Assignment 6: Heuristic Evaluation of SFNight Prototype

Page Contents:

Introduction
Tabulation of Violations
Detail of Violations
Positive Feedback
Work Distribution

Introduction

We noticed some general problem areas that persisted across the interface. These are overarching themes, rather than specific violations: this is more of a summary of our "laundry list" of heuristic violations.

Icons, buttons, and pages were labeled inconsistently. Sometimes icons had explanatory text, but other times only the graphic appeared. Also, the placement and labeling of buttons or icons did not always clearly indicate their function. We had a hard time figuring out what were "submit" buttons and which were icons that represented a link to another page. We feel that using more traditional-looking buttons might fix this problem. Also, using text links as opposed to graphical links would make the results of clicking more obvious.

We all had difficulty with the way that certain pages and functions were named. We did not understand the function of "View My List" from its title or icon. This also held true for functions like "Send to Email List." This label seemed to imply that an email function would occur immediately. In reality, it actually meant "add an event to a running list." We believe that your use of the word "list" is too vague. For example, distinguishing between a list of friends and a list of events is crucial for this interface.

We liked that the site contained editors' picks. However, we did not like the display of those picks on the My SFNight page. The two calendars, with identical design and size, confused us. They competed for our attention: it was difficult to distinguish between the two. We know that you have been working to find a solution to this problem. We would like to suggest three alternatives. Either move the editors' picks to another page, integrate them into a single, larger calendar, or add the picks to the page in a smaller, but graphically distinct manner. This way, the user's locus of attention would be on her own picks, which is the point of customization anyway.

Tabulation of Violations

Total number of violations = 33

H1 Visibility of System Status = 3
H2 Match Between System and the Real World = 7
H3 User control and freedom = 5
H4 Consistency and Standards = 4
H5 Error Prevention = 6
H6 Recognition Rather than Recall = 2
H7 Flexibility and efficiency of use = 1
H8 Aesthetic and Minimalist Design = 3
H9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors = 0
H10 Help and Documentation = 2

Severity 0 = 0
Severity 1 = 2
Severity 2 = 11
Severity 3 = 16
Severity 4 = 4

Detail of Violations

MT = Mary Trombley
SE = Susanne Eklund
SC = Shirley Chan

Jump to Violations:

Global
Home Page
Email List Page
SFNight Sign-up Page
My SFNight Main Page
Search Page
Update Preferences
Event Profile
Event and Venue List

Global Violations:

1. [H2 Match Between System and the Real World] (Severity 3)
View My List button takes you to a page that immediately demands email input for mailing. This isn't what the label seems to mean, as viewing is more central than sending. (MT)

2. [H4 Consistency and Standards] (Severity 2)
The blue icon with the envelope and list has two different labels (See search page for example) Sometimes it's labeled "View My List." Other times its labeled "Send to Email List." (MT)

3. [H10 Help and Documentation] (Severity 4)
Little help. No in-depth explanations. Note: I found the Help link at the top of the main page by accident when I ran IE instead of Netscape. (MT)

Individual Page Violations:

Home Page

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is290-1/f00/sfnights/sfnight/index.htm

4. [H1 Visibility of System Status] (Severity 3)
After you choose to login, you are returned to the home page, with a very small Welcome message in an inconvenient area of the screen. This seems pretty abrupt. You aren't given any further elaboration regarding the account or introduction to personalized services. It's hard to tell what your account status is. (MT)

5. [H1 Visibility of System Status] (Severity 2)
First page has nice graphic design, but takes too long to load-- even on SIMS PCs. The page also frequently crashed our systems. (MT)

6. [H2 Match Between System and the Real World] (Severity 4)
Need to run a spell-check and grammar check on entire site. Stefan would be put off by the many spelling errors. (MT)

7. [H8 Aesthetic and Minimalist Design] (Severity 4)
Middle panel is confusing. It's hard to tell the difference between the different features of this panel. (MT)

Email List Page

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is213/s01/projects/P4/InteractivePrototype1/prototype_n/mylist3b.htm

8. [H3 User Control and Freedom] (Severity 2)
In the email event to friend interface, the delete button is located on the top. It's confusing, because the other buttons in that row don't let you complete an action. All the other buttons that let you complete an action are located at the bottom of the page. (MT)

