Category: 500-Word Summary

TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Richard Rivera Urgiles
DATE: 03/03/2021
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Article about Mobile Development Framework

The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about the considerations of frameworks and mobile ilities. The authors discuss how useful it is to consider using a framework and taking mobile ilities into account when developing an application. App developers start projects without having a blueprint therefore run into problems. There have been previous methods addressing these problems that were proposed but they have restrictions therefore it is not a complete solution. A solution was provided known as the ‘Integrated Framework for Mobile Application Development’ (IFMAD). This framework was introduced to a few students at a university which led to a good evaluation. The first stage of development is where if the app addresses the needs of customers and if the app is manifesting the product concept. The last stage is where the app should be ready to be launched on various platforms. There will be future updates to maintain the functionality of the app and to meet evolving customer needs. The most diverse attributes from previous evaluations/studies were taken into consideration to address common concerns within the development of an app and grouped them together to be now known as Mobile Ilities. The team of students decide to go for Scrum as the agile method to develop the app. This stage is where the team decides how the app will be designed and on what platform. The team must be wary and take into consideration the problems that may arise therefore they will have to choose the most relevant ilities that have to be addressed. More than one mobile ility can be considered from the development team so they do not limit themselves. IFMAD makes the process of meeting google play upload requirements easier. According to the authors, “The development tasks selected during the process demonstrated an understanding of the initial stage of product concept definition, with requirements and design activities, but without inclusion of such kind of activities during development sprints” which means the team had a waterfall life cycle mindset (Martinez et al., 2020, p. 72468). Data security can be hard to implement but using third party solutions such as Facebook and/or firebase can make it easier. Energy consumption and app optimization can become an issue due to a vast number of android devices in the market which release OS updates at different times. Flexibility is a big deal because it is a generic concept, but it can turn into a big deal depending on the context. Overall, the framework made a positive impact towards the app and the development team by having less errors than what you would normally have if not given a framework or mobile ilities to work with. The entire thing was a test for a university and may not apply to an actual developing team that has more experience in the real world.

Reference

Martinez, D., Ferre, X., Guerrero, G., & Juristo, N., (2020). An agile-based integrated framework for mobile application development considering ilities. IEEE Access, 8, 72461 – 72470. https://doi.org/10.1109/34.598236

TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Angela Hernandez
DATE: 3/3/2021
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Article About Usability Smells

The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about the use of visualizations to detect usability smells.  The authors discuss the four methods of visualizations that they developed to identify usability smells in websites by conducting a study, collecting and evaluating the data.  According to the authors, “The proposed visualizations apply and customize existing visualization techniques, which are here used with the novel purpose of providing usability smells to evaluators” (Buono et al., 2020, p. 6902).  User satisfaction with software products is largely influenced by UX attributes.  Poorly designed usability can make it harder for users to navigate an interface.  Many methods can be used to evaluate systems but are rarely implemented by developers for a variety of reasons.  Research done on e-government websites has shown that developers need to be provided with the tools and methods to effectively evaluate and implement usability.  ‘Usability smells’ and ‘Code smells’ respectively indicate weaknesses in the design of an interface or code that can cause problems in the future.  The results reported by the study provide usability evaluators with the tools they need to detect usability smells.  There are two methods used for evaluating usability; User-based methods and analytical methods and several tools available to assist in the different stages of usability testing.  The tools available that provide visual representations help evaluators understand user behavior.  Graph-based structures are commonly used to visualize website navigation or general navigation paths.  The four graph-based structures that are used in this study are the following; Arc Diagram, Word tree, Sankey Diagram and Node-Link.  Each graph-based structure uses the same visual encoding, primarily nodes that are used to reveal usability smells.  In a study done in March 2019, 15 users were tasked with visiting a webpage.  In order to visit the specified webpage, users could take an optimal path to successfully complete the task but because the website has since been updated, the steps taken to accomplish the task might not be the same.  Scalability is not an issue when performing these tests because many of these tests involve a low number of participants executing simple tasks.  Participants were given a booklet composed of the four visualization techniques and tasks to be completed with each technique.  The facilitator introduces and explains the first visualization technique and the participant begins performing the tasks.  In order to check the overall research methodology, the procedure has been assessed by a pilot study.  Researchers created an excel file for each task performed in order to evaluate the support provided by the visualizations.  Two well-known questionnaires were used to evaluate satisfaction with each visualization technique and repeated measures are used to assess the significant differences in the four visualization techniques.  The data collected shows how well the visualization techniques provide support to the evaluators in identifying usability smells.  Despite there being some confusion about the paths certain visualization techniques provided, evaluators were able to detect the paths that led to task failure.  There were no differences between the four visualization techniques in terms of evaluator satisfaction.  

