IS U570  Human-Computer Interaction
Term Project          Prof. Hafner            Spring 2004
Due Date Monday April 12 - cutoff date Wednesday April 14

The term project will be done in groups of 3 or 4. There will be four different projects, and groups can choose which one they will do. Completion of the project will require:

DUE DATES:
  March 10, form groups and select topics
  March 22, hand in a collection of activity scenarios, with a brief claims table. It is presumed (but not required) that some or all
   of these will be implemented and demonstrated in your presentation.
  Three weeks later the final project is due!

Project A. Restaurant menu planning system. This is an interactive system that will allow a restaurant manager to create the daily menu, and the system will generate a list of ingredients that must be on-hand at the beginning of the day to satisfy the estimated needs For simplicity, assume the restaurant is only open for one meal, dinner. At the beginning of the day, the manager decides what items will be offered on the dinner menu that evening. Assume that all items can be prepared on the same day they will be served. The system will generate a list of needed ingredients (and amounts) that must be on hand to prepare that evening's dinner. Note that the system must obtain from the manager information about how many portions of each menu item are expected to be sold that evening. Also, the system must obtain and store information about the ingredients for each dish (and the amounts per serving).

Project B. Travel diary.  This is an interactive system that assists a user in planning and keeping track of their itinerary, reservations, activities and expenses when they travel.  It is useful before, during and after a trip. It should also support a "travel journal" where the user can record their observations and experiences during the trip. The system should be aimed at the general public.

Project C. Interactive tutorial. This is an interactive system to support adult learning about some subject of general interest. The subject matter should be reasonably narrow, and the tutorial should be aimed at average, reasonably successful consumers. Some possible subject areas might be: some area of science or technology; something in nature, such as birds, flowers, or the constellations. (If birds or flowers, probably there must be a further focus to narrow the topic.) The life and work of a great artist, writer/poet, composer, or scientist. (Or an art or music genre such as opera or Broadway musicals.) A "how to" tutorial for some activity such as gardening. There MUST be elements where the user engages in "active learning", so the system is not just a database browser. (This may consist of formal or informal "quizzes" so users can test their knowledge, but more creative ideas are encouraged.) Remember, you need not implement the whole tutorial, just enough to create some interesting learning scenarios that illustrate your user interface design. Groups choosing this project are required to get pre-approval of the subject matter from Prof. Hafner

Project D. A lending library interface for a personal book and/or music collection. Functions supported must include viewing information about the items in the collection, lending and returning items, adding and removing items from the collection. It is assumed that items are loaned to friends, so there is no money involved.

Project E.   A simulated casino, with one or more choices of games to play.  This can be combined with Project C if you want to focus on teaching the user how to play a game, with the actual play filling the role of the "active learning" component.  *** Note this may present difficult programming challenges!!

REMEMBER -- you are not asked to program extensive back-end functionality for these systems -- only the interface and a few simulated scenarios. You are encouraged to be creative, but not frivolous.