Multimedia Application Design

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Lecture 3

• Multimedia Application Design

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Developing the application

• Phase 1-Planning
•        Step 1 Developing the concept
•        Step 2 Stating the purpose
•        Step 3 Identifying the target audience
  
•        Step 4 Determining the treatment
•        Step 5 Developing the specifications
•        Step 6 Storyboard and navigation
•  

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Developing the application

• Phase 2 Prototyping
• Step 7 Learning/ Evaluating Technologies
• Step 8 Developing Demonstrators
• Step 9 Technical Evaluation
• Step 10 User Evaluation
• Step 11 Detailed Specification 

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Developing the application

• Phase 3-Creating
•       Step 12 Developing the content
•       Step 13 Authoring the title
•  Phase 4-Testing
• Step 14 Testing the title
• Phase 5 - Refinement

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Storyboards and navigation

• Multimedia borrows many of its development
  processes from movies, including the use of
  storyboards. A storyboard is a representation
  (often in the form of hand-drawn sketches) of
  what each screen will look like and how the
  screens are linked.

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Storyboards and navigation

• The storyboard serves multiple purposes
•        To provide an overview of the project
•        To provide a guide (road map) for the
  programmer
•        To illustrate the links among screens
•        To illustrate the functionality of the
  objects

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Storyboards and navigation
Each frame represents one screen of the title and
presents a rough layout of the elements to be
displayed on the screen and their approximate
size and location.
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Storyboards and navigation
  Another important feature of the storyboard is
the navigation scheme.
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Detailed Specification

• Specifies the detail for each feature / function
• Specifications should be as detailed as possible.
  The more detailed and precise the specifications,
  the greater the chance of creating a title that
  will meet the objectives of the project on time
  and within budget.

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Detailed Specification

• The goal in creating the specifications is to be
  able to give them to the production team and,
  with little further instructions, the team will
  be able to create the title.

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Detailed Specification

• Should include details about the various
  elements.
• Sound if used, should it be recorded at 44 MHz,
  16 bit, stereo?
• Should the resolution for the graphics be 8 bit,
  256 colours?
• Should video be designed to play back at 15
  frames per second? At what size?
• What are the sizes of the various objects such as
  photos, buttons, text blocks, and pop-up boxes?

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Detailed Specification (cont)

• Should include details about the various
  elements. ?
• What fonts, point sizes, and type styles are to
  be used?
• What are the colours for the various objects?
• What is to happen in an animation.
• For example, if a narration or voice-over is
  used, a script would be part of the
  specifications.

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Detailed Specification (cont)

• The multimedia elements chosen may require other
  specs.
• The Animations will require their own Storyboard.
  
• Synchronisation of elements will have to be
  calculated and specified
• There may be existing examples to follow
• Technologies to use will be specified or
  suggested (e.g. SMIL, Flash, SVG, Director)
• Similarly Video will have Story boards

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Detailed Specification (cont)

• Interactivity - The specifications should
  include how the program reacts to an action by
  the user, such as a mouse click. For example,
  clicking on a door (object) might cause the door
  to open (an animation) a doorbell to ring
  (sound) an "Exit the program?" message to appear
  (text) or an entirely new screen to be
  displayed.
• The interactivity may be so complex it require a
  program to be specified to handle it e.g.
  JavaScript VBScript or even Java. In the detailed
  design the code may be specified in Structured
  English, Pseudo code or modelled using a
  technique from UML

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Conclusion
The detailed design documentation is sufficient
if it is possible for a technical developer to
continue the development and implementation of
the site from the supplied documentation. It
should be possible to do this without constantly
seeking clarification and confirmation from the
analyst/designers.