Mapping China
School of Information Management & Systems
B e r k e l e y


SIMS 213
User Interface Design and Development


Project Overview

Assign 1
project proposal

Assign 2
personas, goals, and task analysis

Assign 3
Scenarios, Comparative Analysis, and Initial Design

Assign 4
Low-fi Prototying & Usability Testing

Project Presentation (powerpoint file)


Assign 5
First Interactive Prototype

Assign 6
Project Heuristic Evaluation

Assign 7
Second Interactive Prototype

Assign 8
Pilot Usability Study

Assign 9
Third Interactive Prototype


Assignment 3: Scenarios, Comparative Analysis, and Initial Design

Initial Design by Kari Holmquist

While the purpose of the application is to offer news and industry information, our James Kwong persona would like to see the interrelationships among companies in the U.S. and in China. This lends itself to a possible solution using an information visualization like SmartMoney.com's stock map, through which users would access the site's information.

Figure 1A: Entry by Region

Figure 1B: Region/Industry Representation Pop-up

The design shown by Figures 1A and 1B assumes that users will access data through a geographical map of China. When opening the site, users will see the map, with regions delineated. Like SmartMoney.com's map, when users mouse over the various regions, pop-up boxes will appear naming the region and describing its industry concentration. Clicking on a particular region will bring up that region in the main pane - the full map will shrink to the upper corner with the selected region highlighted. The right side panel will show options for more information on companies and industries. Both the full map and the region pane will allow users to see industry changes over time.


Figure 2: Entry by Industry

Figure 2 allows entry to the site through an industry visualization. Users will see basic information by mousing over the companies in each industry and, when clicking on a particular industry, will see other options available in the right sidebar.


Figure 3: News Search Pane

A good search function is essential to this site. If users want to find a specific company, they can enter the name and see results on the regional or industry maps. For searching news, users can specify a company name or industry and view results by name, date, or other attribute.

 

Figure 4: Task Flow Diagram

This rough sketch shows that the main hub will offer views to the maps, to a search function, to news stories, to companies (through industries, not shown), and thence to more data on companies, including relationships with parents/affiliates.