(back to Heuristics page for TraveLite)
1.
[H1. Establish an identity] (Severity
2) Information about the site
owners and the Travelite organization is hard to find—I did locate it within
the lengthy Privacy and Terms of Use pages.
I assume this information will be added to the FAQ page, especially
under “What is Travelite?” and “Where does the content come from?”
2.
[H1. Establish an identity] (Severity
1) On a similar note, it would be
good to have a “Contact TraveLite webmaster” link available on the home page, so
that users do not have to scan through the “Privacy” and “Terms of Use”
sections to identify a contact person—an individual might have a problem with
the website that does not fall under either of those headings.
3.
[H2. Indicate the target audience of the site] (Severity 1) On the home page, the
site has a good, clear statement of purpose:
“TraveLite is a tool for creating customized travel guides.” Might also consider adding “who can benefit
from TraveLite?” to the FAQ. Perhaps
use your personas as examples.
4.
[H2. Indicate the target audience of the site] (Severity 1) Also, might want to
indicate on the home page which geographical areas are available. These are in the FAQ, but may want to
feature it more prominently so that one who is surfing will know, at a glance,
that TraveLite has North American destinations.
5.
[H3. Visibility of system status] (Severity 4) This was the most
serious problem for me, applying to the “Purchase Content,” “Choose Guide Type
and Size,” “Add and Remove Regions” and “Edit Regions” screens. I had trouble knowing where I was in the
“build a guide” process. It would be
good if system would let you know how many steps are involved in building a
guide, then show steps completed as grayed out, current step
highlighted and steps to come in some other format. Alternatively, a tour or overview of the
process would be helpful, with estimates of how long the entire process might
take.
6.
[H3. Visibility of system status] (Severity 3) The Edit Regions screen was not labeled. The only eye-catching label was the name of
the region being edited. Also in small
font was the “Refine…” tag.
7.
[H3. Visibility of system status] (Severity 2) When
refining a region’s attributes, make it more obvious which section you are editing—the
color change when shifting from tab to tab is good, but maybe omit the region
information from the display if that is to remain constant. E.g. instead of US: California/Nevada, San Francisco: Sights
& Attractions, then US: California/Nevada, San Francisco: Lodging, just
have it switch from Sights and Attractions to Lodging. (The region information appears at the top
of the screen anyway so showing it below is redundant.)
8.
[H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
2) Will “preview” show me the actual guide as it will appear on my web
browser? Perhaps this has not been
fully implemented yet--difficult to assess in this iteration.
9. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
2) On the “My Account and Bookshelf” page, there is a distinction made
between “content purchased” and “guide you’ve created.” I’m not sure that everyone will understand
the distinction. Maybe provide some
examples.
10. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
1) “Countries you own” is kind of an odd phrase. Consider rephrasing to “Country information you own.”
11. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
2) On the Lodging and Food and Dining tabs, what do the stars
represent? It would be helpful to have
an explanation available from the build-a-guide page.
12. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
1) Price ranges for lodging seem way too low. $5? With a maximum of $45?
13. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
2) When working through the scenario for scenario 2, I was supposed to save
a guide. This option is not obvious
from the Edit Region page. I assume
Finished is the equivalent of Saved but it seems too final. Perhaps provide a “Save” option, separate
from Finished, with Finished meaning “Prepare to print or download.”
14. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
2) Proceed to Checkout vs. Purchase Content
15. [H4. Match between system and the real world] (Severity
3) I could not determine how to add 1 restaurant at a time, as per scenario
3.
16.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 2) Within
the Edit Region section, I could not understand how the “Sights and
Attractions” were ordered—it was not alphabetical. It would help to have these grouped somehow, as it is a long list
to review. Activities are in
alphabetical order, but here it might be handy to have it arranged from most
active to least active. In any case,
either make the ordering consistent across the tabs or the differences explicit
in case someone has something specific in mind.
17.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 2) On
price list, order is not logical.
Budget, High, Luxury, Moderate.
(Shouldn’t moderate come right after Budget?)
18.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 2) Present-tense
vs. past tense. “Content purchased”
implies that the transaction has already taken place, even before I have
entered my credit card information. I
suggest using “content selected” instead.
19.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 2) Screen
says “Purchase more destinations” even if I haven’t purchased any yet.
20.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 1) A
map would be handy. (I know this isn’t
realistic for this implementation but when I came to the task “find hotel near downtown,”
I did not know the city well enough to choose from the alternatives.
21.
[H5. Follow real-world conventions] (Severity 1) On Purchase Additional
Destinations, might want to have destination default to North America or
Europe—perhaps Africa is least likely choice for your target users.
22.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) System
uses both “accommodations” and “lodging” to refer to the same thing.
23.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) The
term “bookshelf” is never explained.
24.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 3) “Create
a New Guide” leads to “Add/Remove Destinations from Guide.” “Purchase Destinations” also leads
there—this is confusing.
25.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) Preview
sometimes pops up a window, other places, it occupies the full screen.
26.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) In
some places price is expressed in dollar amounts, elsewhere as budget,
moderate, high. This should probably be
consistent throughout.
27.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) Use of “edit” vs.
“refine.” Mostly edit is used, but on
the left column of the editable region pages, it says “Refine.”
28.
[H7. Consistency and standards] (Severity 2) On the Purchase
Destinations screen, “Preview Selected” and “i” go to the same place
29.
[H9. Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 3)
At times, it seems that there are too many options visible at once, making
it difficult to know what pieces of information on the screen are there just
for my information, and what pieces required my immediate attention. For instance, when I go to Download a Free
Trial, I also see the list of FAQs.
That was confusing—it took my attention away from the task at hand and
forced me to read the other items on the screen.
30.
[H12. Help and documentation] (Severity 2) Help
features are not yet implemented but there are numerous placeholders on Also
the FAQ appears on each screen. This
will probably provide a good location for help messages.
31.
[H13. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from
errors] (Severity 4) For the
most part, error recovery not supported in this implementation. Sign-in problems are the only area addressed
completely, with two ways for users to recover their passwords.
32. [H14. Don't
let organizational issues and problems show through the interface] (Severity
2) The use of the terms “content”
vs. “guide” is the only problem I see in this area. The difference between the two would perhaps not be apparent to
the average user.