Seminar Eight Interaction Design

In this seminar, we first presented our proof-of-concept for the mobile technology product of the final projects. Our group was the first to present the idea. It was a mobile food guide java system implemented in the phone. There are some similar products available in the market, but we have important differentiations from other food guides as our competitive advantages:
1. It is with the phone, unlike others are just available online.
2. It provides an easy grading system to collect the feedback from visitors as well as Singaporeans. This in fact utilize the Web 2.0 idea, the wisdom of crowd.
3. It is ads free. We will try to cover all the eateries and update them based on sourcing group from our company and also recommendations from users of our system.
The suggestions we got in the seminar discussion are the following:
1.Food preference : Hindu, Muslim
2.Language preference (inbuilt)
3.PPT attractiveness
4.Transportation
5.Views and average rating
6.Other restaurant not bound to the location (search for restaurant)

I am also thinking about collecting information based on different country groups. For example, people from India may not like the food loved by Chinese. With this sorting system, visitors can view the ratings of people from their country and also the overall ratings.

Other groups' proof-of-concepts were really fantastic. For our group, we still have a long way to go in terms of technique for creating beautiful flashes.

After all the presentations, we learnt some design issues. There are three levels in design: user interface, telecommunications infrastructure and application domain& service. To connect these phases, we need standards for both software and hardware. After having designed a prototype of a specific product, we need testing. One common practise is the iteration testing: First test design without users, then with different kinds of users. Use analysis from test data in next iteration of design, then retest with different users. Design for multiple user profiles, using a variety of interfaces and adaptive mechanisms.

There is one new information I am quite interested in: the simcard for mobile bank. I found relative knowledge from wikipedia:
SIM Application Toolkit (commonly referred to as STK) is a standard of the GSM system which enables the SIM to initiate actions which can be used for various value added services.
The SIM Application Toolkit consists of a set of commands programmed into the SIM card which define how the SIM should interact directly with the outside world and initiates commands independently of the handset and the network. This enables the SIM to build up an interactive exchange between a network application and the end user and access or control access to the network. The SIM also gives commands to the handset, such as display menu and ask for user input.
STK has been deployed by many mobile operators around the world for many applications, often where a menu-based approach is required, such as mobile banking and content browsing. Designed as a single application environment, STK can be started at the initial power up of the SIM card and is especially suited to low level applications with simple user interfaces.

Advantages of SIM Application Toolkit:
1. Some manufacturers claim that STK enables higher levels of security through identity verification and encryption, which are necessary for secure electronic commerce.
2.STK has been deployed on the largest number of mobile devices.

Limitations of STK:
1.After a SIM has been delivered to the customer it can be difficult to change the STK applications and menus on the SIM. To do so either the SIM must be returned and exchanged for a new one which is costly and inconvenient or in some cases the applications can be updated over the air. This limitation hinders the number and frequency of STK application deployment.
2.No multimedia support (only basic pictures)
3.Poor independent development support