Homework #1 - UI Hall of Shame
Late Policy
- The penalty for being late is 10% for each late day.
- Submissions will be accepted until three days after the deadline. After that, it will be an automatic 0.
- Failure to submit will result in an automatic 0.
What do I do?
In this assignment, you will find two user interface examples around you that you think have very bad usability. Examples don’t have to be graphical user interfaces: they can be smartphone apps, websites, bathroom signs, cafe menus, car dashboards, etc. Make sure to avoid analyzing the entire service or app, but focus on particular parts of the interface that you think have noteworthy usability issues.
Why do I do this?
We designed this assignment to give you an opportunity to (1) make observations on various user interfaces around you, and (2) apply the usability dimensions covered in class to real-world examples. You’ll practice analyzing interfaces from a usability perspective. We’ll feature some of the best examples from this assignment in class!
Your report
For each example, please report the following:
- One-line description of what it is
- Where can it be found? (e.g., physical location, URL, name of the app)
- How did you find it? You shouldn’t Google “UI hall of fame or shame” and copy examples from these databases. Please find your own examples.
- Perform a heuristic evaluation to identify three significant usability issues with the interface. Report them using the same format we practiced in class: identify the heuristic that has been violated, identify the severity of the issue, briefly describe the usability issue, and then briefly suggest a solution.
- Screenshots and photos to effectively support your analysis
For each issue you identify, you have a hard limit of maximum 250 words. But you may use as many screenshots and photos as you want. One-sentence captions are allowed for each visual material, and they are not counted toward the word limit.
Grading
- Completeness (20%): Identify three significant usability issues for each interface. (Six issues total)
- Depth (20%): Include a thoughtful analysis of usability, beyond surface-level observations.
- Clarity (20%): The reader who sees the example for the first time should not struggle to understand your points.
- Visual Communication (20%): Use visual materials effectively to communicate your idea. Add annotations and labels to refer to specific elements in an image. Include zoom-in images if needed. Make sure your text and accompanying visuals complement each other.
- Conciseness (20%): Adhere to the word limit, and avoid being verbose in the description.
Please make sure to read the academic integrity and collaboration policy of this course carefully.
How do I submit?
- Make a single PDF file of your report.
- Name it your KAIST ID (e.g., “20200001.pdf”).
- Submit it via KLMS.
You can submit multiple times until the deadline, and we’ll use the most recent version for grading. Late days are automatically applied based on your submission time. Please ask questions about the assignment on Campuswire.