Rishi Chopra, cs160-arInteractive Prototype #11. Problem and solution overviewChangesScenarios for 3 tasksToolsUI overviewNot Yet ImplementedAppendix AAppendix BRishi Chopra, cs160-arAmit Bakshi, cs160-aqCynthia Prentice, cs160-auBen Hartshorne, cs160-bnInteractive Prototype #11. Problem and solution overviewThe goal of The Simpsons Portal is to demonstrate the value of integration of two forms of media, television and the internet, for a user community that currently uses both.Both mediums provide users with valuable content, but in different forms. For example, the options given to fans of The Simpsons via television are limited. Users are forced to watch whichever episode of the show that happens to be playing at the time with little opportunity to acquire additional, supplemental information about the show or interact with others (besides those who happen to be watching the show in the same room). The internet, on the other hand, offers users a vast array of services. Fans of The Simpsons can locate and download episodes of the show, find general information, and interact withothers. However, being inherently decentralized and disorganized, the internet forces the user to spend a considerable amount of time finding information that he is looking for. The Simpsons portal aims to combine the advantages of “push” (television) and “pull” (internet) to provide its user community with the ultimate Simpsons experience, all in oneplace.2. Tasks1) Browse for the episode in season 10 called “Viva Ned Flanders” and read its plot summary. (EASY)2) Search for the episode where Bart uses a radio to fool the town into thinking a little boy falls into a well. Now watch it. (MEDIUM)3) Find out who does Lisa Simpson’s voice while watching a Simpsons episode and having an open chat. You are a returning user. Your login is: Bartfan. Your password is: itchy. (HARD)These three user tasks allow us to test the main functionality of the Simpsons Portal. Our goal is to provide fast and easy ways of simultaneously accessing many forms of Simpsons information. The tasks cover the different ways in which a user can retrieve the information and episodes we provide. They also allow the user to experience the different view formats so they will be able to rate the effectiveness of our multimedia presentation. Our tasks do not cover the third view mode (fullscreen), as this is the most obvious and intuitive mode.3. Revised interface designChanges We relabeled some of our ambiguously-named buttons so that they more accurately describe their functions. We changed the “Find an episode to watch” label to “Search for an episode” because this button brings up a search screen. We changed “Episode Guide” to “Browse for an Episode” because this button brings up a browse screen where users may browse for the episode they are looking for. We changed “Trivia”to “Trivia Game” because this button takes the user to a game, and we didn’t want them to mistake this feature with “General Info.” We also added the help button to the button bar, rather than having it as a smaller button at the bottom-right corner of the screen. (SeeFigure 1 of Appendix A)In regards to the bottom menu bar, we also got rid of the drag-and-drop concept for the chat and trivia. Previously, the user could pick up the chat and trivia buttons and drop them into the frame where they wanted the chat or trivia to appear. Our testers foundthis very confusing. We replaced the combination of push-buttons and drag-and-drop buttons with a single type of button. These buttons incorporate the ease-of-use of push-buttons with the flexibility offered by drag-and-drop buttons. On mouse-over, these buttons pop-up images of the current screen layout with the different frames blackened (See Figure 2 of Appendix A). The user highlights the screen picture that specifies the frame in which they want the results of the button to appear. (See Figure 3 of Appendix A). Our users also had problems with our “Change Views” button during our initial user testing. This button was supposed to switch between Standard View (See Figure 4 of Appendix A), Extended View (See Figure 5 of Appendix A), and Fullscreen View (See Figure 6 of Appendix A.) When presented as “one mysterious button,” users were not sure what would happen if they pressed it. Because the functionality of this button is much different than the other buttons, we placed it in a separate frame. We made separatebuttons for each of the three screen modes (including full-screen mode) and included pictures of the different layouts. Clicking either the name or picture of the view changes the view mode (See Figure 7 of Appendix A).Our users liked the hierarchical method of presenting large amounts of information in small amounts of space using the +/- metaphor. We are continuing with this metaphor. Originally, our some of our browsable +/- pages had arrows that allowed auser to shoot information over to the bigger frame if they needed more viewing room. We removed this feature because our users did not understand what they were for. All decisions with regard to display of information are now made using the bottom menu bar.Our user testing allowed us to choose between the two search screens we were debating in the lo-fi stage. (See Figure 7 of Appendix A). We also decided that if a search returns no results, we tell the user that there are no results, refer them to the help on how to do searches, and present them with a list of the most popular episodes. This will allow the user to modify their search to be more successful by reading the help, or just watch a good episode if they are tired of searching.We have removed the initial login screen. Logins and passwords are hard to remember and people do not always like to give up their information. Users will be allowed to search for information and watch episodes without logging in. For functions that require identification, like the chat or trivia game (if they want their scores recorded), users will be prompted for a login when they decide to engage in those activities. Users will only be prompted for their login one time per visit (this can be accomplished with a cookie).Scenarios for 3 tasksSee Appendix B.4. Prototype overviewToolsImagesMicrosoft Image Composer: We used this to modify Simpsons pictures we found on the web and create buttons out of them. This is on our laptops, so we
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