Assignments and Grading
Your grade consists of 100 points. Points are assigned to class participation [10 points] and four assignments. Here are brief, preliminary descriptions. Detailed instructions will be given out as the course progresses.
Assignment 1: Icons and Interface Widgets [Presentation and Critique, 5 points; Completed Project, 15 points]
[drafts for review in class on June 2; completed project due on June 4]
Create an icon or other interface widget for some process or user-driven action. Write a brief (500-750 words) account of how you developed and refined your concept. You may include sketches of alternative designs you considered and rejected.
Assignment 2: Representing Data [Presentation and Critique, 5 points; Completed Project, 20 points]
[drafts for review in class on June 16; completed project due on June 23]
Using some set of data you find interesting (sports data, global warming data, endangered species and/or recovery data; etc.) and can acquire easily, create a visual representation that tells a story or reveals an important but hidden relationship among data dimensions. Write a brief (500-750 word) account of your data and the relationships you are trying to visualize.
Assignment 3: Processes and Flows [Presentation and Critique, 5 points; Completed Project, 15 points]
[presentations in class on June 30, completed project due on July 2]
Using Visio or another appropriate diagramming tool, describe and implicitly develop a visual strategy for representing user experience in a complex, multi-part event/process involving multiple actors and stages. The process should encompass both interactions with software and interfaces and interactions with physical entities. For example, ordering a product like a gardening tool online also involves dealing with delivery, acceptance and perhaps even return of a package. Alternatively, you can map a process that involves interactions with more than one piece of software over a period of time. You may use words and images with the diagrams.
Assignment 4: Information Maps [Presentation and Critique, 5 points; Completed Project, 20 points]
[presentations in class on July 14, completed project due on July 16]
Create a site map for a complex Web presence, for example the University of Baltimore's Web site, including all the "pages" served by www.ubalt.edu plus those hosted by other ubalt.edu servers. Write a brief (500-1000 word) account of your strategy.
