CS190i Homework Assignment 1  

Due: Thu, Jan. 19th (23:59:59)
 
The goal of this assignment is to apply your knowledge about the history of HCI, current technologies, user interface possibilities and the UI design guidelines from DTUI, chapter 2 to a careful analysis of the annotated Sun Starfire concept video script.  

Please address the following questions (in writing):

1. What features from the Starfire scenario had been (mostly) achieved by the target date of November 16, 2004? List ten features that weren't in widespread use in 1994, but are now. Order the features by decreasing customariness, i.e., list the most established features first. For each of your ten chosen features, give one example for it appearing in an existing UI and compare the scope of the feature's real-world application with the video's vision: reality exceeds projection, reality matches projection, reality falls short of projection (note that a certain feature may be well established by now (and wasn't in 1994), but the overall application case of how that feature is put to use may differ from today's reality). Explain your assessment briefly and concisely. 
    
2. What features from the Starfire scenario are still out of reach today? List ten features that have not yet been achieved. Order the features by decreasing blatancy of the misjudgment, i.e., list the most obviously unachieved features first. For each of these features, note what progress would need to be made to establish it in real life.
    
3. In one short summary paragraph, state in what overall areas the video makers were correct in their predictions, and in what main areas they misjudged technological and social development .  
    
4. (Re-)Read DTUI, Sections 2.2.*. Compare the guidelines from the sections in 2.2 with the interfaces in the video script. On first impression you will find that many guidelines apply to interfaces of a quite different kind than portrayed in the video script. Still, make the effort and give 5 examples of how some of the guidelines are implemented in interfaces from the video.
    
5. (Re-)Read DTUI Sections 2.3.*.
   a) What interaction styles (2.3.3) are predominant in the video?
   b) Give five examples of how some of the eight golden rules of interface design are complied with in the video's interfaces. Give two examples of where a golden design rule is violated. Comment briefly on this occurrence by either suggesting an improved interface or by reformulating the design rule so that it becomes more generally applicable.