← Back to course
Intro to CS 9-10 / Week 01 / Mission Quest
6/6
Week 01 · Design Before Code

Mission Quest

Mission Quest: Interview, sketch, improve
// Investigate, plan and storyboard Beacon
⏱ about 20 min

Mission Quest: Interview, Sketch, Improve

The greenhouse lights dim to evening blue, and the crew gathers around a crate turned into a table.

Comet deals out index cards. "New game. One of us is the user, and one of us is the developer."

Wren writes the rules at the top of his clipboard. "The developer may only ask questions at first. No sketching yet."

"Then sketch one screen," Comet says, "and the user tests it."

Nova hovers above the crate and glows softly. "Remember to listen for what the user needs," she says. "Not what you want to build."

Comet grins and picks up a pencil anyway.

  1. A computing innovation includes a program as a key part of how it works. It can be physical, software or an idea.
  2. Developers investigate with interviews, surveys, direct observation and user testing.
  3. Requirements describe how a program must function. The specification defines them.
  4. A storyboard plans each screen. A prototype shows the core function and gets early feedback.
  5. Iterative development refines from feedback. Incremental development makes each piece work before adding it.
◇ INTERVIEW, SKETCH, IMPROVE
Choose an imaginary gadget, such as a reminder that helps a class water its plant, or a scoreboard for a family game.
One player is the user. The other is the developer.
The developer asks five questions about what the gadget must do. Ask about the task, never about personal details.
Together, write three requirements on index cards.
The developer sketches one screen. The user tries it while the developer only watches.
Change one thing based on what you saw, and test again. Then swap roles.
For a grown-up
Ask: what did the user need that the developer did not expect?
Ask: what changed between the first sketch and the second? That change is iterative development.
Keep the gadget imaginary, and keep questions about the task, not about anyone's personal information.
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
The developer watches the user try a paper sketch. Which way of investigating is that?
You redraw the screen after the user's feedback. Which kind of development is that?
You wrote three cards that say what the gadget must do. What are they?
On paper, draw the first and second versions of your family's screen side by side. Circle what changed.
QUEST CHECK, PART TWO
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
You make the first screen work before you sketch a second one. Which kind of development is that?
Which question is right for the developer to ask?
What is the name for a set of sketches that plans each screen? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEA storyboard lets a user test a design before any code is written.
← Friday