Lynn Bajowski

Abstract

Mobilizing web applications is a current design problem facing software development teams. The majority of projects aimed at developing solutions for mobile devices have been focused on extending the functionality of existing Web applications. The solutions, being developed for personal digital assistants are scaled down versions of the existing Web application. This design solution has proved to be unusable. The usability failures are tied to not having a clear understanding of the user and task requirements. The Web interface seems to be getting in the way of designing an appropriate solution for personal digital assistants. Requirements analysis involves a wide range of activities aimed at eliciting a precise description of the functional, data and usability requirements of the system under consideration. There are many methods and techniques that are available to assist development teams in being able to analyze the underlying structures of a system. The issues with many of these techniques are that they focus on the user interface. These techniques hide the structure of the system behind the user interface details, making it easier to talk about menus, icons, and screen layout than about whether the structure supports the work. This thesis sets out to demonstrate the benefits of using the Contextual Design methodology as the framework for a front-end design process. Contextual design offers techniques that assist in moving the focus from the user interface to the underlying structure. A front-end design process will be defined, using contextual design; to extend the functionality of Rochester Institute of Technology's web based course registration system to a Palm.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Personal communication service systems; Wireless communication systems; Wireless Internet; Wireless Internet; Internet programming; Application software

Publication Date

2002

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

Information Sciences and Technologies (GCCIS)

Advisor

Niemi, Rayno

Advisor/Committee Member

Vogel, Michael

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: TK5103.485 .B356 2002

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Download

Share

COinS