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Updates:
December 5, 2009 - Reorganized this webpage. Added a brief user manual. Made application updates: a message box is displayed if an invalid address is entered and cannot be geocoded, and also included some header graphics on the right pane to provide a visual "roadmap" of each of the 3 steps (i.e. address/service/results).
December 2, 2009 - Created new video to show the application updates, with far sexier narration :)
December 1, 2009 - Numerous application updates, addressing much of the feedback received during the user study. The following changes/updates have been made:
- Removed tab structure, now simply using Back/Next buttons for task navigation
- Added less cryptic descriptions of what to do for each step
- Upon address entry, camera moves to frame the residences
- Relative importance sliders labelled, and now work on a scale from 0 to 5
- Checking services activates/deactivates sliders, resetting corresponding importance value to 0/1 for unselected/selected
- Label for results table now explains results are sorted best to worst, 'Value' column of table removed as it is does not help the user in any way to see this output
- A rotating gold star now marks the best of all residences, making it obvious that it is best
- Modified font settings and improved layout of text boxes that appear on mouseover, also constrain text boxes to be within viewport bounds.
- Fixed a bug discovered during user study, wrong residence was being indexed when related to a closest service that was moused over.
November 29, 2009 - Added coffee shop, police station and fire station datasets. The application now has 15 services in total.
November 28, 2009 - Conducted a user study with 10 participants, captured video and audio. Uploaded low-resolution versions of the clips, they are posted below. This provided great insight into what aspects of the interface should be worked on within the course timeframe.
November 24, 2009 - Added datasets for fitness clubs and churches.
November 23, 2009 - Text boxes that appear on mouse-over display more info: a "ServiceSeeker Rating" that compares the residence to others, and a list naming each of the closest services, and its distance in kilometres. Also improved the layout of UI elements - the back/next buttons have a consistent layout. Over the next few days, we will be conducting an informal user study to evaulate the usability of the interface, and the utility of the application.
November 21, 2009 - Added datasets for Toronto pharmacies, hospitals, and aerodromes. Updated video format again (hopefully it works for everyone this time!)
November 1, 2009 - Application updates include new datasets: public/private/separate schools, TTC stations, and banks. Interface updates include mouseover to view address information for objects on the map. Added caching scheme for lat/long results from the geocoder, and now uses either of Yahoo/Google geocoder services. Created posters for our demostration at Toronto City Hall November 2nd and 3rd.
October 25, 2009 - Added compass and legend to the application. Sorted results and used cleaner-looking table. Prepared script for presentation. Put together a video that motivates our work and shows our working prototype.
October 19, 2009 - Presented project idea to class, with slides, demographic video and demo application. Our goal is to discover more sources of data.
October 5, 2009 - Proposed project idea.