The Simpsons Portal

Overview Problem we are addressing Our user tasks UI design

User Community Simpsons Fans TV Watchers Computer Users College Students

Current user practices Reruns Trading Episodes Chat Trivia Research

Picture of User’s Screen

Solution Allow concurrent searching, browsing, and watching of archives Provide additional information –Plot summaries –References –Episode Dialogue Create a community –Watch episodes together –Interact Chat Trivia Competitions

Solution

User Testing Tasks 1.Browse through seasons of The Simpsons and read a specific episode’s plot summary (easy) 2.Search for a specific episode and watch it (medium) 3.While watching the episode, join a chat and look up a piece of trivia (hard)

UI Overview Button Bar Fixed Frames Different Views Explorer-style Information

Button Bar Continuous access to all of the features of the site Select the frame to display information Multiple screen formats

Button Bar Now Playing Browse Search General Info Chat Trivia Help

Button Bar Left Frame Upper Right Frame Lower Right Frame

Fixed Frames Standard View

Different Views Extended View

Different Views Full screen mode

Explorer Style Information Plus/minus menu metaphor

Development of the Pop-ups

Demonstrate Site

Review Must represent many forms of information Must display a large volume of information Must be flexible, accessible Different info in different regions Menus allow deep information Multiple views allow customization

Not Yet Implemented Complete episode information Proper streaming video Chat and Trivia functions Full Screen mode Database State – PHP, Dynamic Page Generation

Tools DreamWeaver Emacs Photoshop Notepad, MSPaint, vi, Front Page, Apache, etc.

Summary More and more people are using the internet to supplement their TV- watching. We are offering a central location where they can watch TV and get related information and interaction.