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Wolverine Access: Faculty Center
School of Information | University of Michigan
Tiffany Chao, Saurabh Koparkar, Jane Loegel & Megan Morrissey
18 April 2008
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 2
Presentation Outline
Product Overview–User Population
Methods–Persona and Scenario
Findings and Evidence Recommendations
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 3
Product Overview
Faculty Center functions as an online University course management system for faculty and graduate student instructors (GSIs) to conduct administrative duties
Currently known as ‘Teaching Support’
Some new features are:– Class Search, Faculty Search, Browse Catalog– Also offers more customization capabilities, improved interface,
and visual icons
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 4
User Population
Faculty Center serves both faculty and GSIs– Faculty (full-time/part-time):
5,542– Graduate Student
Instructors: 2,234
Our target population was very specific and therefore the pool of available and willing participants was limited
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 5
Methods Generalized Transition
Network Personas and scenarios Comparative Analysis
– 2 indirect competitors Heuristics Evaluation
– 4 evaluators; 10 heuristic components
Online Survey – 50 respondents
Usability Testing – 3 GSIs, 2 faculty: 5 tasks
Vocabulary Analysis – Metaphor analysis,
object/action analysis, & general vocabulary analysis
Preparing for the Usability Test
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 6
Persona & Scenario
Charles Shein, Assistant Professor– Comparative Literature,
English Department
Single, enjoys old war movies
Uses Dell PC laptop computer to type assignments and check email
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 7
Scenario
Time: Beginning of the semester Professor Shein wants to download class and photo
roster for the two classes he is teaching Needs to print off both rosters to bring to class Logs onto University wireless network with his
laptop
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 8
Summary of Findings
Successes– System provides useful functions– Improved interface compared with predecessor
Areas of Improvement– Finding 1: Inconsistency in terminology throughout
system– Finding 2: The meaning of visual icon functions were
inconsistent– Finding 3: The interface contained layout and color issues
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 9
Finding 1- Inconsistency in Terminology
Inconsistency in function of terms used– Learning Management tab and the Learning Management icon– The two have the same name but represent two separate
functions which causes confusion for users
LM tab - takes user to external resources
LM icon - takes user to CTools
Evidence:– Heuristics Evaluation of the Faculty Center System (violation of
‘consistency and standard’ heuristic)
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 10
Finding 1- (contd.) Confusing vocabulary
Evidence:– Usability Testing: user responses to task
Class Search – a search function for finding courses
Browse Catalog – a course catalog indexed alphabetically
Both tabs essentially perform the same function
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 11
Finding 2- Inconsistency in Visual Representation of
Features Icon does not convey function
– 'download class roster' icon
Evidence (Usability Test):– Substantial amount of time required to find the icon– A tester’s comments - "This is ridiculous!”– The icon was identified only after the icon tool tip was encountered
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 12
Finding 2- (contd.)
Lack of consistency among icons– Same icon is used for two different reasons:
1) to show that a class has a waitlist
2) to show that an error has occurred
Evidence:
– Heuristic Evaluation of the Faculty Center System (violation of ‘consistency and standard’ heuristic)
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 13
Finding 3- Aesthetic Value Usability is compromised by poor visibility
– Teaching Schedule and Exam Schedule tables difficult to distinguish based on same color scheme.
Evidence: "I wouldn't have known that was the exam schedule, it
looks exactly like the class schedule." - A user from the Usability Test
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 14
Summary of Recommendations
Recommendation 1– Establish a visible ‘Help’ feature
Recommendation 2– Enforce visual and vocabulary consistency
across the system Recommendation 3
– Improve the visibility of icons and color differentiation of features
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 15
Recommendation 1
Establish a visible ‘Help’ feature for users Short-term goals
– Visual ‘Help’ icon or link– Create a Glossary with explanations of features
• ‘Learning Management’• Differentiation between function of ‘Browse Catalog’
and ‘Class Search’
Long-term goal– Creation of a tutorial or information session for
new instructors
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 16
Recommendation 1- (contd.)
Current System
Faculty Center
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 17
Recommendation 2
Function of icon should be effectively conveyed: 1) Include the 'download' icon in the icon legend
2) Use the typical University email attachment download
icon; this would achieve consistency
Download Roster
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 18
Recommendation 2 - (contd.)
Enforce consistency among icons:1) Use unique icons for different functions
2) Use standard error message icon for consistency
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 19
Recommendation 3 Use a different color scheme to differentiate between Exam
Schedule & Class Schedule Make icons larger and more brightly colored to increase
visibility and transparency
SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty CenterSlide 20
Conclusion
Overall, an improved user interface compared to Teaching Support
Some usability issues such as inconsistent visual representations, aesthetics and terminology exist
Short term recommendations:– Improve the terminology inconsistencies
– Change the color scheme to help differentiate the features
Long term recommendations:– Modify the visual icons
– Implement ‘Help’ feature
Thank You! Questions?