Cardiff School of Computer Science and Informatics
Coursework Assessment Pro-forma
Module Code: CMT206
Module Title: Human Centric Computing
Assessment Title: Evaluation And Analysis Of Interface Design
Assessment Number: 1
Date Set: Tuesday 31 January 2023
Submission Date and Time:
Q2: by Friday 10 March 2023 at 9:30am (Week 6)
Q3: by Friday 28 April 2023 at 9:30am (Week 10)
Q1: by Friday 19 May 2023 at 9:30am (Week 13)
Feedback return date:
Q2: 7 April 2023
Q3: 26 May 2023
Q1: 16 June 20223
Extenuating Circumstances submission deadline will be 2 weeks after the submission
date above
Extenuating Circumstances marks and feedback return will be 2 weeks after the
feedback return date above
This assignment is worth 100% (Q1: 33%, Q2: 33%, Q3:34%) of the total marks available
for this module. If coursework is submitted late (and where there are no extenuating
circumstances):
1 If the assessment is submitted no later than 24 hours after the
deadline, the mark for the assessment will be capped at the minimum
pass mark;
2 If the assessment is submitted more than 24 hours after the deadline, a
mark of 0 will be given for the assessment.
Extensions to the coursework submission date can only be requested using the
Extenuating Circumstances procedure. Only students with approved extenuating
circumstances may use the extenuating circumstances submission deadline. Any
coursework submitted after the initial submission deadline without *approved*
extenuating circumstances will be treated as late.
More information on the extenuating circumstances procedure can be found on the
Intranet: https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/study/exams-andassessment/extenuating-circumstances
By submitting this assignment you are accepting the terms of the following declaration:
I hereby declare that my submission (or my contribution to it in the case of group
submissions) is all my own work, that it has not previously been submitted for
assessment and that I have not knowingly allowed it to be copied by another student. I
understand that deceiving or attempting to deceive examiners by passing off the work of
another writer, as one’s own is plagiarism. I also understand that plagiarising another’s
work or knowingly allowing another student to plagiarise from my work is against the
University regulations and that doing so will result in loss of marks and possible
disciplinary proceedings1.
1 https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/study/exams-and-assessment/academic-integrity/cheating-andacademic-misconduct
Assignment
Q1
Consider the Automatic Replies function in the Microsoft Outlook application, as shown in
the figure below. This is a function that allows users to set automatic replies to emails. For
example, if the user is on holiday, he could set up an automatic reply message to say that he
will not read emails until he returns from holiday.
The function is limited in how time is specified- it only allows the specification of one
continuous time frame, between a start time and end time, as shown in the picture.
A user may wish to post these replies on specific dates or on specific days of the week for a
certain period, or even on specific hours of working days, etc. This is currently not possible!
Instructions
Part 1: Task Analysis
(This task is worth 10 marks/20)
Redesign the Automatic Replies window to allow the user to specify an auto reply message
for weekdays and a message for weekends. (This task will be referred to as “set regular
week” use case)
• For weekdays, the automatic reply message will be active between 5:30 pm and
8:00am and should read “I am out of the office- working hours are between 8:00 and
5:30 Monday-Friday”.
• For weekends, the automatic reply message should read “I don’t work on weekendsworking hours are between 8:00 and 5:30 Monday-Friday”.
a) Produce a sketch of the redesigned window to fulfil the “set regular week” use casehand-drawn or a digital sketch is acceptable. Clearly annotate the design to explain
and justify the interface controls and features used in your design.
(7 marks: 4 marks for the design and 3 marks for the annotation/description)
b) Produce a State Transition Network (STN) to describe the interaction flow for the
basic flow scenario only of this use case.
(3 marks)
Note:
An interface state changes when an event occurs. For example, an entry of text in a text
field, a click of a button, etc. Your STN needs to depict all possible states and user actions
between states in the use case scenario.
Note: Your use case can assume that the user has Outlook opened successfully.
Part 2: Heuristic Evaluation
(This task is worth 10 marks/20)
Do a heuristic evaluation of the individual states of the interface that you identified in
the STN in part 1 above and identify all usability-related features and issues.
Report on usability in an objective manner and in a standard format using the template
(Excel spreadsheet) provided and discussed in the lectures. Your report should include,
a. the usability problems you identified with some justification of the severity score
assigned to the problems and your suggestions for addressing the issues you
identified in subsequent revisions of the interface, and
(5 marks)
b. the good design features that should be maintained in any subsequent revision of
the application.
(5 marks)
Report guidelines:
You need to use the HE spreadsheet template provided. Use one sheet in the spreadsheet
for every screen/state that you identified in the STN of part1 (b).
Learning Outcomes Assessed
This assignment assesses the Learning outcomes 1-2 as stated in the module
description.
Criteria for assessment
Credit will be awarded against the following criteria.
Component
&
Contribution
Fail < 50% Pass (50-59%) Merit(60-69%) Distinction >= 70%
Feedback and suggestion for future learning
Feedback on your coursework will address the above criteria. Individual feedback and marks
will be returned to you via Learning Central by the date stated on the front page of this
document.
Feedback from this assignment will be useful for your dissertation.
Submission Instructions
Description Type Name
Q1 Compulsory One PDF (.pdf) file (Part 1)
+
Spreadsheet for Q1 (Part 2)
+
One PDF (.pdf) file (cover
sheet)
Q1_[student number].pdf
Q1_[student number]_HE.xlsx
Q1_[student number]_CS.pdf
Q2 Compulsory
Individual report + cover
sheet + figure images
One ZIP (.zip) Q2_[student number].zip
Q3 Compulsory One PDF (.pdf) file (report)
+
One PDF (.pdf) file (cover
sheet)
Q3_[student number].pdf
Q3_[student number]_CS.pdf
Any deviation from the submission instructions above (including the number and types of
files submitted) may result in a mark of zero for the assessment or question part.
Staff reserve the right to invite students to a meeting to discuss coursework submissions
Support for assessment
Questions about the assessment can be asked at the lectures/seminars.
Support for the programming elements of the assessment will be available in the daily
drop-in lab sessions.