February 28th: Midterm Fun and Quiet Work

Announcements

• An interesting online interactive "article" on Time.com
  Addiction and the Brain
  
• National Young Feminist Leadership Conference
  03/12, 03/13, & 03/14
  George Washington University, Washington, DC
  Must register by 3/09
• Study Abroad Programs on Sustainability
  Austria and Costa Rica
  Deadline 4/25

User Document #1 Issues

I'm handing back your User Documents #1, and I'd like to mention a few things about them before the midterm. Some were very good, and some were ok. It's perfectly normal not to have a PERFECT draft because your grade is based on your final portfolio, so I expect revision.

Please keep all portfolio work that I've commented on. You will turn these originals (User Doc #1, #2,and #3) in with your final portfolio. Not including the drafts I've commented on will affect your grade.

Please remember that your assignments have two parts--a proposal or planning document and the actual user document. You must have both.

I have a webpage up that addresses some concerns about User Doc #1.

Midterm Fun

A midterm only happens once a semester, and tonight's gonna be a good, good night...I can feel it!

Logon to Moodle to access the Midterm. I'll open it up 5 minutes after we finish the above discussion on User Doc #1 issues.

After you finish the midterm, work on the items below quietly. When you finish, you're free to go.

• Webpage reading (create a new webpage)
• Sample documents (create a new webpage)
• User Doc #2
• Persona Research

Webpage "Reading"

I would like you to pick a webpage and analyze its features. If we assume that webpages are supposed to be for the user, then we can assume that a user-centered design would be best (we can critique that assumption, too). Let's consider ease of navigation to be a top priority for an effective webpage.

Some questions to ask about "good" webpages:

• What is the purpose of the webpage (or website)?

• Who is the primary audience? Secondary? Tertiary? Etc.?

• How does a user navigate the website? What facilitates navigation?

• How can the user find "help"? (for navigating...some might say all webpages offer help)

• Thinking from the audience's perspective, how useful is the information that's available?

• Can you quantify the layers of information? For instance, your ideal user has to sift through how much information to accomplish an obvious goal--you need not explore all goals. Basically, how many clicks does it take to get information he or she might need?

• What's aesthetically pleasing about the website? Why?

• What's not aesthetically pleasing about the website? Why?

• Finally, what would make the page (or site) better for a user?

I realize that much of your analysis will be based on your own subjective tastes. I hope we can explore that further in a larger class discussion. Choose any website you'd like, but be aware of your own expertise and familiarity if it's a site you go to frequently.

Add a page to your own website to record this information. You should have a link to this page from your homepage. Do your best to get this up before the end of class. This will help us easily locate the pages during our future discussion--after Spring Break.

If I don't have your correct webpage link on the Classmates Webpages page, please e-mail it to me.

Sample User Docs

Below are two user documents for products. I would like you to review one of the documents and construct a brief analysis, which you'll briefly--very briefly--argue for whom the ideal user of the document is. I want you to make assumptions about the ideal user and defend them using analogies or metaphors. For instance, you might say something like...

"The ideal users for this document would be people with knowledge of text-based operating systems, such as Unix, because the product lacks a graphical user interface that would make a general audience comfortable." You don't need to do research like you'll do for the Persona Research assignment, but this exercise should make you think about defining users in generalized ways.

Counting from the FRONT of the room (where my computer is), iIf you're in Rows 1, 2, and 3, review the first user document. If you're in Rows 4, 5, and 6, review the second user document. After you've reviewed them, create (yet another) webpage where you describe the following about the users:

• Who is the ideal user?
• What level of technological literacy does the primary audience have?
  • Compare this primary audience to non-computer skills (piloting, needle work, video editing, etc.) that might be comparable but not identical
  • Possibly list software proficiencies based on your understanding of the primary audience's capabilities
  • Consider occupation assumptions you have about the primary audience
• Hobbies/pastimes assumptions about the primary audience {think Cooper and piloting}

I didn't do the best job scanning these images, so bear with me. You'll have to scroll horizontally and vertically to read everything.

• ATI All-In-Wonder Cable Installation

• Gigabyte Quick Installation Guide

Planning for User Doc #2

What instruments would work well for our next assignment? Hmm...search engines were good for the first User Doc, but we need to move beyond obvious Internet-based functions. One thing's for sure, though, we're going to have a much larger planning memo/document and more analysis on user testing. Also, we're going to try and see my goal of "inspiring" the user through to fruition. Does anyone have any documents that advocate or encourage users to explore the functions/functionality of instruments?

Although I've stressed and used computer-based examples overwhelmingly in our discussions, you are more than welcome to document other kinds of technology. Of course, we're going to do the usability testing in class, so your instrument would have to fit that constraint. However, I would consider out-of-class user testing if you documented it well.

Planning for User Doc #2 User Testing

We'll have more in-depth planning documents this time around. Unfortunately, we aren't getting live subjects...er...participants from outside class, but I know all of you will work hard to help your fellow classmates by being as objective as possible. The first change, though, will be that I want you all to come up with three personas for the instrument you'll document. I also want you to include the following:

• Describe the instrument

• Explain how the user will approach the set of instructions

• Plan how you will test your draft

  • Develop a pre-test briefing strategy: make a statement to tell each user (a script), ask questions about comfort level, and/or have them watch something (this last one works best for descriptive documents like natural or mechanical proceses).
  • Come up with five post-test questions that use a Likert scale and have a comments section
  • Set at least four goals and make sure they're measurable:
    • User did all steps in XX minutes.
    • User completed the instructions in XX minutes.
    • User used the help menu less than XX times.
      -or-
      User never had to look at the help menu or ask for help.
  • Measurable goals can be counted
• Describe three Personas you had in mind when creating the document--these are Cooper personas and not the detailed ones for your Persona Research assignment.
• Actually create the instructions.

Remember, you need to build on your skills throughout the semester (and from the previous semester, year, or what have you), so I want to see some sophistication. Let me show you what a student did a couple years ago...

User Doc #2

User Doc #3

Have a rough draft of the above planning document (think of it as a memo if you'd like) to accompany your actual user document next week, which will be the steps the user will carry out to do something. Who has an idea of what they'd like to do?

Persona Research

If you have time left, you can always start on your persona research.

IRA-Career Essays

I passed back your IRA essays two weeks ago. I have some general comments on last week's webpage.

Future Stuff

I'm giving you next week off, so we won't meet again until Monday, March 14th. We'll go over chapters 9, 10, and 11 in Technical Writing 101 when we come back.

Make sure you have a rough draft for User Doc #2 on 3/14. Your User Test will be on 3/21, and the document is due 3/28.

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