IA and Usability

Hello, this is Bndsbon. As a offical IB Student, and a computer science student. We need to complete our IA for the IBDP. And in this blog post, I am going to talk about how is IA going to be completed, and the usability which represents a crucial part of out IA. Let’s get started!

• Usability

The usability determines the potentials of an application or product to complete the goals made by the clients.

It is also the representation of how easy or how convenient is the system or product for new users who is unfamiliar with the application.

If you know more about usability, please visit this website: youtu.be/RAxAXH6atfc

Picture from YouTube

One of the most important usability is that Usability = Ergonomics + Accessibility

• The Determinants for Usability

User Interface consistancy

Constanct conventions for users

constanct key combinations of conventions

Logic structural controls

Include special buttons in user documentation

No major design changes between two versions

Usability award is not equal to design award

Gather all similar controls in one single group

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• Accessibility

By definition, accessibility is the potential of a device that can serve the need of as much of clients and users as possible.

It is also known as the design of products that is for specific needs.

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• Ergonomics

Picture from SF Custom

First and foremost, when we mention Ergonomics, we are actually talking about  a specific scientific discipline. It’s goal is to optimize the well-being of humans and overall system performance. It involves human interaction between system and applications. theory and certain knowledges are also being applied in Ergonomics.

Our computer science teacher gave several examples in class to illustrate Ergonomics. Which includes but not limited to: human-friendly keyboard, which helps with the damage normal keyboard bring to our hands; the double tab on the home button of iPhone, which do not need our hand to stretch to far to reach an icon.

Here is the poster we did over the principles for accessbility:

Poster made by Michael and Charles 

*I should have include examples for each specfic principle

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• Interal Acessment

Here is where my journey of IA begins…

Criterion A Planning

Brief

A brief description of the problem from the client and the solution to the problem, this solution must be aggreed with the client in the consultation.

In the section A, we need to have a existing system, and mention what the problem is, and who is involved in the problem. You will also need to include how will your solution solve your problem. A “success criteria” will also need to include in the Section A.

Criterion B Solution Overview

Strand B includes a record of tasks, which has a word count less than 500. In the record of tasks, you will need to include:

• Test Plan (6 Column, each criteria must be tested)
• Brief Summary
• A design for solution (Flowcharts, Graphical Visualisations of output

*we also need to make sure that dates of the significant steps are accomplished are in the ROT as well.

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Calendar For the IA

20th of March 2017 will be our last day to submit our IA Proposal

27th of April will be our last day  for Criterion A completion

24th of May will be our last day for Criterion B completion

All in all, looking at the schedule, I feel like I really need to get my IA started, and plan as fast as possible. I should not stop and wait till the last day. Different than what I used to thought about IA, I found out that IA can actually be quite interesting, I could actually design something I really enjoy, and apply the knowledge I learned in Computer Science class to the real world!

See you next time~

References:

Chiropractic, S. (2017). Ergonomics | SF Custom Chiropractic. [online] Sfcustomchiro.com. Available at: http://sfcustomchiro.com/ergonomics/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2017].