Multimedia Design Methodology

Steps of a methodology for the design and development of the system

MM System has various aspects of the

methodology (genre, character, interface, location, plotting, scripting and testing) compared to conventional systems development processes (SDLC).

Technical side of multimedia:◦ knowledge of new devices◦ interfaces is required◦ skills of animation, film and audio need to be

integrated

Design and production for multimedia system must be approached differently. Development in multimedia design are readily adapted to these new media – Multimedia Development Life Cycle (MDLC).

two aspects (Trueblood et. al., 1995) :◦ the technological richness of the media◦ the broadness and diversity of the audience or

users

Comparison of SDLC and MDLC

the first stage of any design cycle. successful systems design and

implementation is only possible when developers have a clear idea of the problem to be solved (understands the target users, the technology, and the problem domain).

four basic issues:◦ identifying the client / sponsors / target audience,◦ eliciting their needs / wants, ◦ identifying the scope of the project, and◦ understanding the resource limits.

Recognise your strengths and weaknesses, and to seek help from people with greater knowledge in the areas you have least experience in.

Genre Feasibility study - the analyst uses a mental model

of a proposed system, aided by rough sketches and calculations, and tries to imagine the idea working.

Examine feasibility from three perspectives:◦ Technical

ask the question as to whether you think the system can be built.

◦ Economic estimate the likely cost of production

◦ organisational feasibility ask whether the idea would work given the intended user

organisations and people.

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some common set of communicative purposes.

Genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience.

Example:◦ Romantic setting - the hero requiring to get supplies of

partridges, turtle doves, French hens, geese and swans in ever increasing number to satisfy the object of their affections

Genre

Characterisation

extension of genre choice where we choose the primary character, secondary (support, foil, catalyst) characters and work with archetypes (typical people) and stereotypes within our genre.

Characters:◦ physical attributes, ◦ specific knowledge and role, ◦ language style and vocabulary, and ◦ attitude

Defining the characters are important, which we are attempting to cover the bases of our project objectives while still remaining true to our genre.

Example:Produce a check list of character traits (helpful, competitive, obstructive, friendly, aloof, rigid, deceitful, vague), and we would like our user to experience and attempt to attach these traits to our characters.

We have in effect started to build a data dictionary /

repository as used in Database Management or CASE tools.

Characterisation

Location

The creation of locations and sub-locations is a manifestation of top-down design, and as in program design, for reasons of economy we will often reuse locations or sub-locations.

Concerned with sketching each location and placing movable objects and fixed property within the location, and adding these things into our dictionary or repository

Location

Interface Part and parcel of location design is the

specification of the interaction interface and its commands - talk, examine, use, take, give and so on.

Techniques in interface design:◦ pop-up windows and icons, ◦ widgets like menus, buttons, scroll bars, text

type-in fields, alpha sliders, range sliders and◦ the like can be readily adapted as part of the

interactive multimedia user interface.

Interface These techniques need to be integrated into

a project framework so that the user can express their thoughts, feelings and desires, and is not just a passive object to be manipulated

Plotting Having decided upon the locations, it is now time to

connect them up with actions and events to indicate the various story paths, rewards and obstacles of the interactivity.

Dataflow diagrams and flowcharts are readily adapted for this stage of multimedia design.

In linking locations and sub-locations, the lessons of programming modularity need to be borne in mind, particularly the emphasis of data coupling.

Scripting Scripting is the process of defining all the dialogue,

actions and reactions, location by location, scene by scene, for the whole interaction.

Scripting is like coding a program, only in a new language and perhaps with different layout rules. It is a process that mixes art and science.

In order for dialogue to flow conversation trees,

similar to decision trees - a useful visualisation.

Scripting

A conversation tree

Production

Production is simply a process of letting each skill group - film makers, graphic artists, animators and programmers, go about their tasks in their own way.

In any computer project, poor design will be magnified during production, and major problems will necessitate returning to previous design stages to overcome them.

Testing

Make an experienced in the process of prototyping

Integrate all sections of the prototype progressively before the whole process is passed over to media production.

Types of Testing◦ Alpha◦ Beta

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD) Rapid Application Development (RAD) is

a development lifecycle designed to give much faster development and higher quality results than those achieved with the traditional lifecycle.

It is designed to take the maximum advantage of powerful development software that has evolved recently

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD) Professor Clifford Kettemborough of Whitehead

College, University of Redlands:

“RAD as an approach to building computer systems which combines Computer-Assisted Software Engineering (CASE) tools and techniques, user-driven prototyping, and stringent project delivery time limits into a potent, tested, reliable formula for top-notch quality and productivity. RAD drastically raises the quality of finished systems while reducing the time it takes to build them.”

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD) RAD approach involves compromises in:

◦ usability, features, and/or execution speed. ◦ functionality and performance in exchange for

enabling faster development and facilitating application maintenance.

The RAD methodology uses computerized tools (CASE) and human techniques in a tightly interwoven fashion to achieve the goals of high-speed and high-quality.

Unique and highly complex programs cannot be created using RAD method - programs for tasks such as game playing.

RAD Requirements◦ Thorough involvement of the end-user in the design of

the system. ◦ Prototyping to help the end-user visualize adjustments

to the system. ◦ User involvement in the Construction Phase, allowing

the details of the prototype to be adjusted if necessary.

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD)

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD) Pros:

1. Increased speed of development through methods including rapid prototyping, virtualization of system related routines, and other techniques.

2. Decreased end-user functionality (arising from narrower design focus), hence reduced complexity

3. Larger emphasis on simplicity and usability of GUI design

4. Promotes strong collaborative atmosphere and dynamic gathering of requirements.

Rapid Application Design/Development (RAD) Cons:

1. Reduced Scalability, and reduced features when a RAD developed application starts as a prototype and evolves into a finished application

2. Reduced features occur due to time boxing when features are pushed to later versions in order to finish a release in a short amount of time

3. The data needs to already exist4. Dependency on strong cohesive teams and individual

commitment to the project. Success depends on disciplined developers and their exceptional technical skills and ability. Decision making relies on the feature functionality team and a communedecision making process with lesser degree of centralized PM and engineering authority.

MDLC + RAD

Overall Project Development

A critical feature in multimedia development is the sizing of the finished product to fit say a CDROM - so much video, so much audio, so much program, just as PC software must control and balance ROM, RAM and disk storage and meet desired response times.