Interface Analysis and Redesign
Approach to Interface Analysis & Redesign Assignment
Interface Analysis & Redesign application (Mint.com)
As you can tell from the title, there are two parts to this assignment: the analysis and the design. Your analysis will be based on utilizing a set of heuristics including but not limited to Molich/Nielsen HYPERLINK “http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html” 10 Usability Heuristics or Shneiderman’s HYPERLINK “http://faculty.washington.edu/jtenenbg/courses/360/f04/sessions/schneidermanGoldenRules.html” Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design (please use one set of heuristics!). If you find that the heuristics you chose limit your evaluations, you can incorporate your own rules. After all, even Molich and Nielsen have admitted that evaluations based solely on heuristics force researchers into some sort of a tunnel vision. It will be helpful to document each heuristic along with any relevant issues you identify. This list will be you basis for redesign. Once the issues are identified, you can move onto the redesign.
Select several issues that you can manage. Please number each issue you attempt to redesign. Please use the following approach: provide a link or a screenshot (or both) of the interface you will be analyzing. Discuss any issues, provide your design decisions on how this should work and provide your prototype of this interface. Move onto the next prototype. It is a good idea to present each screen prototype as a separate entry. Once you are done, consider providing a title for each issue you have attempted to solve.
Using Axure, a Rapid Prototyping Tool
For developing a new design, you will be using Axure RP (Rapid Prototyping) tool. You can download a 30-day trial version.
Deliverables
The deliverable for this assignment consists of two parts:
Your review of an interface based on usability heuristics of your choice and
Your redesign of that interface. The redesign will include your review screenshots of the original user interface and your redesigned prototype.
Submit your report to your assignment folder. Please include your last name when naming your report LastName_Interface_Analysis.doc(x) or your Axure prototype LastName_Interface_Analysis.rp. Submit your Axure file to a dedicated conference.
Your design decisions, presented in the same report, should explain and support your decisions. Your report should also include an executive summary, a set of guidelines and corresponding findings. Since some sites/applications are very large and/or complex, please consider identifying a portion of an existing interface that will be your target for the redesign.