20100926 - Ezzedine, ...Designing Easy-to-use Interfaces for Wireless Devices [PDA]

Design guidelines for wireless distributed learning at Royal Roads University: Designing easy-to-use interfaces for wireless devices by Ezzeddine, Shadi Najib, M.A., Royal Roads University (Canada), 2004 , 149 pages; AAT MQ87649 My Interest: 1) Usability requirements for PDA. 2) User interface requirements for PDA. 3) 3 End Users, a panel of Technical Experts. Action: Medium-low priority to read specific parts of the Dissertation in future. Research Goals This paper examines several facets of user interface design for Personal Digital Assistance (PDA). First, it considers the use of portals or web sites (Internet) as a test bed platform for deploying and delivering the LEARNPDA prototype on PDAs. Second, it looks at the guidelines and issues for designing an effective easy-to-use user interface for PDA. Third, it examines, through a prototype, ways in which usability and user interface design requirements may be used to evaluate a proposed PDA compatible interface for the Royal Roads University (RRU) learning community portal. Motivation This project focuses on the user interface requirements and the design of a high-level semi-navigational functional prototype for learners so they can focus on their main learning objectives. Methodology Due to time constraints, the research presented here was tested on three end users and a panel of technical experts. The prototype was built as a means to explore solutions to specific usability and user interface design problems that online educational programs may face. The prototype was limited to comparing alternative designs between the desktop and PDA devices using a sample MADL 539 course at RRU. Recommendation However, the research recommendations included in this study are meant to increase access for MADL learners and could possibly be applied to other program at RRU. Comments: Softcopy Dissertation is scanned version; cannot copy and paste; not easy to blog about it.