Final User-Interface Development Assignment

The second GUI-development assignment of the course consists of the design, development, testing and evaluation of a graphical (computer) user-interface for a (room) thermostat. This GUI should be developed with the aid of a GUI builder (such as Symantec Café, Borland's JBuilder or Sun's Java Workshop). Required features of the thermostat are:

This project goes as follows:

  1. You must hold a brainstorming session and report on the result.
  2. You must perform a formal and back of the envelope analysis of the task of programming the thermostat for an entire week (with different temperatures on weekdays than on the weekend, and with exceptions on wednesday night and sunday night).
  3. You must create a prototype as a Java 1.1 applet.
  4. You must hand in the brainstorming and analysis reports together with a DOS-formatted floppy disk containing a complete prototype that must work when installed on a Unix World Wide Web server. The floppy must contain one single ZIP archive or a gzipped tar archive. The floppy and paper documents must carry the student id's and email addresses of all group members.
    The delivery address and deadline for this part are:
  5. This step is only for TUE, not for UIA!
    A secretary will set up a meeting for evaluating your prototype. Two other groups need to work together during the evaluation of your assignment: one will carry out an experiment, while the other observes the experiment. (You are present to offer help in case the experiment goes terribly wrong.)

    Note: if you miss the deadline, your next opportunity to hand in this assignment and take part in the experiment will be in July or August 1999.