Assignment 2

5+5= 10 Marks

Scenario:
Channel 17 broadcast many 'soaps' (television series) and are looking at ways of increasing
audience engagement with the their TV series. They have decided to create 'Soap Booths' to be
placed in stations and streets near newsstands. They believe 'soap watchers' may pass these
locations when they purchase TV and celebrity magazines. The booths will enable TV addicts to
make contact with other TV addicts elsewhere and discuss their favourite television stars.

Inside the Soap Booth is a standard LCD computer screen. There is no mouse and keyboard, but
instead a trackball controls an on-screen mouse cursor. There is also a webcam and microphone
to allow live chat. Figure HHH shows an initial screen design Kevin has produced.

The interface supports several functions.

1. You can select a soap and or star using the pull down menus and press find. This will
enter you into a multi-way video and voice chat with other people with similar selections.
The video/information area (currently showing a listing) will show miniature webcam-
views of each other person in the chat.
2. You can select a star and then press "INFO NOW" to get celebrity gossip and photos in
the video/information area.
3. you can enter your personal details in the dating area and press "find a mate" and then
you will be entered in a one-to-one chat with someone matching your profile.
4. You can press 'soap stats' to get a listing of current soap actors' star ratings (listing
shown) or can press 'soap stats' to get the different soaps' listings.

The small indicator marked 'online' is off if for some reason the webcam is not working , glows
green if it is working but not active and glows red if it is active (currently filming you).
The small indicator marked 'online' is off if for some reason the webcam is not working , glows
green if it is working but not active and glows red if it is active (currently filming you).

Figure - Soap Seeker screen design

Q1: This question relates to the above given Scenario:

You are the senior usability specialist at Channel 17 and your junior usability specialist Kevin
has produced the following scenario:

Jenny goes to the news agent, and buys her weekly copy of Ice magazine.  She goes into the Soap
Booth and chats with new friends.

(ii)   Why is this a poor scenario.

(iii)   Improve this scenario.

(iv)   List 2 good aspects of the design and briefly explain why.

(v)   List 5 different problems with the screen layout, widget choice etc. and for each offer a
potential alternative design
Q2: Having bought a ticket a commuter is waiting on the platform for the train.  There is a large
display showing train times and destinations (see below).  The commuter wants to get the Bath
train. Discuss the current screen design (how good or bad it is) to support scanning across for
identifying the platform for a given destination. If you identify design errors, suggest ways to
address them .