Project 4c : Visual Freeze

Finish by Saturday

There are four steps to completing Project 4. We are on step 'C'

1. Working Prototype
2. Code Complete
3. Visual Freeze
4. Submission

Another major milestone is “visual freeze.” This is the point when all the graphics need to be finalized and text has been chosen. Typically at this point the code is turned over to the localizers (for translation to other languages) and the UA folks (help topic writers).

There are no deliverables this week; just try to get your project to this level of completion this week.

Final Graphics

Most of this week will be spent in Adobe Photoshop or a related image editor. Though you may not be very familiar with an image editor right now, this is a core skill that all Software Engineers needs to develop. Just like you need to be master of your operating system, your code editor, and similar tools, you also need to be master of a word processor, spreadsheet, and an image editor. If you find your skills lacking, get started on the road to mastery this semester and spend some of your off-track time learning more.

Interactive Elements

Hopefully your specification outlined all the interactive elements that will need to be in your project. As you work through the code, be on the look-out for subtle ways to add feedback to the user. This could be any or all of the following:

• Hover and Press events
• Tab order (using the keyboard to navigate)
• Tooltips
• Disabled state
• Dead links

Specification

As you make changes to your design, please take the time to bring these changes over to your specification. Remember, your specification should be a current representation of what you built or are building.