Titulo Estágio
CUE (Cambridge Usability Evaluator): an HTML5 based usability evaluation tool for testing web based applications
Área Tecnológica
Engenharia de Software
Local do Estágio
Engineering Design Center, Dept. of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Enquadramento
CUE (Cambridge Usability Evaluator)
The Engineering Design Centre at the University of Cambridge undertakes innovative research to create understanding, methods and tools that will contribute to improving the design process. Part of this work includes the development of the Inclusive Design Toolkit (www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com). This toolkit provides a framework and tools for designing products and services inclusively. The toolkit has now been accessed from 140 countries worldwide and has been adopted by a number of organisations. The most recent company being Nestle, who are using to design packaging for their products.
The Toolkit is also used in the development of consumer and medical electronic devices. Part of the process is to develop and test prototypes. To date this has mainly been done using paper prototypes that are a quick and effective way of getting early feedback on product concepts. However there is also a need for higher fidelity prototypes that can evaluate dynamic user interfaces and log the users’ interactions recording their inputs and the time it takes them to do it. The aim of CUE is to provide a flexible prototyping system that will work across different platforms. More specifically it needs to:
- work with widely available and low cost development tools
- work across common platforms that include touch devices
- be quick to develop prototypes
- support running user testing by providing an automated test script that the user can follow (this reducing experimenter bias)
- quick to deploy and update e.g. not restricted to specific app stores and their approval process
- support sharing across team members who are geographically distant
- suitable for use by people with limited programming skills and experience
The set
standalone HTML5 app and the evaluation is performed by a separate system that probes the prototype app. In addition the evaluation system can insert user instructions that allow automation of the experimental protocol e.g. prompt the user with a series of tasks.
The Internship
The internship will form part of the Engineering Design Center’s knowledge transfer activities. The aim will be to take a prototype of CUE and develop it to the point that it can be used by research partners and launched as part of the Inclusive Design Toolkit. The intern will be supervised by Ian Hosking who leads the knowledge transfer activities for the Toolkit. The details of the required activities are outlined in the Objectives and Workplan below.
Objetivo
Develop CUE to the point where it can be released for academic and commercial use by July 2013.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
The work plan is based on an iterative development process with two test releases (alpha & beta) and a final one. In addition CUE will be developed in conjunction with three separate prototype apps, these are apps that require user testing and have a diverse set of testing requirements. This approach will help drive the requirements as well as example to test the CUE system. The intern will also support the development of these apps.
Core CUE system
Month 1 - Review and agree requirements
Months 1-3 Alpha development & test Months 3 Alpha release
Months 4-6 Beta development & test Month 5 Interim report
Months 6 Beta release
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
Months 7-8 Release version development & test Months 8 Candidate final release for pre-launch testing
Month 9 Write support documentation
Month 10 formal public release & final report Prototype app support
Months 1-8 ad-hoc app development support
Condições
The internship will be based at the Engineering Design Centre (EDC) in Cambridge but it is flexible so that the candidate can work in other locations if appropriate. Funding is being sought to support the candidate but there is no guarantee that this will be successful and therefore the candidate will need to support himself.
Observações
This proposal is specifically for Ricardo Freitas based on his work to date.
Orientador
Ian Hosking
rmcd3@cam.ac.uk 📩