Programming and Heuristic Evaluation
This exercise has two parts:
- A programming part , in which you will create a Visual Basic form that responds to the user's actions rather than merely displaying information
- A Heuristic Evaluation part , in which you will use the heuristics you have learned so far to evaluate the Windows Sound control panel
When you submit the exercise, you should submit all files for both parts. This doesn't mean that you should start both parts at the same time. In fact, it would be to your advantage to start the programming part immediately after you have assimilated the programming material in 2.2.1 Buttons , and to not start with the Heuristic Evaluation part until you have finished 2.2.4 HE: Flexibility and Efficiency of Use .
Part A: Programming — Adding Interactivity
Description
This assignment is to create a small Visual Basic interface using buttons and labels. This interface will allow three integer values to be incremented and decremented using buttons as shown below. Two buttons should be placed next to each integer display, one to increment the value, and one to decrement the value. The first integer value should be kept within the range 0 to 23. The remaining integers should be kept within the range 0 to 59. "OK", "Cancel", and "Apply" buttons should also be provided. Pressing either the "OK" or "Cancel" buttons should simply close the interface. (Closing the interface can be accomplished by the code: " unload <formName> " where "<f ormName> " is replaced by the name of your form). In this case, pressing the "Apply" button should do nothing. (Note that in general, pressing the "Apply" button performs the same actions as the "OK" button except that it does not close the window. In this special case, since the "OK" button does not actually perform any actions except closing the window, the correct action for the "Apply" button is to do nothing.) Be sure to make the "OK" button be the default button and initial focus for the interface, to make "Cancel" the cancel button, and to implement the shortcut key shown for "Apply".
Be sure to use accessor ( get / set ) methods for the three integer values that form the model for this interface.
Hint: the easiest way to enforce restrictions on values is to place enforcement code in the write accessor ( set method) for the value. For more about accessor methods, see the section "Encapsulation and Accessor Patterns" in 1.1.2 Basic Concepts of Interactive Programming .
When you are done with both parts of this exercise, submit your solutions by following the link at the bottom of this page.
Resources
- An executable like the application you are asked to create, click Ex4.exe . (From Internet Explorer, select the "Run this program" option of the "File download" dialog box that appears—from Netscape, save and double-click the file Ex4.exe.)
Part B: Heuristic Evaluation — The Sound Control Panel
Description
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| The Windows Sound Control Panel |
This is a picture of the Sound Control Panel on Windows machines. Become familiar with this control panel in your computer; experiment with it by clicking here and there. In this exercise, we ask you to evaluate this control panel according to the heuristics you have learned so far. Any aspect of the control panel is fair game for using in this exercise (any dialog box you can get it to bring up, any message it displays, etc.)
Using the five heuristics we have learned so far in this course, do a heuristic evaluation of this control panel. Write up five UARs in the format described in 1.3.3 How to Write a Usability Aspect Report (UAR) . At least two of the five UARs should be for usability problems (aspects of the interface that violate one or more of the five heuristics) and at least two should be for good features (aspects of the interface that follow one or more of the five heuristics).
The five heuristics we have learned so far are:
- HE: Match Between the System and the Real World
- HE: Visibility of System Status
- HE: Consistency and Standards
- HE: User Control and Freedom
- HE: Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
Make sure you give us enough context in the UARs to understand what aspect of the interface you are referring to. Including screen shots of the interface really helps us understand your UARs. To capture a screen shot for a UAR, click in the window you want a picture of, then ALT-PRINTSCREEN. This will put a picture of the window in the copy-buffer. Then paste this picture into your UAR using your word processor.
When you are done with both parts of this exercise, submit all your files by clicking on "Submit" below.
Submission
Submit the following files:
- A project archive named Exercise4.zip
- UAR_sound_control.doc
