Software Engineering with an Agile Development Framework/Iteration Three/Content production

For many projects, the content of the software is beyond the scope of the IT project team. It is not a sensible use of an IT professional's skills to to typing up recipes to fill a cooking database. Hence, we try to focus on developing content management systems rather than "websites". But there are significant exceptions to this rule:

  • when the data itself has significant IT complexity.
  • when the content is integral to the software - that is, cannot be separately considered as "the stuff someone else will put in later".

Case studies edit

  Case study Hospitality training CD

Group: Dave Ponting, Luke Quarrie, Georgina Robertson for Etrusco Restaurant and Otago Polytechnic Hospitality


Etrusco at the Savoy is a restaurant in Dunedin with exacting standards of presentation and service. Working with Fred & Meegan Gianone and Otago Polytechnic School of Hospitality. This project group has developed an interactive CD to meet the training needs of the business. Fred & Meegan described it as a "fantastic effort". These images show the development of the content from original wireframes to finished product.

         


The group produced paper based prototypes early as part of requirements determination. In discussion with the client they were not looking for comments on font, image – but rather what are the functions the client would like. They then mocked up the whole system and were able to test this with the client and their staff in detail. The final system was similarly extensively tested.

The group used an iterative approach to create the content management system and then produced each component of the content in turn in a modular fashion. This approach to always having a working product is a very sensible implementation plan.



  Case study Marine Quest- Crab feeding utensils

Group: Alastair Nicholl, Liz Coup and Janey Labes for Portobello Aquarium


The group received funding for an artist to implement their wireframes and specifications. Here we follow the group's development of a particular game: Crab feeding utensils.

 

Our first prototype is referring to the paperbased game that the Marine Studies Centre currently uses. We thought it would be a good candidate to be digitalised on the computer. The client provided us with a paper-based version of this game. After contact with the client during iteration 1, we established that this was an important concept for children to understand (as several of the Marine Studies Centre programmes focussed on food chains).

   

These are from the first detailed storyboards that we completed for Crab Feeding Utensils. We decided to present the user with a choice of crabs. When a crab was clicked, a close up image of the crab would appear with a choice of utensils at the side of the screen. To make the game more interesting and increase “replayability”, we added additional utensils that were not matched to any crab and made the choices random each time the game was played.

A clue would appear below the crab image to help the user identify the correct utensil. Content was taken from the existing paper-based resources. If the user selected the wrong utensil, they would receive feedback in the form of a sound effect and the utensil returning to the side of the screen and being disabled. When the user chose the correct utensil, the feedback would include sound effects and an animation of the crab feeding. An idea was proposed that the animation could include the crab “using” the actual kitchen utensil, followed by the realistic feeding motion. This idea was later discarded as it was not educational.

 

This was the flash game built. This version focuses on core game functionality rather than accurate artwork. Images are used as placeholders.

  This is the version we created after we had received the Main Menu from the artist. In this version we had clues to help the user, and the kitchen utensils were random. When we initially showed the client this it was hard to get across that the images were just place holders, and that they will be replaced by the artist.

 

In this version we had a robust game, and in future versions all that has changed is feedback and interface design. Key features of this version: The utensil bar changed from horizontal to vertical to make more room for the feedback, Clues added, Treasure functionality, Random utensils, An anchor over the crabs to let the user know that they got it right.

  In this final version we added additional feed back when the user got the correct utensil. This was result of observations during user testing - most user did not realize that they had got it right and that the crab was feeding. A few kids even thought that the shrimp was dancing.



{{Adfexemplar |Talking with Leonardo | Chrissie Jackson and Jonathon Ung for Otago Museum|

The Leonardo Talking Head robot is an interactive robot with a personality. The robot will accept speech and respond back.

This sequence of images depicts the development of the script.

The first script, recorded by the group to test the interaction.

 

The group then worked with the client to develop a more complete narrative.

 

The style of the narrative was used in describing the twenty key facts the Museum wished to highlight.

 

 

Each sentence was broken up into sub-sentences and re-written with slightly different words, the sub-sentences to be strung together randomly - giving seemingly different conversations to successive museum visitors, even if they gave the same responses.