Week 3 again!

Hey everyone,

Week 3's almost over and we'll all be going on winter break for a couple weeks, but we were able to complete the tasks that we wanted to have finished before we left (mentioned last week by Alex).

We now have some simple applications that will allow the people who volunteer for our usability tests to experiment with different formats of zooming, and with different UI elements.  We've also been reading up on how to conduct usability tests and looking for information on any other visual impairment usability tests that have been done.

When we get back from break we will hopefully be able to start conducting usability tests during January and February.  The professor that is working with us teaches usability courses and has conducted usability tests before so she will also be able to give us guidance as we begin the process, since none of us students have done it before. 

I've actually been considering having usability be my application domain, so I was planning on starting to take usability courses during the spring.  I wish that I could have synced them up with the start of our usability testing for the project, but I had to get several other courses out of the way first. I'm glad that I will be able to go into the usability classes already having a background with usability testing. During one of my software engineering classes the professor started talking about accessibility and it made me kind of excited because I already knew about it and could answer questions =)

 ~Lindsey

Week 2 of the new quarter brings usability testing!

♫...and on the second week of research, our project leader gave to us...usability testing! ♫

Yeah, it doesn't exactly sync-up with the original; it also doesn't say anywhere on my resume that I'm a song writer.

It's the start of Winter quarter here at RIT, and we've been hard at work for the past two weeks making some great progress on Access Lecture. Our main areas of progress have been in...

• Database construction
• A lower-level understanding of how the system will function
• A better understanding of several key components of iOS app programming
• Preparation for usability tests

1. The database
Abhishek lead the effort to construct a remote MySQL database prototype that will be used to store and retrieve lectures. The database can handle a hierarchy of multiple schools/universities, teachers/professors, courses, and students. We plan to implement this database to use with all of our testing, so this has been an important development for us. Luckily, Abihshek has already had industry experience with constructing complex databases; this made the matter rather trivial (for Lindsey and I at least!).

2. System functionality and iOS understanding
We have always had a high-level understanding of exactly how our software and hardware would interface to bring real-time lecture note access to the iPad, but the details remained a mystery. Recently, we have put some time into researching how the hardware would likely work, and what our application would need to do to service that hardware. This lead to the construction of the database described above, as well as some fundamental changes to our development strategy.

3. Usability testing
Perhaps the biggest thing that we've been gearing-up for is a series of documented usability tests that are currently scheduled to be conducted the week after we return from the holiday break (mid-January). These tests will involve using low-vision students as testers, and having them give us their feedback on various feature sets that we are considering (such as pinch zooming vs tap zooming). This will help us solidify our project requirements. We currently have two usability test prototype apps ready to go, and hope to have the full set complete shortly.

Until next time...

- Alex