Running head: CONTENT DIAGRAM

Course Specific Online Orientation: Content Diagram

Anna Stirling
Capella University
ED7814: Interface Design
Vern Czelusniak, PhD
January 25, 2015

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Content Diagram

I attempted to create the content diagram for this project based on the information
provided by the course textbook; however, I felt that my project didnt fit with the process of
design provided. I started by trying to outline the use cases in a table as suggested. I quickly
realized that there is really only one use case the student interacts with each section of the
orientation. As a result, my outline looked like this:
User purpose

System responsibility

Student watches a video

Play video

Student submits a comment/question to the

instructor (communication)

Stores the communication and notify instructor

Instructor responds to student

Store the information and notify the student

Student views the instructor response

Show instructor response

Student views the assignment instructions

Show instructions

Student submits an assignment attempt

Record and store attempt

Instructor views student attempt and provides

feedback

Store feedback

Student views the assignment feedback

Show feedback

Student submits a test attempt

Score test attempt

Student views the test feedback

Show feedback

Student proceeds to the next unit

Change display screen

Next I attempted to identify the task objects, their attributes and actions which resulted in
the following table:

CONTENT DIAGRAM

Task Object

Attributes

Actions

Student

Name
Role
Student ID #

Instructor

Name
Role

Course activities

Introduction
Communication
Assignment
Assessment

Watch
View
Submit
Proceed
Create (responses & feedback)
View
Submit
Edit
View
Submit

At this point I felt that I was leaving information out, and that the attributes of course
activities might actually be separate task objects, but then I wasnt sure what the attributes of
each would be (perhaps text, images, or videos). When I attempted to start creating the content
diagram I realized that the issue was I was trying to keep the information as general as possible
without technology specifics (Stone, Jarrett, Woodroffe, & Minocha, 2005); however, the
orientation is designed to provide familiarity with the system, so the interface constraints of the
system affect the way the user interfaces with the orientation. As I became more and more
confused by the process, I focused on the ultimate goal of the content diagram. I realized that the
goal was to establish the underlying organization and structure of the user interface (Stone et al.,
2005), however, as I mentioned, the purpose of the orientation is to explain the organization and
structure of the interface so I kind of felt like I was going in circles. Therefore, I created my
own version of the resulting user interface.

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The first section (container) is the
orientation introduction. This section
explains why the orientation is important
to the learners success in the course. The
only interaction for the learner is reading
the information.
The second section is the before
you begin section. It provides links to
external resources that should be viewed
prior to continuing with the orientation
tasks (such as the course syllabus).
Learners can click on links to go to pages
outside the orientation and watch an
introduction video about navigating the
orientation.
The third section is the course
activities section. In this section learners
have an opportunity to practice using the
tools that are specific to the course. For
example if the course uses the blog tool
for communication, the assignment tool
for formative activities, and the test tool
for summative assessments then the

Figure 1 Content Container Diagram

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course activities section would include an activity & course link for each. The course link would
redirect the learner to the submission page. Submission actions would vary depending on the tool
being used. For blog tools the submission would be typed into the system, for the assignment
tool the submission would be an attached file, and for the test tool the learner would interact with
selection controls on the screen. Learners would be able to return to each activity screen via the
course link to view their score and/or feedback from the instructor.
The fourth container is a summary and guidance section that includes any additional
information necessary for success in the course that was not addressed in a previous section.
The fifth, and final, section is a course link to the next learning unit of the course.
As the orientation is designed to provide information sequentially to scaffold learning the
diagram doesnt outline the links between the task items and the objects; however, depending on
how they are presented, learners will have the ability to navigate back and forth between each
container as desired. The containers can be presented in a variety of ways: one page with
multiple items, a sequence of separate screens, or a combination of screens with multiple
containers (Stone et al., 2005).

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Reference

Stone, D., Jarrett, C., Woodroffe, M., & Minocha, S. (2005). User interface design and
evaluation. San Francisco: Elsevier.