independent_study

Each component should be at least 1 Page in length for each heading, so a total of 5 pages.
 * Independent Study (30%) (due April 1, 2010) **

• **Product:** Describe your product (physical) • **Population**: Who are the users? Who are you designing for? (certain age group, gender, people with a medical condition, etc.) • **Research Method:** How are you going to do your research? What are the steps of observation? e.g. a focal group, survey, observation • **Design Method:** Which processes will be used for your design? How long is your design process? Are there any testing phases? Will prototypes be made? e.g. user testing, iterative - **Conclusions**: a post-mortem review of the project and design; answer the question: what did I learn as I went through the design?

The design can be limited to apply to one disability if desired.


 * In order for you to besuccessful, this is what you can concentrate on:**

• **Product:** Describe your product (physical) - Be very specific here, but this section can be understood as your introduction section where you not only be concise as to what it is you are trying to do but also how the rest of the sections in your study have contributed to your design.

• **Population:** Who are the users? Who are you designing for? (certain age group, gender, people with a medical condition, etc.) Be sure to identify a specific demographics, in addition you have created personas (I would say at least 2)

• **Research Method:** How are you going to do your research? What are the steps of observation? e.g. a focal group, survey, observation - This is meat of your project, here you will demonstrate why and how you have come to understand there is a problem following a scientific methodology (i.e. hypothesis, testing, conclusion, evaluation etc). How and why you decided to use the research method you picked (i.e. if you did surveys)

• **Design Method:** Which processes will be used for your design? How long is your design process? Are there any testing phases? Will prototypes be made? e.g. user testing, iterative - Here I would expect you to talk about UD and the principles. You will need to apply every principle of UD into the idea or concept you have chosen to design or redesign and explain in details outlining strategies how you have applied them. In addition, you need to link your research and how user feedback has impacted your evaluation and therefore your final design.

You can include an unlimited amount of supplementary information in the form of appendices and you are encouraged to illustrate your designs via creating graphics or even nice detailed hand drawn sketches. I am not also stopping you from doing physical mock ups.

Your study should cover the following areas: • Research: methods and results • Analysis: a thorough description of the problems • Design process: descriptions and examples • Resolution: the final design

• **Conclusions:** a post-mortem review of the project and design; answer the question: what did I learn as I went through the design?