Running head: VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

Video Conferencing Training Project Prototype

Elaine M. Mello
Capella University
ED7814 - U03a1 January 31, 2016

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

XYZ University has embarked upon the creation of a self-directed, self-paced e-learning
site that will be used to train the administrative assistants and teaching assistants in the use of
department owned video conferencing rooms on campus. The university has many partnerships
with other academic institutions as well as manufacturing and biotechnology industries which
require collaborative meetings via video conferencing. While video conferencing technology has
existed for many years, it is only recently that the costs of video conferencing systems have
made it an emerging technology that is affordable to individual departments to install at the
university. Prior to these local installations, faculty would need to go to specially designed
rooms on campus that were run by IT and video professionals on a cost recovery basis. With the
ubiquitous nature of collaboration and conferencing, it is not only more convenient to have
systems within departments, but is more cost effective as well. The video conferencing systems
are controlled by the host departments and the administrative staff is expected to schedule and
run the rooms as necessary. The e-learning will replace in-person sessions provided by video
conferencing personnel who oversee the installation of the rooms for the departments.
A user analysis of the learners has been conducted and interaction design was chosen as a
focus for the interface design for creating the e-learning modules. While the assumption
amongst department management is that once installed, the video conferencing rooms will be
self-service and easy to use, the reality is that there are many variables which can affect the
quality of a video conference call. The administrative staff will be expected to not only schedule
and turn on the system, but be responsible for the successful running of high level video
conferences for department heads and faculty. Task analyses have been conducted to better
understand the processes necessary for scheduling a video conference and testing the technology
with a remote site prior to the actual conference occurring. Use cases were developed to help

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

with the conceptual design of the e-learning site and a content diagram was created to identify
key areas of the interface. The content diagram will be used to create a low-fidelity prototype for
review.
Low-fidelity prototypes allow the designer to create an interface that combines cognitive
psychology theory and design principles (Stone et al., 2005) to design a user interface mockup
that will allow the design team and stakeholders to examine the flow of the e-learning in a
manner that is flexible and low cost. The designer can take the feedback from stakeholders and
modify the low-fidelity prototype as many times as necessary to incorporate feedback in an
iterative approach before starting on the actual build of the interface in the e-learning platform.
The designer will incorporate best practices and psychological principles such as visibility,
affordance, consistency, perceptual organization and feedback (Stone et al., 2005) to create an elearning site that will be effective in imparting information to the learners based on what was
discovered in the user and task analysis stages.
In focusing on interaction, the designer can create an interface that will work best for
different interaction techniques by using the affordance principle to select the best methods for
physical and cognitive interaction with the e-learning site (Sundar, et al., 2014). The choices by
the designer may influence a learners motivation, perceptions and retention of information
learned. Having a clear understanding of these potential interactions due to different personal
characteristics will enable the designer to create a site that will work best for the potential learner
audience (Sanchez-Franco et al., 2014). Using a combination of heuristic evaluation by the
design team and a hands-on walkthrough of the prototype by potential users will enable the
designer to identity what interactions will work best for the actual designed e-learning site
(Davids, et al., 2013). While heuristic evaluation by experts may help to create the first pass

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

design for testing, observation of typical end users may allow the team to identify potential
issues using the low-fidelity prototype and to make iterative changes to improve the e-learning
site before going through the expense of the actual build.
Having a focus on affordance can allow the designer to create a user interface which will
enable the learners to actively use the site to achieve the learning goals (Park and Song, 2014).
The principle of affordance recommends that controls should be obvious to the user. When
affordances are easy, the user is more inclined to use them and to retain information (Stone et al.,
2005).
In creating a low-fidelity prototype, controls can be laid out so that they are visible,
affordable, consistent and provide feedback to the user. The following example of the prototype
interface design for the XYZ University Video Conferencing Training e-Learning site will
follow these principles as part of the design and can be used for testing before further work is
completed.

Figure 1. Video conferencing room e-learning website low-fidelity prototype.

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

The prototype will be reviewed with comments and suggestions integrated into the design
before final signoff of the interface design plan. Once approved by the clients, a wireframe
model of the site will be created for further testing of interaction and to confirm design decisions
of navigation, usability and accessibility. From there, the design team will use the wireframe to
build the e-learning site which will receive further testing for functionality prior to launch.
The prototype is an important piece in the design as it allows everyone to conceptualize
what the e-learning site will look like when it is finished, but before further expenses are
incurred in the creation of the site. It is much easier to make changes prior to the actual site
creation and programming are started and can save costs over revisions further along in the
design process. The prototype for this project can be found in the Appendix.

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

References

Davids, M. R., Usuf M. E. Chikte, & Halperin, M. L. (2013). An efficient approach to improve
the usability of e-learning resources: The role of heuristic evaluation. Advances in
Physiology Education, 37(3), 242-248. doi:10.1152/advan.00043.2013

Park, H., & Song, H. (2015). Make E-learning effortless! Impact of a redesigned user interface
on usability through the application of an affordance design approach. Journal of
Educational Technology & Society, 18(3), 185-196. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/1707773435?accountid=27965

Snchez-Franco, M. J., Peral-Peral, B., & Villarejo-Ramos, . F. (2014). Users' intrinsic and
extrinsic drivers to use a web-based educational environment. Computers &
Education, 74, 81-97. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.02.001

Stone, D., Jarrett, C., Woodroffe, M., & Minocha, S. (2005). User interface design and
evaluation. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Sundar, S. s., Bellur, S. s., Oh, J. o., Xu, Q. q., & Jia, H. h. (2014). User Experience of OnScreen Interaction Techniques: An Experimental Investigation of Clicking, Sliding,
Zooming, Hovering, Dragging, and Flipping. Human-Computer Interaction, 29(2), 109152.

VIDEO CONFERENCING TRAINING PROJECT PROTOTYPE

Appendix

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