The premise of this project was to design a tool for classes where a group of students can easily communicate and collaborate with another student halfway across the world. In order to figure out what our users would need and how to design the system, we performed many of the HCI methods. We started with contextual inquiries of people who collaborate across distances. After modeling and analyzing this data, we came up with an intial design. After performing a cognitive walkthrough, we iterated on the design. Then we performed a heurisitc evaluation and iterated once again. The last method we used to user test the system was a think aloud. After the final think aloud, we created the final design.

The whole process was to give us our first practical application of the HCI methods that we learned. Throughout the project, we constantly had to adjust and tweak with the methods because they did not fit perfectly for each situation. This helped us realize that the methods are not set in stone and that in order to get the best data sometimes you have to first prepare yourself as best you can, but also be ready to change on the fly as you learn more about the system.