Friday, December 09, 2005
IUPUI HCI Project Evaluation
I was recently invited again by Dr. Tony Faiola through Mike Kelly to participate in the final project evaluation for Tony's HCI (Human-Computer Interface) Prototyping grad course at IUPUI. Several other industry professionals participated as well; Mike Kelly, freelance tester, professional speaker/writer; the CEO of a Business Process Optimization firm out of Chicago, as well as another professor of HCI from Purdue University.
The course itself grouped students into three mini-corporations, each charged with creating a non-functioning prototype of a personal communications device; the device should have features such as phone, wireless web access, photo, video, etc.
Two of the three student groups focused on creating cell-phone style devices targeted at corporate users. One group in particular had a unique method of adjusting the phone so that it is more appropriate to use during a video conference. The other corporate-targeted group discovered a way to make video camera work with a portable more intuitive. The third group targeted their device towards the more casual user, though their main point of interface distinction was a bit odd.
I won't discuss details of their projects in this medium, out of respect for each group; I'm not certain if any of them will try to bring their ideas to market, and wouldn't want to hurt their chances. I will say that it is fascinating to view the final output of these groups; there were certainly some design mistakes at work, but some real interface gems as well. In any event, it was a pleasure to participate in this exercise for another semester, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with Dr. Faiola in the future.
The course itself grouped students into three mini-corporations, each charged with creating a non-functioning prototype of a personal communications device; the device should have features such as phone, wireless web access, photo, video, etc.
Two of the three student groups focused on creating cell-phone style devices targeted at corporate users. One group in particular had a unique method of adjusting the phone so that it is more appropriate to use during a video conference. The other corporate-targeted group discovered a way to make video camera work with a portable more intuitive. The third group targeted their device towards the more casual user, though their main point of interface distinction was a bit odd.
I won't discuss details of their projects in this medium, out of respect for each group; I'm not certain if any of them will try to bring their ideas to market, and wouldn't want to hurt their chances. I will say that it is fascinating to view the final output of these groups; there were certainly some design mistakes at work, but some real interface gems as well. In any event, it was a pleasure to participate in this exercise for another semester, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with Dr. Faiola in the future.
