` storyboards develop first thoughts about a title’s content and structure--see Lopuck, 10-12
Instead of scripts, Lopuck talks about flowcharts--see pp. 12-13.
Development: Implement a solution
Lopuck’s timeline advocates developing an early, rapid prototype
Why would a rapid prototype be a good idea for a multimedia project? (user testing)
Why might a rapid prototype be easier for multimedia than for, say, systems software?
Activities of multimedia development:
media production: creating or acquiring graphics, video, sounds, animations.
Why is media production a separate activity from programming?
programming in an authoring environment or conventional programming language
Testing and debugging:
debugging: progressing from alpha to beta stage
final debugging and deployment
Delivery and maintenance:
How does delivery via CD-ROM vs. Web change this activity somewhat?
The life cycle of a student’s program typically ends at this point, but...
The life time of a program for a for real world application, however, is just getting started
Maintenance of software involves four different kinds of activities:
-
corrective maintenance--fixing errors found by users after delivery;
e.g., web pages not linking correctly, Authorware’s pattern transition bug on some machines
-
adaptive maintenance--adapting to environmental changes, such as a new OS;
e.g.,
should we port UM to MacIntosh, possibly using Shockwave?
-
perfective maintenance--improving the behavior or performance of a system;
e.g., shortening initial load time of UM by breaking up the program; adding more web page links in the content;
-
preventive maintenance--increasing a system’s future maintainability.
e.g., adopting standards in a published manual of programmers’ guidelines
standardizing fonts, use of sounds, common elements in libraries, etc.
All of these are issues for multimedia projects such as the UM
and our new NSF-sponsored project
Maintenance makes a software development process truly cyclic--revisiting earlier stages
More about analysis or brainstorming (see
Questions for Preliminary Requirements Analysis)
See analydoc.doc and AudienceAnalysisOOSE.doc on the web site.
Assignment:
hand in a preliminary analysis, answering
some of these questions in two weeks.
Then hand in a more fleshed out analysis, revisiting these questions, in about a month.
I’ve organized these questions in terms of questions: who, what, why, where, when and how?
Who: who is your audience? Age, gender, background, experience, attitudes.
In an educational title, what background does this audience already know coming in?
What limitations might some of your audience have that needs to be overcome?
What: what is the problem? What are the goals of your project?
In an educational title, what are the key concepts/skills that the learner will master?
Why: why multimedia? (See prospect.txt on our web page)
Needs assessment: Why will multimedia provide a better solution to the problem?
E.g., we envisioned animation helping students visualize algorithms and processes.
Can you convince someone with dollars to invest in a multimedia solution?
Here’s where lots of brainstorming comes in, envisioning a successful product.
Where: where will it be deployed? Via CD-ROM or via the Web or both?
How: how will it be done?
What resources will you need? Talent, hardware, software, money to pay for it.
Who will work on your project? What roles will each project member have?
Who is the domain expert for teaching your content?
How will he/she work with your team?
What do you already have available? What else do you need? How will you get it?
When: when will it be done?
Be prepared for people in the back seat to start asking, are we there yet?
Begin to develop a timeline, budget and marketing plans
Don’t under-estimate the resources you will need! (Remember the Greek Chorus!)
See prospect.txt and timeline.txt on my web page
These documents were developed as the output of our preliminary analysis for the UM
These are by no means perfect documents, but they give you a chance to learn from
our experience (and mistakes!)