Homework 1

Due 10/2

Important note: The main point of the following tasks is the experiences that you make/made, and not a correct/optimal solution. In cases of unfulfilled expectations, you should state what you wanted to do, why you decided to perform some action, and in what way that action did not deliver what you expected.

Task 1. Describe stepwise your actions and experiences when carrying out the following two tasks, at a level of detail that allows one to replicate your steps.

1.1. Visit the website of Pope John Paul II, find out which speeches he gave in January 1992 and list those speeches. Give up after 10 minutes if you don't succeed (but still describe your experiences).
Do NOT use the Internet Explorer or Opera web browsers in this task, and make sure Java/JavaScript is on.

1.2. Find l listing of all ICS graduate students, starting at http://www.ics.uci.edu (no, you do not want the list of near graduation Ph.D.'s). You can use any browser but not a search engine. Give up after 15 minutes if you don't succeed (but still describe your experiences).

Task 2. Describe a usability problem that you encountered in the past (this is not restricted to software systems, but may relate to any man-made system). Explain the problems that you encountered and their impacts on you (if possible in terms of the central measurable human factors in user interface evaluation). Describe your suggestions for improvement. Do not write more than one page, unless you need more space to describe the problem or your solution.

How to turn in your answers?
You can upload a PDF file with your answers by 10/2 11:45pm in the Homework 1 Dropbox, or turn in a hardcopy in class on 10/2.