THE MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
product?
Software Evaluation Criteria
1. Usefulness - does the application accomplish an
important task?
2. Efficiency - how efficiently does the software get
its job done?
3. Stability - how stable and predictable is the
application?
4. Portability - can the application run on multiple
platforms with minimal redevelopment?
5. Scalability - can additional functions be readily
added on?
6. Ease of Use - do users find it easy or hard to make
the program work? Do they like using it?
Development Cycle
Rapid prototyping is typical of multimedia applications.
Software developed for testing with focus groups, such as
at Microsoft, takes about half of an 18-month
development cycle for a new title. After testing and
revision, the test software yields the interface and media
content, but the application is typically recoded in a
lower-level language, like C++.
Most CD-ROM games, educational and reference titles,
take about 18 months to develop also. They are typically
coded in a higher-level language, like Lingo, and
programming is also about half of the development cycle.
For CPU-intensive 3D games, programming takes up
almost all of the development cycle.
Web site development is very rapid. Depending on the
size and complexity of the project, development time can
be as little as a month.Typically though there is more
programming involved and most sites take 3 - 6 months to
launch. Some large corporate sites can take over a year to
launch.
Steps in the Process
The steps taken in developing a multimedia product are
like those of any software project
1. Determine project goals
2. Develop work scope
3. Assess system requirements
4. Design the system
5. Develop the system
6. Test
7. Deliver
Determine Project Goals
A one-page summary of the project should provide the
reader with the "big picture":
 Who is the product aimed at?
 What will the user be able to achieve with this
 Why is the product worth using (and developing)?
Develop Work Scope
In the work scope, you need to specify
 Schedule
 Budget
 Staffing
Assess System Requirements
The first step in any application development is an
assessment of...
 Technical requirements
 Market or client requirements
 Current means of accomplishing the task,
including competition
 Task analysis
Technical requirements
These generally translate to restrictions or constraints that
will help guide your design, including
 Low-end system specs
 Special capabilities that must be supported
 Budgetary and scheduling constraints
Market or client requirements
Know thy user, for he (or she) is not thyself
 Educational background
 Level of technical expertise
 Physical or mental limitations
 Language and common terminology
 Cultural preferences
Applications that are easy to learn are more likely to
attract a wider audience. Take advantage of your users'
considerable knowledge and experience
Current means of accomplishing the task, including
competition
Using a computer should always be easier than not using a
computer.
 Reliability - absence of malfunctions
 Robustness - tolerance and protection of user
 Tailoring - accomodates differences without
burdening user
Task analysis
Be sure you understand the task at hand before you leap to
a solution!
 Who is the user?
 What tasks does the user now perform?
 How are these tasks learned?
 How often do users perform these tasks?
 What is the relationship between users and data?
  How do users communicate with one another?  Editing content
 What are the time constraints on the tasks?  Integrating the pieces
 What happens when things go wrong?
It is strongly advisable to use incremental development.
Test

Testing includes the following:

Design the System
 Unit-level testing, which ensures that system
Several different types of design, undertaken by different components work as expected
designers/teams, go into a multimedia product. At the  System-level testing, which ensures that the
very least, these include... integrated system works as expected
 Interface testing, which ensures that the system
 Interface design truly is consistent, easy to use, and worth using
 Functional design
Testing typically takes half of your development time. Be
Interface design sure to allow plenty of time for testing!
Deliver
Ease of use is a property of the system; not a "feature"
tacked on at the end. When delivering the finished system, it is important to

- Repetoire of functionality  Ensure that the correct end-users are aware of this
- Concept of operations - how the user uses the system, new product
and how the system fits in the user's life  Provide training, user manuals, or other support to
- External behavior of the system, including response to make learning easier
errors  Gather feedback to help improve the next version
and/or product
Myth vs. Conceptual model
Support
 Designers make myths
o Consistent external behavior Even when the system is delivered, the work isn't over.
o Does not necessarily reveal internal
behavior Maintain system
- Fix bugs
 Users make conceptual models - Enhance functionality
o Mental representation of what the system - Maintain versions
is doing
o Used to make predictions, extrapolations, Evaluate technical feedback, market reaction, and user
educated guesses about system behavior reaction
- What frustrations do users experience?
Every application is designed with a use model in mind. - What shortcuts do users invent or ask for?
An explicit use model ensures that it is designed for the - What gets used? what doesn't?
correct audience. - Who is buying or using it? who is not? why?

 How will people use the system?

 What problems will it solve for them?
 How will it integrate with their environment?
Functional design

Functional design describes how exactly the system will

do what it is supposed to.

 System architecture
 Data descriptions
 Unit-level code specification
Develop the system

Development of the system includes ...

 Creating the user interface

 Writing code