Assignment 1: UI Design Critique

Due: Thursday, February 13

Instructions

For this assignment, you will write a brief critique of a user interface. You should base your critique on the design principles we covered in class (from Norman’s Design of Everyday Things). Your critique will likely take a similar form as the Hall of Fame & Hall of Shame activity that we did in class, but it should be conducted independently and include more detail.

Remember that most interfaces are not all good or all bad. Some aspects of a single interface can be great and others can be terrible. This is especially true with large and complicated interfaces that have multiple parts and afford various interactions, like websites, apps, and intricate control panels (e.g., in a car). Your critique does not need to place your interface of choice into the Hall of Fame or Shame as a whole. Instead, it should identify specific elements of the interface, state whether they are well-designed or not, and describe why.

Your critique should describe the interface and its purpose (why does this thing exist, and what does it do?). Then, it should make 4 unique comments about the interface. Each comment should identify the aspect of the interface on which you are commenting, state what you are observing about it, note which design principle your comment evokes, and take a position on whether it is an example of good or bad design. If you’d like to go a little further with this, you are welcome to discuss tradeoffs – arguments for and against the same design elements – as well.

You are welcome to pick something that you interact with on a screen, but you don’t have to. Some ideas: websites, apps, computer programs, car dashboards, kitchen appliances, elevator bays, computer input devices, thermostats…

Do not pick the same interface that you presented on during the Hall of Fame & Shame activity. (You will likely want something a bit more complicated.)

Guidelines

  • Your assignment must be typed. It should not exceed 2 pages using Times New Roman 12pt font, single-spaced, with 1 inch margins (or an equivalent format that amounts to the same length) including images.
  • You must include images for everything that you discuss. It’s fine to use the same image if it addresses more than one of your comments. For example: If you write about a single-page portfolio website and comment on different parts of the page (like the navigation, search bar, and scrolling), then one image may be fine. If you write about a social media platform and critique the login page, the friends list, and the messaging service, then you will almost certainly need multiple images.
  • As per the syllabus policy, any use of ChatGPT or similar tools for copy editing must be disclosed.

Grading

Your assignment will be graded on the accuracy of your applications of concepts from class and the clarity of your arguments.

  • 20% for description of the interface and its purpose
  • 20% for each comment in your critique (including any images)

Total: 100%

Points may be deducted for not following the guidelines above.