082509_reference_material

Owned by Sheldon McKay
Last updated: Aug 26, 2009Version comment
2 min read

Starting with draft milestones below and time lines and the list of software, start outlining specific tasks needed to get the milestones completed.

Draft Milestones:

10/09

Assemble/recruit team, gather requirements, thoroughly review
existing tools & data sources, design simulation engine

1/10

Benchmark scalability and accuracy of existing tools, begin system
and interface design (eg mockups, user feedback), define work
needed for scalability/visualization/data exchange technology/other
needs

4/10

Implementation begins

1/11

Begin analysis on comprehensive gene family dataset (“marquee
analysis”

1/11

Begin user testing

4/11

Submission of “marquee analysis”. Begin work on training materials

7/11

Disseminate at workshops & conferencess

User profiles

Develop user personas and scenarios based on items 1-5 below (from this document).

1. Problem Identification

Identify the high level domain problems that must be solved. What problem does the user have that leads them to use the potential product? For example, tree visualization is not the problem that a user has when they make use of a tree visualizer, rather, they have some scientific problem to solve and the visualizer is simply a tool. What are the problems they are trying to solve?

2. Persona Identification

Identify the relevant personas. Who are the people who will be using the system? What background will they bring with them? What kinds of problems will they be attempting to solve?

3. Persona - Problem Mapping

Which personas will use the system to solve which problems?

4. User Story Identification and Development:

We now know the personas and the problems and have mapped them together, next it is time to describe the user experience. For example, persona Doreen wants to solve problem B. What does her interaction with the system toward that end look like?

5. Product Identification:

Once the set of user stories is well understood, they can be grouped logically into products. A product is defined at the level of the user. What functionality makes sense to group together from a user perspective?