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KIMATHI UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF

TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2011/2012

EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER

SCIENCE YEAR IV SEMESTER I

ICS 2402 USER INTERFACE ARCHITECTURES

2011/2012 SPECIAL/ SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION

DATE: February, 2012 TIME: 2 HRS

INSTRUCTIONS

ANSWER QUESTION ONE AND ANY OTHER TWO QUESTIONS

Question One

1. (a) Give a brief description of cognition and its relationship to four

dominant cognitive frameworks for HCI and Interaction Design. Provide

full accounts of two of these frameworks: Mental Models and External

Cognition, with appropriate examples. [15 marks]

b) Compare and contrast the two frameworks.

[5 marks]

2.

a) What are the design implications of Learning Design Interfaces that encourage exploration? [10 marks]

Question Two

1. (a) Mobile phones are now commonplace and designing for them presents new challenges. Outline the key issues involved when designing

a mobile phone interface and reflect on how or if these were

implemented in a mobile phone that you have used. [15 marks]

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(b) When Microsoft first designed their operating system for pocket PCs they

took their current system and replicated it on a smaller scale whereas Palm

took the opposite approach with their PalmPilot. Compare and contrast the

approaches taken and outline which approach you would take if migrating

software to today’s smartphones.

[5 marks]

Question Three

1.

a) Mao (2005) stated that “User-Centered Design (UCD) is a multidisciplinary design approach based on the active involvement of users to improve the

understanding of user and task requirements, and the iteration of design and

evaluation.” His work was based on three principles. Briefly explain these

principles. [10 marks]

b) Explain what is meant by the terms internationalization and localization, and identify from your coursework or elsewhere what aspects of your chosen website

are most likely to be affected. [10 marks]

Question Four

1.

a) The Agile software development method has similar goals to user centred design in that it puts the user at the centre of the process. Fully discuss whether

you could integrate user-centred design and the agile software development

method using relevant examples to illustrate your answer. [15 marks]

a) Provide a brief explanation of the goals of HCI evaluation. [5 marks]

Question Five

It is worthwhile to carry out evaluation prior to implementation because

problems found at the design stage are much easier and cheaper to fix than those

found once the system has been built. Evaluation at this stage tends to be carried

out by people from the design team or HCI experts rather than users. A number

of methods exist. Discuss either the Cognitive Walkthrough method OR the

Heuristic evaluation method. Illustrate your answer with examples from your

coursework or elsewhere. [20 marks]