CS 466 - Project: Initial design documents

Due: 2017-03-23 1:30p

Project

For the bulk of the rest of the semester, you will be working on an app of your choosing. You will be working in teams of 2-3. The app can be anything other than a game (unless you can give me a really compelling argument). The only requirement is that it runs on iOS. You can choose to target iPhone, iPad, or both (the watch could be integrated, but should not be the primary target).

Our focus is primarily on interface design, so focus on interactive apps rather than ones that perform heavy computation (a well thought out to-do app would be a better choice than the app that uses deep learning to recognize apple type from a photograph). I urge you to chat with me about your projects before spend too much time on the design. I may reject or re-scope your project if I think it is too ambitious or emphasizes the wrong aspects.

Deliverables

You will have a collection of deliverables.

The first is a product concept statement. This should be a concise paragraph that provides the app name, a description of what the app does, who will use it, and what problem it solves.

The second will be a short analysis of the problem space you are entering. This will be another concise paragraph. What is the competition/similar apps? What, if anything, will you do differently? What do you think will be the hardest part of the project?

The third will be a collection of usage scenarios. I expect at least five (you can do more if appropriate). I don't need to see everyone you write. Be prepared to learn things as you write them. If the app evolves and a scenario is no longer relevant, update it or scrap it. Nothing is written in stone.

The fourth will be an analysis of your scenarios. List out the context of use, users, tasks, and information objects. This can be a collection of simple lists.

I would like all of these put into a single document with the product name and the names of the team members on the first page. I would then like each of the above items presented in the order above and in labeled sections. Note that you do not need to write these in the stated order. I would, in fact, leave the product concept statement until the end.

Please make this a PDF an submit it on Canvas. I only need one copy.

Evaluation