MIS3506 – Project 2 Overview
This is a team project consisting of three students. You will self-select into your own teams. If you need help with this, please reach out to me and I will assist. Please note that there is an individual component to this team project. Your teammates will evaluate each of your contributions to the overall project and the instructor has the discretion to modify your grade if appropriate.
In this project you will learn how to create a compelling user experience on a website using the Figma application. The final deliverable for this project is a prototype of a website which will demonstrate your knowledge of user experience design.
Your team will come up with your own opportunity. Small-sized businesses are usually good sources for problems that fit the scope of the class. The site goals should include a call to action such as but not limited to revenue generation, signing up subscribers, advertisements, and getting donations/volunteers.
The project includes an overall deliverable and version specific deliverables – alpha, beta, & final.
The first deliverable is a project proposal. Upload the project proposal to Canvas by Friday, 10/25/24 at 11:59. The proposal should include the following:
- Team Members
- Name of proposed organization
- Industry in which the organization will operate & the type of business / focus of the organization.
- Initial needs and goals.
- Your relationship and/or experience with this organization. (i.e. why you selected this as your project)
- Your business opportunity statement
Project Deliverables:
The alpha and beta versions are graded on a modified pass/fail basis. The main reason is that unless you achieve significant success with the alpha and beta, it will be very difficult for you to do well in the final version. The only possible grades for alpha and beta are A, B, or F. If you receive an F, it is unlikely that you will get a passing grade in the final version. The final version will receive a numerical grade.
Deliverables:
The overall deliverables (version specific deliverables listed further below) for this project are:
- An experience that demonstrates UX design expertise and meets the needs of the client.
- Knowledge of Figma and overall UX concept understanding
- Final Presentation as detailed below
Alpha Submission & Deliverable: 4 to 7 Slide PowerPoint deck that includes:
- The results of your requirement gathering phase
- The home page with some basic content.
- A three screen prototype – Figma, Miro or Canva is acceptable for this
- A proposed menu structure
Beta submission
The beta submission should include a status update on all of the above activities and the following specific items.
- A complete site that is ready to be demonstrated with the site URL. (Figma link only)
- Include the results of two observational usability tests, i.e., tests involving two different users relevant to your site goals. You should get testers that fit the intended demographic of your new site. All the team members should participate in the observational usability test(s) and include their notes separately in the below appendix.
- Summarize the results of a heuristic evaluation performed by one of your classmates (not a team member). Include the notes as an appendix.
- Discuss how you will improve the design based on the tests.
- List what you changed from the alpha version and why.
Beta Deliverables
- Submit the above as one integrated team PowerPoint document of 5-7 slides (excluding title slide) on the submission page before class on the due date.
- Include the details of the usability tests and heuristic evaluation as an Appendix in a Word document. The appendix does not count toward the slide limit.
- Students will be selected at random to present the project.
- The Beta submission is graded on a pass/fail basis for completing the specific requirements and showing how you applied the usability tests and heuristic evaluation to improve the design. The quality of the user experience is a secondary concern.
Final submission
- Create a Word file that includes the following items. The team is expected to work together on all the items and be able to answer questions on any item.
- The link to the Figma prototype.
- A one-page reflection that includes a list and justification of how your site applies the following concepts and how you improved the design. A significant part of the grade is how well you use specific examples that are unique to your problem and site for the justification. Avoid using generic examples, such as pointing out the affordance of a menu or button, instead use items specific to your design, which reflect choices you made. For example, we used XXX color to signify YYY action required by the site goals, or our site has a fun affordance because it uses XX YY ZZZ.
- Affordances
- Signifiers
- Constraints
- Conventions
- Knowledge in the head vs. the world
- Mapping
- An appendix that lists the major improvements and changes you made to the design going from alpha, beta, to final.
- A 5-minute presentation and PowerPoint slide deck that summarizes the project. The presentation should involve all the team members and include:
- The problem and goals of the site including its overall affordance.
- The intended user demographic and how your site will support that demographic.
- A live demonstration that highlights using Norman’s terms specific items you improved as part of the usability tests and how you achieved the overall deliverables.
- Team member evaluation: Each team member will have the chance to evaluate their teammates at the end of the semester. Please follow the instructions provided within the document at that time. This evaluation will factor into your final project grade.
Final Deliverables
Upload the Word and PowerPoint documents in items A and B above together and submit as one integrated team file on the submission page before class on the due date. Only one submission per team is needed.
The final submission is graded on a numerical basis focusing on the user experience and on applying the course concepts.
A peer evaluation will be completed at the end of the project and this peer evaluation will factor into a student’s individual project grade.