Design (Iteration 2)

Persona: Ms Wong is a 10 years experience lecturer that working at Sunway University.

Scenario: On a Monday morning, Ms Wong sits down in front of computer with a cup of coffee. She has prepared a list of topic and decided to upload to elearn. Then, she opens up eLearn in her browser, and wanted to upload a few final year project topics to the elearn platform. She sign in to the elearn by entering username and password. Then, she selects the ‘capstone project 1 & 2’ to access to main page of the subject folder. She selects ‘manage topic’ from the left menu bar. A list of topic will be shown but it is empty because she does not have any yet. Hence, she clicks the ‘upload’ button at the lower right. A window will shows up to enter the project details. She is required to enter all the details, if she does not complete all the details there will shows the error message. After finish filling up the details, she clicks ‘OK’. Then, topic lists table will be updated immediately for all students to view and choose.

After a few days, Ms Wong checks back at the portal to view the status of her topics whether they are being selected by any student or not. She clicks on the ‘topic status’ button at lower right of the main page. A window that contains a table shows up that included the topic title and status of the topics that she has uploaded. She observes that the first topic of her upload shows ‘Unavailable’. She checks her email notification, it is informed that the topic is taken by a student named Alice. Alice has sent her email to schedule a meeting. Then, Ms Wong replies the email to Alice to make confirmation of the meeting.

Action sequence (lecturer side’s portal):

1. Login

1. Enter username and password
2. Click login button

2. Select subject capstone project 1 and 2

1. Click on the link access to subject main page

3. Manage topic

1. Click on the manage topics link on the left menu item
2. May click on the topic status to view the availability of the topic
3. Click on the upload button and enter details of the topic and click OK
4. The list of the topic will  be updated

4. Selected topic

1. Click on the link on the left menu item
2. The topic will shown with the student’s name

5. Email

1. Click on the link on the top of the menu bar
2. The notification of the email from student will be displayed
3. Click reply to send an email

Recommendation on design changes:

Based on the walkthrough that has been done with two lecturers, they suggested several important features to include in the capstone portal design. The feature that is mentioned by both of the lecturers is to have edit function for the uploaded topics so that lecturers can change the details of their topics after they are uploaded, instead of deleting and inserting details all over again. Initially, our design does not include edit function, this makes lecturers to not be able to change their topic details once they are uploaded. Furthermore, the availability of topic should be shown in one of the columns in manage topic table, rather than having another ‘topic status’ button. This is to avoid confusion and allow lecturers to view with fewer steps. Also, each topic should have project number (prefix) so that it is easier to keep track of how many topics the particular lecturer is holding. Moreover, student details are not shown when they requests a topic to the lecturer. Lecturer does not know the requirement and ability of the student, whether he or she is qualified to take the topic or not. Therefore, students should write about their details during topic request. Then, all the details should appear before and after email.

Persona: Eddie is a year 3 computing students that currently studying at Sunway University. He's taking the subject capstone project 1 & 2.

Scenario: At the beginning of the semester, Eddie has enrolled himself into the capstone project 1&2 subject and required to select a topic from the elearn platform. Therefore, Eddie went to the IT learning lab to find a computer and sit down. He enters his username and password and click the login button to access the elearn platform. He clicks on the subject to access the main page of the subject. He needs to select ‘list of topics’ from the left menu bar. A list of topics that is available will be shown, he can make selection by tick the checkbox and click ‘request’. A success message on the request will be shown. After he clicked on ‘OK’, the status of his selected topic will appear on the next page. Then, he proceeds to send an email to the lecturer for time slot booking. He requires to enter an email subject and pick a preferred time slot, along with his message. A message will be shown after this to notify him that his email has been sent. If Eddie presses ‘back’, he will go to an email sent item page. If not he can choose to logout of the elearn.

Action sequence (student side’s portal):

1. Login

1. Enter username and password
2. Click login button

2. Select subject

1. Click on the capstone project 1 & 2 on the my course menu bar

3. Select topic

1. Click on the list of topic on the left menu bar
2. A list of topic will be shown
3. Pick a preferred topic and click request
4. Successful message displayed on the next page and click ‘OK’
5. The status of the selected topic will appear on the next page

4. Email

1. Click ‘send email’
2. Enter email title, select time slot and message
3. Click ‘send’
4. The successful message of the sent email will be shown
5. Click ‘back’ to proceed to email sent items or click ‘logout’

Recommendation on design changes:

The design in Iteration 1 file has been improved by adding meeting schedule function to the portal. The available time slot will be updated based on the lecturer’s timetable. Since the user preferred one to one feature for the email function, the sender and receiver’s email address will automatically assigned by the system based on the selected topic’s supervisor. As go through the second round of user testing and referring to the recorded feedback, the suggestion given on improving the design interface states that the title of the window that displays the selected topic should be changed. In addition, the status of the topic on the same window showing ‘taken’ after making a request should use ‘pending approval’ instead. As the user misunderstand the topic is being taken by other student. Although the details of the list of topic is available on the portal, but the user suggest to increase the font size of the table. The design of the background on displaying the list of topic should also be improved to make it easier for the user to read. If a student does not want any topic from the list, he/she can propose a topic to a lecturer. But he/she should enter his/her details to allow the lecturer to know whether he/she is suitable to take the topic or not. Hence, a request topic function should be included. Once it is submitted, he/she should wait for lecturer’s approval or respond.

