Hari Khalsa Simons

Sample workflow model		Early paper prototype		Design sample

HCI Methods Lab , fall 2005

I designed and iterated a collaborative tool to facilitate communication between a student abroad and a class at CMU in order to maximize the impact of a single student's travel.

In a team of five, work with a client to design or redesign a system.

Our project was unique in that we were starting with a blank slate, so we had to design something very quickly in order to perform usability evaluation methods on the design. To this end, we interviewed our client and the major stakeholders in the project and performed several contextual inquiries of classrooms and collaborative work. We found that there were three main user populations with different informational needs: students at CMU, one or more students studying abroad, and the course instructors. Due to time restrictions we focused on supporting the students at CMU and abroad while allowing the instructor administrator-like controls. We modeled our findings and drew paper prototypes of our ideas in order to start user testing.

We performed a heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough and think-aloud studies on our prototypes, iterating our design on paper and then in Illustrator after each study.

The TechBridgeWorld class website allows one or more students studying abroad to collaborate with groups of students at CMU, while maintaining the instructor's role in guiding the students' work. Students post updates and submit assignments online, and have full access to completed projects from past semesters.

Janette Fong, Shipra Kayan, Justin Kodama, and Carol Pai. Advised by Bonnie John and Christine Neuwirth.