| This paper examines several facets of user interface design for Personal Digital Assistance (PDA). First, it considers the use of portals or web sites (Internet) as a test bed platform for deploying and delivering the LEARNPDA prototype on PDAs. Second, it looks at the guidelines and issues for designing an effective easy-to-use user interface for PDA. Third, it examines, through a prototype, ways in which usability and user interface design requirements may be used to evaluate a proposed PDA compatible interface for the Royal Roads University (RRU) learning community portal. This project focuses on the user interface requirements and the design of a high-level semi-navigational functional prototype for learners so they can focus on their main learning objectives. Due to time constraints, the research presented here was tested on three end users and a panel of technical experts. The prototype was built as a means to explore solutions to specific usability and user interface design problems that online educational programs may face. The prototype was limited to comparing alternative designs between the desktop and PDA devices using a sample MADL 539 course at RRU. However, the research recommendations included in this study are meant to increase access for MADL learners and could possibly be applied to other program at RRU. |
