Lets focus first on the initiation stage.
The main activities in the initation stage include:
Before embarking on the development of a multimedia project it is wise to check that firstly, there is a genuine need for the product and secondly that it is actually possible/realistic to produce the product. A feasibility study can help establish both whether there is a genuine need and whether it is possible to produce the product.
The feasibility study is :
an identification and documentation of the information creation and/or
management needs of an organisation for specifiedinteractive multimedia applications (eg training, jobaids, marketing) and an assessment of the ability to meet these needs.
The feasibility study will examine aspects such as:
1. The benefit/s of interactive multimedia products to the organisation, group, stakeholder etc.
It is important for the smooth implementation and running of the product or system that people affected by the introduction of interactive multimedia products and systems recognise that when it is properly designed and implemented, interactive multimedia products and systems can effectively and cost2. The level of commitment:
Gaining commitment from management is important because when management is committed to interactive multimedia products and systems they will:
- Budget enough money to meet the project goals.
- Give priority to the introduction of interactive multimedia
3. Definition of organisational goals:
A feasibility study should begin by defining the identified needs of an organisation and the subsequent goals that are to be achieved by the introduction of interactive multimedia solutions.4. Assessing possible solutions:
A feasibility study should describe a suitable range of possible solutions (options) with advantages and disadvantages of each. The following might be included in that description: Evaluation of existing interactive multimedia products and systems based on industry established standards Consideration of organisational policies, attitudes, available resources, long term advantages and problems.5. Analysis of competition:
A feasibility study should include an examination and analysis of existing competitive products.
No product is created in a vacuum. There may already be another title/site on the same subject or selling/promoting the same product line. There may also be a product that indirectly competes (a book or video). To be successful your product must provide the consumer with a compelling advantage.
Defining the product
What are you trying to make?
Who are you making it for?
What will be in it?An effective/useful multimedia product has congruency among the the needs of the client,project goals/objectives,needs of the target user and content definition, structure and organisation.
Client needs:
Determining "what the client wants" is evidently essential to the subsequent design of the product and is usually the starting point for defining the product. "What the client wants" forms a fundamental framework for project decisions. The client needs are determined to a certain extent by the feasibility study and in a more focused way by a document usually called the client brief.
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Examples of client briefs:
It is important to specify "what will be achieved by the product" both as a broad statement of goals or aim and also in more specific terms as objectives. The design of the product will revolve around the specification of these goals and objectives. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the final product can also be measured in terms of how well it meets the goals and specific objectives.
A goal is a general statement of antcipated rpoject outcomes, usually more global in scope than objectives.
Objectives are specific statements of anticipated project outcomes and should be mearuable and directly related to project evaluation.
Activities are the actions, things done in oreder to implement an objective.
For example, the following might be a goal statement: to create an
interactive publications catalog
The statement (above) does not define the results you are trying to achieve,
nor does it give you specific design objectives to work toward.
For example, the following is an objective statement: to provide incentives
for customers to purchase products online and to create a catalog that can
be updated weekly.
Audience -
what is the target users age, gender, education, what
is the target users age, gender, education,
experience?
Context of use -
Will the product be used at home, at school or at Will the product be used at home, at school or at work?; controlled by a single person?; projected to a group?; us work?; controlled by a single person?; projected to a group?; used once, occasionally or frequently? once, occasionally or frequently?
Environment -
Will the environment be noisy enough to interfere Will the environment be noisy enough to interfere with program sound?; quiet, like a library?; Bright or dark?; with program sound?; quiet, like a library?; Bright or dark?; unpredictable?
Equipment -
What can you assume about the type of computer What can you
assume about the type of computer equipment users have?; What kind of performance
will the users equipment users have?; What kind of performance will the
users
system deliver?; What software will the user need (quicktime, fo system
deliver?; What software will the user need (quicktime, fonts)
How to design and present content in order to meet the project goals and objectives and satisfy the user and client needs.
Key questions are: What content is to be delivered?, How is the content to be structured?
One of the best tools by which to represent content structure is the FLOWCHART
The flowchart represents the information categories and the navigation links between the main menu, primary sections and subsections.
Three main factors influence the design of a flowchart:
1. Content (the organisation and structure mapped out for the information).
2. Usability (the topic categories and and access routes the target user
will expect to find).
3. Simplicity (the need to keep the design clear and focused, to control
production time and costs).
Usually, in the initiation stage, the flow chart will be fairly broad, just showing the structure of the content and a sense of how the user might move throught the main sections of the product. A simple flowchart is shown below:
This is the technology via which the product is delivered to the audience e.g. CDROM, DVD, web, portable devices etc.
The attributes of each technology will set parameters for the design and presentation of the content. Attributes such as screen size, speed,color depth all impact on the way the product can be designed and authored.
To a certain extent, development choices are constrained by the delivery medium but the development tool chosen will also depend on the required functionality,budget, time constraints, design of the product and also the skill set of production staff.
We talked briefly about task analysis under the work breakdown section in the previous lecture. The task analysis identifies the tasks that need to be carried out to complete the project and who is responsible for them. The task analysis is also used to estimate budget and plan the time element of the project.
Some questions which may be answered in detail by a task analysis include:
(Shuman, 2000)