Assignment 1: Multi-Touch Screens vs. Mouse-Driven Screens
Due Week 3 and worth 180 points

The following resources may be helpful when completing this assignment.

• Dearden, A. (2008). User-Centered Design Considered Harmful
• Norman, D. (2007–2010). Activity-Centered Design: Why I like my Harmony Remote Control

Computer applications that run on desktop and laptop computers have, for a long time, been designed to be driven by dragging and clicking a mouse. With the introduction of tablet personal computers, the trend has shifted toward using touch-based screens. We now have access to touch-based TVs, touch-based monitors, touch-based laptops and touch-based tablets. Touch and multi-touch devices provide end users with the ability to interact physically with an application much more naturally.

Imagine that you are the Information Technology Director of a major chain restaurant, and you have been assigned to design a menu ordering application that can run on all devices. Examine whether using a touch-screen monitor, a tablet, or using a mouse to select menu items to place an order would be most efficient. Speculate how employees would interact with these devices and the type of emotional reaction that customers and employees will experience while placing a beverage, appetizer or entrée order.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Differentiate between the interaction types and styles that apply to multi-touch screens and applications running on them.
2. Determine the conceptual model that you would use when designing a product for your restaurant.
3. Describe the key analogies and concepts these monitors expose to users, including the task-domain objects users manipulate on the screen.
4. Determine one (1) utility / tool in an application for touch-based and mouse-drive screens that should be designed with memory retention / recall. Provide a rationale for your response.
5. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. You may use the resources above or others of your choosing.
6. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
   1. This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different from other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
   2. Typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
   3. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required assignment page length.
   4. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow SWS format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

Discussion: Brainstorming and Developing Essay Ideas

2727 unread replies.3535 replies.For this assignment you will be using pre-writing techniques to generate specific ideas, details and examples for your essay.
Process:
In your journal: Try to fill a number of pages with the following directed brainstorming exercises. This will help you develop material for your essay.
1. List specific examples of ways that people use the 8 different types of intelligence described in Gardner’s essay. List as many examples as you can from each type. Many activities will need to be listed under a few intelligences. Cooking, for example, would fall under kinesthetic as well as logical.

2. Create a cluster or mind map brainstorming examples from your own personal experience with the 8 intelligences. (Write the type of intelligence in the middle of the page and then all the specific examples around in bubbles. Or put yourself in the middle and go from there.) Think of examples from throughout your life. Get specific. See how many you can come up with.

3. Once you have filled a page or two, take one example from Step 1 or 2 and write it at the top of another page. Freewrite about that specific example. Describe in specific sensory detail. (Who, what, where, when—scent, sights, touch, sounds, taste.)

4. Repeat Step 3. Repeat until you have described many examples.

Discussion Forum: Post one or two descriptions, notes, or ideas from your journal; about a page is good.

In your responses to classmates, see if you can extend and connect ideas. This type of group brainstorming can be very fruitful in developing ideas for an essay.