Introduction

The UH protocol number for this study is COM/PGT/UH/02004 and approved by the ECDA.

Research overview

This study is part of a self-funded and independent MSc Computer Science final year project at the University of Hertfordshire. The UH protocol number for this study is COM/PGT/UH/02004.

The research being performed as part of this study is centered around the effect of using prototype representations of use case descriptions at the initial stages of requirements elicitation and the influence of using such prototypes in client decision making. The study aims to investigate if using a tool such as the one presented could allow the designer and the end user an increased level of user experience enough to explore alternative scenarios other than the intiial scenario presented in the use case description. The research investigates if this could possibley lead to changes being made earlier in the project due to this increased level of awareness compared to changes being made later in the project due to misunderstanding and consequential changes from seeing a piece of working software for the first time.

The study also looks at the influence of these prototypes being available to other areas in the software development project. This includes development, quality assurance and project management and if it could have a positive effect in those areas.

What is this application?

This application is a proof of concept application that is designed to automaticaly create a basic prototype that can be interacted with by the user based on the entered use case description.

The Goal and Purpose

The goal and purpose of this proof of concept is to provide you with the small portion of the an application that could, as a potential end distributable project, automate use case descriptions based on the detail entered by the user and create a working prototype that can be interacted with.

What participants need to do

Participants of the study are expected to follow the guide on 'How to use the application' below once they have downloaded the documents at the bottom of this page and if you are happy with the terms, use the application and feedback your experience by answering the questions in the questionaire and emailing them back to the email address on the bottom of the form.

How to use this application

There is documentation below that is recommended reading for participants, as well as watching the 5 minute video here and checking out the infographic at the bottom for a quick reference so you can get the most out of the time you have to test the application and provide quality feedback through the questionaire.

Once you have read the remaining content on this page, at the bottom click the "Start!" button to take yourself back to the home screen.


Enter your use case description. The application at the moment is configured for a basic two tier recursive use case description based on the semantic struture of you mentioning an Action (e.g. 'Clicks') followed by an Object (e.g. a 'Button') followed by another Action (e.g. which 'Opens') and finally ends on another resulting Object e.g. (a 'Window'). An example of such a use case is:

"A user clicks the green button which opens the new window displaying the data from the latest marketing campaign"



You can extend this to another tier by repeating the same structure a second time. So this could read:

"A user clicks the green button which opens the new window displaying the data from the latest marketing campaign. The user clicks the red button at the top of this window to open a new chart in a new window"

The current actions supported are:

• open
• opens
• clicks
• selecting
• selects
• takes
• clicking

The current objects supported are:

• button
• window
• box

Once you have entered your description, click 'Submit'.



The next page will load with two possible outputs of a prototype depending on the text you have entered in the screen before - If you have used an example on this page, or one of your own, where is has followed the semantic structure above, you will be able to interact with a prototype that has been generated automatically where you can do what it says in your use case description and 'click' the buttons which are linked to events. You can also drag and drop the items that are created.





You can interact with the button here and it will open your window. You can do the same to a second button if you have created a two tier prototype. Following this, you can edit the prototype by adding your own toolbox items.



The second scenario, where you may have not entered any text at all or where your text has not either followed the structure or included words not supported yet. A base window has been created and nothing else if this is the case. The screenshot below shows what this looks like. In this scenario you can go straight into adding toolbox items.

Adding Toolbox items: On the left hand side is a a mini-menu based on some extra items you can currently add into your prototype. Adding these will layer the most recent first always on top of your current prototype. You can drag and drop these items just like the original prototype items created from the use case description.

Using text to add context to your prototype will also really help.



To start again, clearing the screen and taking you back to enter another use case description, click "Start Again" on the right hand side of the screen.

Sample Use Case Descriptions

To assist I have put together some initial use case descriptions for you to use if you wish, however you are encouraged to create your own that fit with the current semantic structure outlined above. It is recommended you do try one from each of the tiers as a starting point for you to see the difference of interaction that is available.

Tier One

• The user presses a button to open a window
• The user clicks the 'hello world' button and it opens a new window describing what the world looks like under a tree
• The user logs into the system and presses the button which opens a new window to review their tasks for the day

Tier Two

• The user presses a button to open a window and presses a second button to open another window
• The user presses the first button to open the window displaying their data. The user then clicks the 'edit' button on the ribbon to open a dialog window to record the number of iterations the project has.

Download Documents Here

If you take part, you need to download the documents below otherwise your participation cannot be counted towards the study.

There are three documents (Please note, I cannot accept your participation unless you return both the completed Consent Form and the Questionaire):

The UH protocol number for this study is COM/PGT/UH/02004 and approved by the ECDA.

1. Participant Information Sheet: Information relating to the study's terms and details how your data will be stored relating to that gathered through the study and other important information
Download Terms Document Here
2. Consent form: Declaration of concent of particpation and knowledge of information in the Particpant Information Sheet above
Download Consent Form Here
3. Questionaire: Questions to complete following apprasal of the application. Please complete these and submit with your completed consent form to sarah.critchley[at]hotmail[dot]com
Download Questionaire Here

POC Consideration and known issues

This is a Proof of Concept and is not a fully developed application.

There are known issues which are listed below to assist you in your testing and participation of the study:

• Remove any grammar next to key words including commas and fullstops
• Only use lowercase for the actions and objects
• Positioning of elements is not 100% on certain screensizes, it is recommended you maximise your browser window to ensure the overlapping elements don't interfere with your interactions

Take yourself back to the homepage! :)


Start!

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