Chapter 2 Products and Evaluation

1. Chapter 2Products and Evaluation Multimedia Products They come in many shapes and forms. In order to develop multimedia products, you need to know what types are out there • Types of multimedia products • The type of product is defined by who is using it • Ex: use of CD-room based encyclopedia

2. Multimedia types depending on their uses are grouped as: Briefing Reference Database Education and Training Kiosk Entertainment and games Some of the products may overlap each other. Example: A child playing a computer game

3. Multimedia Products: Briefing • Briefing products are small, straightforward, linear products used to present information quickly and concisely • Characteristics of Briefing Products • Developed in short period of time • Short lifetime • Text is the predominant media used • Briefing Products Examples • Corporate presentations • Sales presentations • Educational lectures

4. Briefing contains few navigation controls. Other control types are used to enhance the presentation such as the following: • Zooming • Panning control • Thumbnail pages or bookmarks (for review, select, move) • Drawing and graphic editing tools • Characteristics of good Briefing products: • A thorough understanding of the subject • Seamless integration of content • Consistent page layout • The briefing presenter should speak Extemporaneously about the presentation

5. Multimedia Products: Reference • They are the most common type of commercial multimedia products. • Examples of Reference products • Encyclopedias • Dictionaries • Cook-books • Historical and scientific surveys • Characteristics of Reference products • Long lived products • Usually deployed on CD-ROM or other high-density media • Developed and used by a wide range of users • Very structured and easy to use

6. Types of Reference products • Generalized content • Detailed content (specialized) • Multimedia Products: Database • Similar to reference systems in having large amounts of data • Different because they are focused on storing and accessing the actual data • Examples: • Collections of fonts, pictures, sound and video clips • Materials of plays, stories • Map, chart • Scientific survey information • Phone number and zip code listings

7. May require multiple disks/CDS to store large amount of data • It depends on support functions such as: • A search and find engine • Presentation functions to display the data nicely • Export functions • Print facilities • Conversion utilities • The type of the support functions will vary depending on the expected use of the product

8. Multimedia Products: Education and Training • They fall in three general categories • Instructor support products • Standalone or self-paced products • Combination products • Instructor support products • Used by teachers and trainers (with textbooks, lectures,..) • They may include study notes, lectures slides and handouts and testing and assessment materials • Standalone products • Called CBT (Computer Based Training) • Can be used alone by the students

9. Combination products • Combine of support and standalone products • Example is textbooks that have CD-ROMs • Three important things must be considered when building Education and Training products: • The background of the students • The learning objective and outcome of the training • Assessment (testing) of the students to make sure that they have learned something

10. Multimedia Products: Kiosk • Kiosk products are easy to use and have a relatively simple function (ex. ATM bank machines, mall ) • They are entertaining, utility and workhorse • They are unique in that they consist of software and hardware solutions • They usually consists of top-level menu with no more than two or three layers of sub-menus • A timing mechanism to reset the kiosk to a starting point when it is unused

11. Multimedia Products: Entertainment and Games • They are the most popular especially for those who never used computer • They may be accessed on a standalone computer via CD-ROM, networks or special purpose game machine connected to television monitors • Heavily based on the use of graphics, audio, animation and video • Have simple navigation controls • Most of them depend on a timer or scorekeeping system • Offers multi player feature

12. Evaluation • There are 2 perspectives for evaluation of multimedia products, the user and the developer • The User’s perspective • Issues concern the user are: • Subject/content • Platform • What type of platform and the compatibility with the product • Usability • How well the product works and can the user operate it • Learning/training time • Error rate • Task time • Retention :operating the product in future sessions • Look and feel • Cost • How much is gained for how much is spent

13. The Developer’s perspective • Evaluation by other developers • Will not repeat mistakes • Issues to be considered during the development process • Content • Product domain • Message • Comparison to other similar products • Performance • Behavior on the end user hardware • Graphic quality • Audio and video playback quality

14. Delivery • Installation • Operational features • Packaging • Documentation • Interface • Ease of use for novice users • Depth for experienced users • Navigation features all work and useful • Strategies for new Developers