Review
Paul Ammann
http://cs.gmu.edu/~pammann/
SWE 432
Design and Implementation of Software for the Web
Preparation For Final
• Date and Time
– Thursday, December 17
– Usual Time: 4:30 to 7:10
– Usual Place: Robinson A111
• Format
– Closed Book/Closed Notes
– You may bring 1 sheet of notes
• Normal paper, double sided
Goal: Do well on the Final!
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Materials to Study
• Nielsen/Loranger Chapters 1-8
• Sebesta Chapters 1-7, 9-11, 13
• Slides
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Usability Overview
Error Messages
GUIs
Menus
Widgets
Servlets
JSP
XML
JDBC
State Management
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Nielsen Chapter 1:
Introduction: Nothing to Hide
• Where We Got Our Data
• Tell Me Again:
– Why Do I Need to Do User Testing?
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Nielsen Chapter 2: The Web User
Experience
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How Well Do People Use the Web?
User Satisfaction with Web Sites
How People Use Sites
Search Dominance
Scrolling
Complying with Design Conventions and Usability Guidelines
Information Foraging
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Nielsen Chapter 3: Revisiting Early
Web Usability Findings
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Eight Problems that Haven’t Changed
Technological Change: Its Impact on Usability
Adaptation: How Users Have Influenced Usability
Restraint: How Designers Have Alleviated Usability Problems
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Nielsen Chapter 4:
Prioritizing Your Usability Problems
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What Makes Problems Severe
The Scale of Misery
Why Users Fail
Is it Enough to Focus on the Worst Problems?
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Nielsen Chapter 5: Search
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The State of Search
How Search Should Work
Search Interface
Search Engine Results Pages
Search Engine Optimization
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Nielsen Chapter 6: Navigation and
Information Architecture
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Am I There Yet?
Match the Site Structure to User Expectations
Navigation: Be Consistent
Navigation: Beware the Coolness Factor
Reduce Clutter and Avoid Redundancy
Links and Label Names: Be Specific
Vertical Dropdown Menus: Short is Sweet
Multilevel Menus: Less is More
Can I Click on It?
Direct Access From the HomePage
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Nielsen Chapter 7: Typography:
Readability and Legibility
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Body Text: The Ten Point Rule
Relative Specifications
Choosing Fonts
Mixing Fonts and Colors
Text Images
Moving Text
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Nielsen Chapter 8:
Writing For The Web
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How Poor Writing Makes Web Sites Fail
Understanding How Web Users Read
Writing For Your Reader
Formatting Text for Readability
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Sebesta Study Hints
• Text Covers a Variety of Current Web Technologies
– Much Intended For Programming, as opposed to Exams
– Focus on Latter
– Examples:
• Client Side Event Handling vs. Coding Details
• Ajax Interactions vs. Specific Coding for Different Browsers
• Servlet/JSP/Bean Concepts vs. Deployment Details
• Each Chapter Concludes With Review Questions
– Excellent Source for Exam Questions
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Sebesta Study Hints - Continued
• Dealing With Code Fragments
– Examples:
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JavaScript Event Handling
Ajax call
PHP code
Servlet/JSP code
Bean access
JDBC calls
• Typical Exam Questions
– What Does Code Do?
– How Would You Change It To Do Something Else?
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Study Tips For Material on Slides
• Schneiderman’s 5 criteria
– Articulate/Apply to Examples
• Four General Guidelines for Error Messages
– Analyze/Transform Examples
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Flow and Revenue vs. Excise
Menu Criteria
Servlet/JSP Deployment Architecture
XML Structure, DTDs, Schemas, Validating, Parsing
JDBC – Architecture, Simple SQL
State – Session Definitions, Session vs. Context
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