1 / 21

Wolverine Access: Faculty Center

Wolverine Access: Faculty Center. School of Information | University of Michigan Tiffany Chao, Saurabh Koparkar, Jane Loegel & Megan Morrissey 18 April 2008. Presentation Outline. Product Overview User Population Methods Persona and Scenario Findings and Evidence Recommendations.

brooks
Download Presentation

Wolverine Access: Faculty Center

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Wolverine Access: Faculty Center School of Information | University of Michigan Tiffany Chao, Saurabh Koparkar, Jane Loegel & Megan Morrissey 18 April 2008

  2. Presentation Outline • Product Overview • User Population • Methods • Persona and Scenario • Findings and Evidence • Recommendations SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  10. Finding 1- (contd.) Class Search – a search function for finding courses Browse Catalog – a course catalog indexed alphabetically • Confusing vocabulary • Evidence: • Usability Testing: user responses to task Both tabs essentially perform the same function SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  16. Recommendation 1- (contd.) • Current System • Faculty Center SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 Center

  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 SI 622: Wolverine Access- Faculty Center

  21. Thank You! Questions?

More Related