Reference

Buono, P., Caivano, D., Costabile, M. F., Desolda, G., & Lanzilotti, R. (2020). Towards the detection of ux smells: The support of visualizations. IEEE Access, 8, 6901-6914. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2961768

To: Prof. Ellis
From: Matthew Rupchand
Date: 2/10/2021
Subject: 500-Word Summary of Article About the Lack of Cyber Security

In the article “Home User Security- from Thick Security-oriented Home Users to Thin Security- oriented Home Users” by E Kritzinger and Basie von Solms, they bring up the issue of the lack of cybersecurity awareness with the growth of technology for everyday life.  According to Krizinger and Solms, the technology trend has moved towards mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Krizinger and Solms studied how cybersecurity in growing digital areas such as Africa could affect users that are unaware of all the threats that the internet can put upon them. Krizinger describes the situation in Africa that has seen an increase in technology as he describes them as “Home Users”. “Home Users” aren’t aware of the risk involved with access to the internet. They describe “Home Users” as high-value targets for cybercrime because of the lack of knowledge they possess of cybersecurity that they can and should use to protect themselves. With the growing number of computers and smartphones in homes, Krizinger & Solms consider personal and home computers to be considered as “weaker links” rather than corporate use computers because of the lack of certain security protocols. An example of a cybersecurity breakdown is Africa  “Millions of Africans are using mobile phones to pay bills, move around cash and buy basic everyday items… Africa has the fastest growing mobile phone arment in the world” (Kritzinger, 2013, pg. 340). In order to increase their security presence, we need to create computer networks that are “out of the box” says Krizinger. Citizens in Africa have skipped a generation of technology which results in them not having the knowledge to become aware of the risk that comes with technology. Krizinger states in the article that “Home users” are only aware of technical issues such as connection to the internet not issues with information being leaked. The article goes into depth about a three-step approach that can help users protect themselves from threats. Regular house computers security is at the hands of their user which Krizinger describes them as “thick security oriented users”(Kritzinger, 2013, pg. 342). The prone problems that these users are exposed to which are forgotten to download patches/updates, do not set up security settings correctly, do not keep up to date with new security risk, allow software licenses to expire, incorrect security protection, lack of cybersecurity awareness, weak passwords, and do not update their anti-virus program regularly. Lack of cybersecurity by home users can also create problems for their government. Krizinger states “Their computers can be used as platforms to launch an attack on a country’s critical information structures, a situation that could prove strategically damaging to any country”(Kritzinger, 2013, pg. 342). So to prevent this and maintain a well-balanced cybersecurity system for home users would be to dedicate the responsibility to third-party companies that will create a secure connection between the home user and the internet. Also, initiatives such as using the Australian ISP to help create more security for users will benefit them however for more extensive security coverage like malware, virus identification, and breaches the ISPs will require the ISP to take more responsibility. Another step that users could take to improve their security and connection is learning and implementing strategies that the ISP will use to help protect them and how it does it. It does work by updating anti-virus software, updating new software patches, scanning computers for viruses frequently, and stopping spam. ISPs can also assist in cybersecurity by referring users to portals that can help increase knowledge of how to use these security programs. However, the user must always keep up their knowledge of cybersecurity to ensure the most out of their security programs and protocols. Although ISPs can help increase cybersecurity in your home it will all depend on the user and how they go on with the information they receive. Simon Hackett (manager of Adelaide ISP) states “ISPs are not the gatekeepers and are not in a position legally or ethically to make decisions for users”(Hackett, 2013, pg. 343). This means that even though the ISPs can help influence decisions upon user they are not legally available to take the full decisions for them. ISPs are not able to control your desire to protect your internet activities and how much users are willing to pay for their security software. The article brings together ways that can help users improve cybersecurity for uses as they referred to it as “intermediate security-oriented home user”(Kritzinger, 2013, pg. 343) that will help users to protect their connection to the internet. The main point of this article is to bring to light how home user security can affect them with security protocols in place with initiatives and strategies to provide guidelines for services to assist in cybersecurity. 

Reference
E Kritzinger., & Basie von Solms. (2013). IEEE Xplore: Home User Security- from Thick Security-oriented Home Users to Thin Security- oriented Home Users, pp. 340-345. https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/document/6661760

Refer to this week’s lecture for more details on how to post your 500-Word Summary project to our OpenLab Course Site.

Below, I am including some screenshots to guide you through the process of creating a post for your 500-Word Summary.

To begin your own Post, login to OpenLab, navigate to our Course Site, mouseover the “+” icon, and click “Post.”

Before typing anything, look under Categories on the right and add a check next to “500-Word Summary.”

Click in the “Add Title” section to enter your title (e.g., Summary of Lin’s “3D Layering of Integrated Circuits”). Then, click in the “Start Writing” area and copy-and-paste your 500-Word Summary memo from your word processor into this area.

