Question $1($~$1\mathrm{.}5$ pages$)$

Games provide an interesting place to investigate slips, mistakes, and errors because they are one of the few places where we might not always want to make accomplishing the task easier.

Select one game with which you are familiar $($besides Tetris$)$; this could be a board game, a card game, a sport, a video game, or any other kind of game.

First, describe a slip that a player of the game might make. Remember, a slip generally occurs when the player knows what action they should take, but does something different instead. In Tetris, this might be a player wanting to move a piece to the right, but pressing the left button instead. Then, describe why the player might make that slip. Then, briefly suggest a way the interface could be changed to prevent that slip in the future.

Second, describe a mistake that a player of the game might make. Remember, a mistake generally occurs when the player knows what they want to accomplish, but doesn$$t know how to actually make it happen. In Tetris, this might be a player wanting to rotate a piece clockwise, but pressing to rotate it counter$-$clockwise instead because they do not know which button rotates clockwise. Then, describe why the player might make that mistake. Then, briefly suggest a way the interface could be changed to prevent that mistake in the future.

Finally, describe something that makes the game challenging, but that is not a slip or a mistake. For example, in Tetris, there may be no obvious place for a piece to go$,$ but that does not force the user to commit a slip or a mistake.

Hint: For slips, leveraging constraints and better mappings are often good tools for ensuring the user performs the action they know they want to perform. For mistakes, leveraging discoverability and better representations can help a user figure out the right action.

Question $2($~$1\mathrm{.}5$ pages$)$

From your everyday life, select an interface that you would argue uses a good representation of its underlying content. Describe the connections between the representation and the underlying content. Answer the question: in what ways does the representation exemplify at least two criteria of a good representation?

Then, select an interface that you would argue does not use a good representation of its underlying content. Describe the mismatch between the representation and the underlying content; in what ways does the representation violate at least two criteria of a good representation?

Hint: Good design tends to go unnoticed; that$$s the point! If you$$re having trouble thinking of an interface with a good representation, think of a bad one first; then, think of an interface in a similar domain that does not experience the same problems as the bad one. It$$s likely that the better interface uses better representations.