Architecture Critiques

[savannanoh]

• view hierarchies example and terms confusing. “Special inputs container”. Note from Savanna: Seems like maybe the text was updated while the image wasn’t. +3
• breaking up some of the longer paragraphs in this section to be less dense
• defining some more of the terms more explicitly
• Include some non screen-based examples +1
• How do interface architecture and information architecture overlap or differ?
• Have a section dedicated to term definitions. Hard to go back and find definitions while reading
• More visuals +2
• Explain parent and child widgets?
• Mouse explanation is long
• Explain why anyone would want to skin an interface
• “Advances in architecture” section felt like a cliffhanger
• What depth of understanding should designers strive for when it comes to architecture? Should designers learn frameworks? Toolkits?
• Can MVC be view driven by the visual design of an interface?
• What are toolkits, how are they used, why are they important +4
• What’s a framework? Why are they necessary or worthwhile?
• Example for Model not as clear as for View and Controller
• More purpose behind and examples for state machine and MVC
• Very dense, jargony introduction of lots of new vocab in 2nd half +3
• Maybe an example of what UI looks like from an engineer before a designer has intervened
• State machine very difficult to understand +1
• Include concrete examples of looking at state from a design perspective, such as hover for buttons
• Is there anything inevitable about how interface architecture came to be? How did we end up with the MVC paradigm?
• Did shifts in WIMP affect shifts in interface architecture?
• How are architecture conventions set for new things like voice and mixed reality?
• Some confusing phrases/terminology:
• Reverse engineered–explain what this is
• Mouse example discrete vs synthetic event
• Component vs widget
• Propagating an event
• Component hierarchy handling event
• For MVC, sign example in bullet format. Student provided rewrite: https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1516445/gradebook/speed_grader?assignment_id=6764903&student_id=4120874
• Grammar/typos
• “Predict edge cases in their behavior, and” (should this "and" be here?)
• “State machines also indicate the inputs that the can receive that cause them to move between different states.” (missing word?)
• "this is the &view responsibility" (formatting issue)
• "The controller gets and set s data"
• "but not a discrete event from/in a mouse’s hardware"
• In user interface toolkits, these inputs are usually called events

[savannanoh]

• How easy/difficult is it for users to adapt to a new toolkit and bridge the gulfs of execution and evaluation?

[savannanoh]

• Include gifs illustrating the nuances with the mouse button being up and down example
• Include a concrete example of when a designer would need to know how information exchange and architecture works

[savannanoh]

• What types of diagrams should designers know how to use to effectively communicate w engineers?
• How did MVC come about? What other models are there?