring their overall coursework marks up by conducting a thorough and competent
evaluation of their design. Every design can be improved through careful evaluation, so you will not lose
marks if your evaluation highlights important usability problems to address.
Marking Scheme
• Quality of evaluation: appropriateness of evaluation process; detail of description, including how
evaluation was set up and what items were produced, how data was gathered and how this was
analysed. (50 marks)
• Quality of findings: depth of description and explanation of usability problems found, assessment of
severity, recommendations for improvements to design. (30 marks)
• Quality of highlights video: demonstration of usability problems encountered. (15 marks)
• Quality of your report: neatness, structure, coherent expression, spelling and grammar. (5 marks)
Practicalities
• Your main report and appendix must be submitted in one file via the Moodle Turnitin submission area.
No zipped files are allowed, please use Word or PDF. Please note that there is a 20MB file limit and it is
your responsibility to figure out how to fit into the file size limit. Please also note that you should leave
good time for uploading the files before the submission deadline. Late coursework will not be marked.
• The highlights video must be submitted in one file via a separate submission area in one file. There is a
2GB file limit. Please stick to common video formats such as MP4, mov, wmv or avi.
• You can improve your wireframes from the previous coursework if you want to and are encouraged to
turn your wireframes into a prototype to use in your evaluation. You will not receive any marks for your
prototype though – only for your report of how you evaluated it.
• This assignment counts for 50% of the overall module marks.
Academic misconduct
This is an individual assessment. Plagiarism of any kind (e.g. from books, journals, the web or other
students) will be referred for academic misconduct. You will also be referred for academic misconduct if you
invent user data or fail to get user consent.