Improving Learning Object Development with Scenarios Rachel S. Smith Kathleen Willbanks Senior Interface Designer Marketing & Operations Manager

Agenda Introductions (who we are) & Survey (who are you?) What is a scenario? Why scenarios are used How scenarios are used Writing scenarios Elements of a scenario Personas Examples Deriving requirements from scenarios Kinds of requirements Getting requirements out of scenarios rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

What is a scenario? Description of an activity that takes place while someone is using a product or service User-focused and product-focused From one sentence to several paragraphs in length rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Why Scenarios Are Used To help developers visualize how their product or service will be used by real people As a reference at various points during development to make sure we’re on the right track As a quick way to test a working product to see if it meets our initial requirements rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

How Scenarios Are Used To gather user requirements for a project To do user testing even before anything has been mocked up or built To check storyboards and mockups to see if they are on the right track prior to implementation To check the work-in-progress during implementation to make sure it does what we wanted it to do To check the completed work before we release it to make sure it does what we wanted it to do rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Writing Scenarios Keep your project (product or service) in mind Don’t focus on technical solutions Think about what the experience will be like for users when your product is done Think about best-case, worst-case, and normal-case applications rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Elements of a Scenario Prerequisites One or more personas What has happened prior to this scenario? One or more personas Who is involved? Description of activities What is happening? Results What is the ending state of the scenario? rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Elements of a Scenario: Prerequisites What has happened prior to this scenario? For example: A student has enrolled in a course and been given the course URL. An instructor has had accounts set up for all her students so they can access a module sold on a subscription basis. Sometimes prerequisites refer to previous scenarios. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Elements of a Scenario: Persona(s) A short description of a specific imaginary person Identify primary user types for your product or service, and create a couple of personas for each user type (i.e. students) Personas can be reused; keep a library Useful to help focus our scenarios by forcing us to think about actual people rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Persona Ingredients Biographical information about the imaginary person (name, age, occupation) Brief sketch of typical day or activities Personality traits that affect how the person does work related to your product Information about his/her level of experience with the technology you are using rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Sample Student Persona Kerry is a third-year student at California State University Long Beach. She has been studying French for several years, including high school classes as well as university courses. She is interested in 19th-century French literature and plans to double-major in French and English Lit. She lives on campus, has a computer of her own, and is familiar with using the web and email. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Sample Instructor Persona Dr. Zauzig teaches advanced French language courses at CSU Long Beach. She is not very interested in technology, but she understands that her students are, and she is able to get some help from the IT department when she needs it. One of her graduate students knows how to make web pages and often helps her. Dr. Zauzig has been collaborating with Dr. Wilson, another professor at a different campus, to create an online unit that they both can use in their courses. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Exercise: Writing Personas rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Elements of a Scenario: Activities What is happening during this scenario? Examples: A student is trying to complete a certain assignment using the unit. An instructor is trying to assess student progress. Activities will vary depending on the nature of the product. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Elements of a Scenario: Results What is the ending state of the scenario? Examples: The student has completed her assignment and is ready to send it to the instructor. The instructor has finished assessing student progress and is ready to write feedback for the student. The ending state of one scenario often sets up the next scenario. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Writing Scenarios: Example Example Project: online module for teaching French literature (exact content is not specified for this exercise). Developers: two faculty (content experts) and two graduate students (technical developers). Primary user types: students, instructors Secondary user type: administrators rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Scenario 1: Learning a French Poem Persona: Kerry Pre-requisites: Kerry has enrolled in the class and has a login/password for the online course materials. (See handout p. 3 for text of this and other sample scenarios.) rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Exercise: Writing Scenarios rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Deriving Requirements from Scenarios Using scenarios to develop a requirements document Assumptions: basic facts or limitations we know we have to work with Requirements: basic functions that the module must carry out so users can perform their task(s) Issues: unresolved questions that arise as we work This is one of several ways to use scenarios during learning object development rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Kinds of Requirements User requirements: functions that someone using the system will see or do. Example: user needs to save his work; there must be a control that allows him to do this. System requirements or technical requirements: behind-the-scenes technical functions that the system must be capable of doing in order to support the user requirements. Example: when user activates the “save my work” control, the system must allow the user to name the file and then write it to a disk. You don’t need to separate the types of requirements at this stage. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Getting Requirements from Scenarios Examine each scenario and ask the following questions: What is the user trying to do? What part of the task is facilitated by the system or product? What part of the task is independent of the system or product? What has to happen “behind the scenes” while the user does this task? What does the user see on the screen while he is working on the task? rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Deriving Requirements: Examples See handout pp. 3-4. rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Your Turn Continue developing scenarios & personas Start pulling assumptions, requirements & issues Questions? rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019

Thank you! This presentation will be available at this URL: http://www.cdl.edu/rachel/presentations.html rachel@cdl.edu | kathleen@cdl.edu | www.cdl.edu 5/8/2019