Mind mapping and brain storming

Read on Wikipedia about the difference between mind mapping and brain storming.

See a video on how to use mind mapping for accelerated learning.

Get some free software for making mind maps.

How do we record our understanding?

Report
Presentation
Speeches
Questionnaires
Evaluation
Survey
Log book
Make a video
Screenshots
Slideshows
Google Analytics
Traffic monitoring
Test Scripts including features wanted from other applications
Cutting and pasting bits of code
DFD Diagrams
UML
SSADM
Testing understanding
Mind mapping (brain storming)
Storyboarding
We can use Systems Analysis techniques such as diagrams, as well as written textual analysis.
Our understanding will also be recorded in the new applications that we develop, these new applications will have taken ideas and information from past developers and will have been manipulated by us to come up with a brighter and more user friendly application.
Using Systems Analysis and programs designed to compile data on applications. A word processed report could be produced with graphical data, tables etc.
Storyboarding
Mind-mapping

What sources of information are there?

Text
Images
Video
Audio
Literature
Blogs e.g. Cal's notes
Source code
Search engines e.g. google
Magazine reviews
TV advertisement
Word of mouth – socialising
Online encyclopaedia e.g. Wikipedia
Developer sources on the net
Developer blogs
Usage of the site
Search engines
Reviews of software
Screenshots
Help & Advice
Tutorials
External links
Flickr’s FAQ’s
User/moderators feedback

What kind of questions should we be asking?

What underlying data is being used and how is it being transformed into the information that we see?
What is the application designed to do?
How does it achieve this?
What technologies does it utilize?
What programming languages does it use? – analyse source code, look at url
How was it made?
Why was it made?
How long did it take to make?
How successful is it?
Can we grasp the application and progress from it?
Will the application benefit the user?
Who developed the application?
Who is it aimed at?
How are the pictures being displayed and stored?
Looking at the file extensions to determine the technology used?
Looking at the fields used in the forms?
Who uses what?
How it’s been developed?
Opinion of the users.
How can this software be improved?
Is it a commercial application?
Investment
Pushing yourself
Involvement
Are they:
User Friendly? - easy to navigate, clear headings etc
Compatible? – need for extra software. Plug-ins, specific OS, browser etc
Accessibility? - how easy can people get hold of program (Free/payment etc)
Interactivity? – how much can you do?
How could the program be enhanced?
Is there room for update/development of project – evolved versions?
Flickr: Privacy - Photos- who can see them? How?
Performance/limitations - Upload - file types, size, bandwidth useage?
Social Issues - License/ legislation, etc?

Why are we studying existing applications?

Learn from mistakes benefit from good ideas
Identify strengths and weaknesses
To see what works well and what doesn’t work well
Gain different perspectivesImprove on original design
Gives an overview of what people are using and not using
Looking at what’s there and seeing what can be improved
See the technology that people are using
Compare similar sites
Overview of applications that are already out there
Showing how they use the latest technology
Looking at the interface provided
To gain an insight into how these programs and their users interact with one another and to what effects their functions have.
To look at what multimedia technologies are used and how they create the application as a whole.
To be able to gain a further understanding into what users need as well as what they want from an application.
To help the decision making process in creating new applications by looking into key factors and information that make existing applications run.
To single out faults in other applications, then update and improve them in our own.

Why are we looking at web applications - sample answer

Why are we studying the existing applications?

It’s good to study a successful or a fail (existing) application as it will give us an insight on what the users liked or disliked. There must be reasons why an application is more popular than some others; therefore it’s a good idea to study them.

What kind of questions should we be asking?

We should consider on the design of the application in terms of design and study each aspects of the application (or website), depending on what features are available. For instance, if there is lots of information on the website (such as images or texts), we could consider how this information are retrieved? Are they static, dynamic, are they linked to a separate file (database), what programming languages are used? We could also ask how the interactions are implemented on to the website, such as the use of Java’s and Action Scripts to create a much more interaction user experience. At the same time we could consider what type of user the website is being targeted, whether their computer system is compatible with the used codes?

What sources of information are there?

The images, titles, users details (log-in), the search function, etc. are information which will need to be stored on the website (in the context of an application). The “source” of the information could also include data (such as account details), which can be stored on a separate database and linked back to the website (HTML) through the use of database languages such as PHP. This is commonly used for large databases as it’s much easier to retrieve data from a centralised database and to modify the content without having to modify the “presentation layer”, the website the users can see.

How do we record our understanding?

We can record our understanding through detailed documentation, along with diagrams or images to explain the findings. It is also possible to conduct survey’s to capture the users’ opinion. Finally, the best way to record our understanding is by applying the techniques’ in our own work in some way.

Flickr links

Main links

• Flickr
• Cal Henderson's Talk
• Cal Henderson's blog

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Fickr 'mashups'

• Suduko with Flickr photos
• Flickr Words
  

Week 1 - Introduction

• UWEOnline
• PowerPoint Slides
• Module Themes
• Draft CourseWork 1 Specification
• Background Questionnaire

Basic Resources

• Last Year's workplan
• Module Specification on StudentsOnline
• Module Page on Chris Wallaces's website
  

Welcome

This is the blog for the module Data, Schemas and Applications. Authors are Chris Wallace and Mark Butler.

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