Heuristics Evaluation

Nielsen’s heuristics	Problem details	Problem severity Rating*
Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.	Wong: Students will receive successful message once the request email is sent out to the lecturer. Same goes to lecturer. Vyvyan: The lecturer will receive a successful message to inform them the topic is being upload. In addition, the message will also be shown after the lecturer respond to the request topic. While the student will receive the message once they request for a topic and email to the lecturer. Saaqib: The lecturer will be notified if there is any new request of topic selection from the user. Also student will receive the notification. The interface keeps notifying users when the operation is completed	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 1 Saaqib: 1
2. Match between system and real world The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.	Wong: The language used could be easily understood by users since there are no system-oriented language used. Vyvyan: The language or acronym that used in this portal is understandable by both lecture and students, therefore, they should know how to work on the system. Saaqib:The information provided throughout the system is relevant and understandable to both users. Language is kept simple and precise.	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 0 Saaqib:0
3. User control and freedom Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.	Wong: In students’ side of the portal, user cannot deselect the topic that he/she has chosen. While for lecturer side, it is good that he/she is able to exit immediately from the upload window. Lecturer is able to edit the details of uploaded topics, to approve or not approve requests from students. Vyvyan: In the lecturer’s side portal, they are able to edit the topic details but not able to remove the topic that have uploaded wrongly. In the student’s side portal, they are not able to undo their request once they click on the button. If they wished to exit the pop up window while enter the topic details, they may click on the X button at the top-right corner. Saaqib:The lecturer has various functions to choose while uploading or editing the topics. Also the lecturer can accept or delete  it .	Wong: 1 Vyvyan: 2 Saaqib:1
4. Consistency and standards Follow platform conventions.	Wong: It is consistent because the action buttons are always placed at the bottom right. Vyvyan:The placement of the button is consistent where place at the right bottom corner. There is also exit button at each of the pop-up windows at the top-right corner. Saaqib:From the lecturers side the lecturer has to click on topic status button to check the availability.	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 0 Saaqib:3
5. Error prevention Design to prevent problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.	Wong: Required field must be filled in both student and lecturer side. If not, error message will be generated and they cannot proceed to next step. Vyvyan: There is a hint to inform the lecturer and student which field should not left blank sending an email. However, no hint is given to ensure that all the field should not be empty while the student is entering the information of the topic to be proposed to the lecturer. Saaqib: Students will receive an error message while the topic request is not sent to the lecturers at first place.	Wong: 1 Vyvyan: 2 Saaqib:
6. Recognition rather than recall Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. Make instructions visible or easily retrievable.	Wong: Important actions are easy to access and identify. Lecturer is able to select manage topic from sidebar. Students are able to find the topics through the link created in sidebar. Vyvyan: The users should not have problem using the portal as all the features are clearly labeled on each page of the portal. Saaqib:	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 0 Saaqib:
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Cater system to both experienced and inexperienced user.	Wong: For lecturer, all the folders and links are customizable. Lecturer can control the visibility of the folders and links as well. All the folders and links are placed at left panel, and action buttons are placed at bottom right. It shows consistency. Vyvyan: The logout button may be difficult to be seen by the users as it small in size and the pop-up windows on the portal is unable to close using the Windows’ shortcut command.         Saaqib: Various predefined fields could be added to the system based on the user logged in. This functionality will improve the efficiency in terms of time.	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 1 Saaqib:2
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Cater system to both experienced and inexperienced user.	Wong: The design of the plugin is kept to minimal, with only important features and buttons are included. Extra steps to view topic availability in lecturer side is removed. Vyvyan: The design of the email interface helps the user to automatically assign the email address to make it more convenient to the user. Saaqib: The system uses elearn plugin, therefore sign up is not required.	Wong: 0 Vyvyan: 0 Saaqib:0
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, recover from errors Express error message in plain language, precisely indicating the problem and constructively suggest a solution	Wong: Help center is included. Error message appears when it detects a field is empty while lecturer uploads a topic. Same goes to student, error message is generated when required field is not filled. Vyvyan: In the lecturer side’s portal, error message will be shown to notify the lecturer if the field is empty when they upload a topic. In the student side’s portal, the email system has inform the user regarding the required field with an asterisk. Saaqib: The error messages are precisely notified when the user misses any fields while performing operations.	Wong: 1 Vyvyan: 1 Saaqib:1
10. Help and documentation Provide help and documentation even is the system is easy to use. Information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.	Wong: There is no manual/tutorial for users currently. Vyvyan:There is no help manual to assist the user on using the features on the portal currently. Saaqib: There is no reference provided to the users that could guide them.	Wong: 3 Vyvyan: 3 Saaqib: 3

* Problem severity Rating

0: I don’t agree that this is a usability problem at all

1: Cosmetic problem only (need not to be fixed unless extra time is available)

2: Minor usability problem (fixing has low priority)

3: Major usability problem (important to fix)

4: Usability catastrophe (must be fixed before product can be released)

Heuristic Evaluation Analysis

From the heuristic evaluation above, there are a few problems. One of them is students cannot deselect the topic that has been chosen by them unless they talk to their lecturers. Lecturers are not able to remove or edit the topic. The main problem of this design is that there are no help center. Users are not able to receive help even if they are not familiar with the environment.