Home Inspection

1
Home Inspection

• System Design, Prototype, and Evaluation

2
Understanding the Problem

• Client Home Inspector
• System needed
• Home Inspection Reporting System
• Existing system
• Word template with clumsy controls and poor
  navigation
• Unclear commands cancel done?

3
Understanding the Problem

• Typical user
• Novice infrequent computer use
• Home inspector
• User inspects home
• Uses a checklist
• Jots down any additional notes
• User returns to office
• Using notes, enters data into system and
  generates a report

4
Design Alternatives

• Data entry is the clients primary goal
• Poor navigation is the major flaw in existing
  system
• Main design development objectives
• Ease and flexibility of navigation
• Consistent, clean, concise data-entry interfaces

5
Design Alternatives

• Iterative design process
• Group brainstorming session
• Iteration on different design concepts
• Via group discussion and poster session, decided
  on tabbed design
• Iterated on tabbed design with group input
• Final design embodies goal and the best aspects
  of all design sketches

6
Design AlternativesFinal Design Sketch
7
System Prototype

• First prototype in Visual Basic
• What went wrong
• Why it failed
• Rebuilt in Macromedia Director
• Benefits
• Challenges

8
System Prototype
9
System Prototype
10
Interface Evaluation

• Our evaluation consisted of several parts
• Heuristic Evaluation by team members
• Test users
• Benchmark tasks
• Scaled questionnaire
• Open-ended questionnaire/interview

11
Interface Evaluation

• Prototype Shortcomings
• Drop down menus
• Flexibility
• Subsection navigation
• Given more time, what we would do
• Hindsight
• Need to really consider all the advantages and
  disadvantages of a development environment with
  respect to your design goals