After copyediting your work to ensure everything is as you want it to be, click on “Publish” and then click “Publish” on the next screen. Verify that your post is live on the site by clicking on “ENG2575 Technical Writing” at the top center to return to our Course Site and then click on the down arrow next to Student Projects in the left menu and 500-Word Summary beneath it to see your project posted.

As we begin to wrap up the 500-Word Summary Project, we will use peer review to request and receive feedback from your peers in the class. This serves two purposes: 1) you get experience working with the writing of others, which improves your writing ability through this critical engagement, and 2) you receive invaluable feedback and suggestions on how to improve your own writing from others.

To perform peer review on this assignment, do the following after watching this week’s lecture above:

• Watch for an email on Wednesday from Prof. Ellis to you and your teammates.
  • Choose to “Reply All” to this email. This will send a single reply message to all recipients of the original email, which includes your teammates and Prof. Ellis.
  • Open with a salutation to everyone.
  • Introduce yourself to your team (major, career goals, hobbies).
  • Write a message to your team–ask for feedback and offer to provide feedback.
  • Copy-and-paste your 500-summary below your message.
  • Give a closing and signature (Best, Your Name or Cheers, Your Name).
• As you receive emails from your team:
  • Read their 500-Word Summary
  • Click “Reply All” to their message
  • Write a brief email (Salutation, Body, Closing)
  • In the body: 
    • What works best
    • What needs improvement
    • Quote one random sentence and rewrite
      it as a suggestion
• Remember to be polite, understanding, work through problems, be considerate, be the bigger person if there are any misunderstandings.
• Feel free to use your emails for discussion about the project and your team, but keep all discussion professional and appropriate.
• Reach out to Prof. Ellis if there are any unsolvable problems within your team at any point during the semester.

As discussed in the lecture this week, this week’s homework on the 500-Word Summary project is to transform the reverse outline that you wrote last week into a first draft that you will share with your team and Prof. Ellis as a part of next week’s homework (I will cover this in the Week 3 Lecture).

In the Week 2 lecture above, I show how to format your 500-Word Summery as a memo, add an introductory topic sentence, add a road map sentence, incorporate a quote and citation, and add a reference in APA format at the end of the document. The example that I created in the lecture is included below for your reference.

After you have completed your first draft, save a copy and be ready to circulate it next week after I assign teams. When you share your work, your teammates will provide feedback and Prof. Ellis will see your work. I will explain this more next week.

TO:      Prof. Ellis
FROM:    Your Name
DATE:    3/3/2021
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Article About Virtual Reality

The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about tracking human bodies in virtual reality. The authors discuss the body tracking software that they developed called Pfinder by showing how the software was developed, tested, and improved. According to the authors, “To  address  this  need  we  have  developed  a  real-time  system called   Pfinder   (“person   finder”)   that   substantially   solves   the problem  for  arbitrarily  complex  but  single-person,  fixed-camera situations” (Wren et al., 1997, p. 780). Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum at porttitor neque. Nullam dapibus pulvinar hendrerit. Etiam elementum ipsum quis elit aliquet tincidunt. Aliquam dui augue, tempor quis pretium et, fermentum et dolor. Praesent sit amet velit et ligula iaculis vulputate. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam lobortis pulvinar rhoncus. Aliquam neque sem, tincidunt sollicitudin ante gravida, congue pretium odio. Nullam in vestibulum tellus, accumsan dignissim dolor. Sed convallis nisl vel venenatis sagittis. In eu turpis risus. Phasellus ac rhoncus est. [The body should be 500 words long +/- 20 words.]

Reference

Wren, C. R., Azarbayejani, A., Darrell, T., & Pentland, A. P. (1997). Pfinder: Real-time tracking of the human body. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 19(7), 780-785. https://doi.org/10.1109/34.598236

According to the syllabus, the 500-Word Summary project involves the following:

Individual: 500-Word Summary, 10%

Individually, you will write a 500-word summary of a technical or scientific article that demonstrates: 1. ability to identify key processes and concepts in a professional science or technology article. 2. ability to describe complex processes and concepts clearly and concisely. 3. an awareness of audience. The summary should cite the article and any quotes following APA format.

Perform the following steps to begin your project:

First, use the library’s journal databases (navigate to Start Your Research > Find Articles > A/Academic Search Complete or I/IEEE Explore) to find an article of sufficient length (< 4 pages) that focuses on a topic from your major and career. Save the PDF of the article some place safe so that you can easily return to it later.

Second, read the article from start to finish.

Third, write a reverse outline of the article by reading each paragraph again, putting the article away, typing one sentence in your own words summarizing that single paragraph, reading the next paragraph, writing one sentence summarizing it, etc. until the end of the article. Save this reverse outline someplace safe (we will be using it next week), and copy-and-paste it into a comment made to this post (click the title above, “Beginnings 500-Word Summary Project, Week 1” and scroll down to the comment box where you paste your reverse outline and then click “post comment.”).