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Now that he has chosen his schedule for the upcoming semester, he decides to plan ahead by seeing which classes he still needs to take in order to graduate. From this list displayed on ManCourses, he can see dependencies of certain classes on other classes. Using this information, John creates a tentative schedule for each remaining semester that he has at MIT. Now that he knows that he can graduate without taking more than 4 classes per semester, he decides to crack open an intoxicating can of “root” beer and relax for the rest of the day.
Designs
Design 1
Design 2
Design 3
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Design 1
Overview
This interface is partitioned into two frames: a search frame, where searches can be made and results displayed, and a main frame that allows the user to tab between three displays: degree requirements, current selections, and projected schedules, which typically should not contain any information a user might want to access simultaneously with another display. The goal of this design is to streamline the user experience by anticipating the information a user will most want to view all at once to make decisions.
Storyboard
1. Upon logging in, John is greeted with a search bar and a main frame containing a graphical summary of the completion of his degree requirements.
2. He expands the relevant tree node to view his degree requirements, which will distinguish between classes that have been taken, classes that are not offered this term, and classes that may be selected this term.
3. If John clicks on one of the hyperlinked requirements, the search frame will produce a list of expandable results similar to this example. The unexpanded class only displays very basic information and class ratings.
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4. John adds 8.08 by clicking on the "add" button, which instantly changes to a "remove" button.
5. After adding another physics class, John searches for other classes in the Search field. He receives another list of results from which he can choose.
6. John decides to look over his schedule by clicking the "Selections" tab in the top of the main frame. He sees a list of the classes he has selected, recitation options, and a weekly schedule.
7. Having finalized his schedule, John syncs his classes with his Google calendar.
8. John tabs back to his degree requirements, retrieves classes to take later in the search results, and places them in his projected schedule.
9. Clicking on the "add to projected schedule" button produces a popup allowing John to choose the relevant semester.
10. John can now view his projected schedule by tabbing in the main frame. He can remove classes from this page.
Analysis
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Design 2
Overview
Storyboard
Analysis
Design 3
Overview
Design 3 sacrifices learnability for efficiency and visibility. The interface is slightly more complicated to learn than our previous designs, but one nice part about it is that most important information is visible all the time (few different screens of information). The current schedule, choices of classes under a specific requirement, and course requirements and dependencies are all visible at any given time. Because of this, it is very quick and easy to access and view important information. In terms of error prevention, the only user errors possible with the system would be registering for two different classes which meet at the same time. This is taken care of by the user interface because the courses which conflict with the currently selected courses would be grayed out (and thus could not be selected).
Storyboard
<image: design 3 (to be scanned)>