M206 - TMA06 - Question 2

• (a) To look up the counsellor's phone number for a student whose P1 is known.
• The student PI is entered in the Initial Screen.
• Click "Go to student screen" button.
• At the Student screen, read off and note Counsellor's employee number
• Click back to return to Initial screen
• Enter the previously noted Counsellor's employee number.
• Click "Go to counsellor screen" button. At the Counsellor's screen read off the Phone Number.
• To add a new student and allocate him/her to an existing counsellor (which also involves updating the appropriate counsellor's list).
• The student PI is entered in the Initial Screen.
• Click "Go to student screen" button.
• At the Student screen enter the Students Name, Address, Courses and the Counsellor's employee number to whom the student will be assigned.
• Click back to return to Initial screen
• Enter the Counsellor's employee number.
• Click "Go to counsellor screen" button.
• Add the Student to the Students counselled list.

 

• (b) Design Principle 1: The all the information relating to the particular task should be on a single screen pertaining to that task.
• Decision: Add the Counsellor's name and phone number to the Student screen. Add all the student details to the Counsellor screen and label as Students xxxx.
• Alternatives: Do nothing. Add the Counsellor's phone number to the Student screen, leave the other screen as is.
• Justification: By adopting this way of organising the screens it reduces the amount of memory overload on the user. The information required is always available on the same screen. The addition of the Tutors name to the student screen is useful in that the phone number is now associated with a name.

 

• Design Principle 2 The Student and Counsellor screens should have Update and Undo widgets added to them.
• Decision:. Add Update and Undo widgets to the Counsellor and Student screens. 7
• Alternatives: Do nothing.
• Justification: Gives the user the feeling of being in control of the information to be input and will also reduce the amount of erroneous entries by virtue of the Undo and Update widgets .

 

• Design Principle 3: The buttons should be in standard positions on the screen.
• Decision: Buttons to be placed at the bottom of the screen in the following order:
• Back Undo Update.
• Alternatives: Do nothing. The buttons could be placed at the top, side or bottom of the screen.
• Justification: Consistency.

 

• (c) With reference to two specific aspects of my design, 1 have satisfied the principles of direct manipulation for the following reasons:
• The objects of interest are now continuously available when on a single screen, and by the addition of the new widgets the interface now has rapid and reversible actions whose impact on the object of interest is visible.

Question 1 - Question 3