9. [H4 Consistency and Standards] (Severity 2)
The site displays inconsistent wording regarding the email list function. On the buttons it says, "send to email list," but when the user clicks on the button, the next page is titled "Venue and Event List," or sometimes "Send a (sic) E-Mail List," depending on where you click from. The user might think s/he went to the wrong page if s/he sees "Venue and Event List." Generally, I also think "Send to Email List" is not the best wording for this function. "Send" is too often associated with the email itself, so it's confusing to associate it with an event posting, too. How about "Add Event to Email List," "Send Event to my Friends," or "Add to My Mailing List"? (SE)

10. [H4 Consistency and Standards] (Severity 3)
It is very unclear how a user is supposed to enter more than one email address in the Email List form. There's only one small text box to use. Is the user supposed to enter more than one, then delineate with commas? Or spaces? Industry standards would suggest using a larger textarea box, having multiple text boxes, or using the widget where you enter an address then click a button to add it to a running list. (SE, SC)

11. [H4 Consistency and Standards] (Severity 3)
The buttons at the bottom of the Email form are unclear and don't follow "Submit" and "Cancel" industry standards. The "Send Email" button should be bigger, more obvious, directly under the form, and separated from the other buttons, which are not as important. "Remove my List" is unclear. If you mean delete, say delete. You might consider changing "Save my List" to "Save List for Later" so users are more clear on what this button does. Also, I am not sure if the list will be saved automatically during this session, or whether I have to save it each time I add a new item. You might want to clarify this point. (SE)

12. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 3)
The event list on the Email Form has all the events' delete boxes checked by default. It would be way too easy for someone to hit the delete button by accident and erase all listings. Intead, have the default be unchecked. Also, the title of the column, "Delete This Item," is misleading. The wording suggests only one item is deleted when the button is clicked, but I assume that the button actually deletes all items that are checked. Clarify the wording on the button. (SE, SC)

SFNight Sign-up Page

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/academics/courses/is213/s01/projects/P4/InteractivePrototype1/prototype_n/sg_con3.htm

13. [H2 Match Between System and Real World] (Severity 2)
Language used to describe the categories on the SF night sign-up page unclear. What is a light-weight email? Also, boxes with explanatory text should be put next to the items they are explaining, or added to the headings. (MT)

14. [H3 User Control and Freedom] (Severity 2)
Have a cancel button at the bottom of the form so users can change their mind if they need to. Also, don't say "Thank you for joining SF Night!" until the user has actually clicked on the button and the transaction is processed. This text makes it seem like it's already a done deal, when it is not. (SE)

15. [H4 Consistency and Standards](Severity 2)
"Create mySFNight" button is kind of hard to notice, since it's way at the bottom below a big line. You might consider making it more obviously a submit button, either by using a real HTML button or by using a graphical button labeled "Submit." (SE, SC)

16. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 3)
My SFNight sign-up has checkboxes instead of radiobuttons, which could cause errors. For example, you should be able to choose only one age group or gender category. (MT, SE, SC)

17. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 4)
The yes/no option to receive a monthly SFNight newsletter should be radio buttons, not checkboxes. The yes/no option to receive information and coupons should be radio buttons, not checkboxes. (SC)

My SFNight Main Page

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is213/s01/projects/P4/InteractivePrototype1/prototype_n/mysfnight3a.htm

18. [H2 Match Between System and the Real World] (Severity 3)
One of the evaluators thought the MySFNight Calendar displayed two different dates under the Saturday heading. The individual weeks of the calendar blend into each other. It is easy to confuse next Friday's events with this Friday's. Perhaps you can draw a thicker line between the weeks. (MT, SC)

19. [H2 Match Between System and Real World] (Severity 3)
The "Remove" icon is a checked box, which looks just like regular form element checkboxes, which are located all over the page. Users might mistakenly think that checking a box will delete the item, when in fact checking a box could be used for moving an item to My Picks or to an Email list. (SE)

20. [H3 User control and freedom] (Severity 2)
Why would I want to Minimize a calendar? Not clear of the purpose. (SC)

21. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 3)
Preferences Box in table looks too much like the title of the whole table, which is confusing. The "Update" link could apply to anything--to the table, to the items, to my preferences. The "Minimize" link could also apply to the table, to the items, or to my preferences. Be consistent and decide what the verbs apply to, then indicate such with grouping. Or, just say "update preferences" and "minimize table". That would save a lot of confusion and errant clicking. (SE)

22. [H6 Recognition Rather than Recall] (Severity 2)
Icon key appears at top of table, but some icons appear throughout the page and user will have to remember what they mean. How about labeling icons instead? The blue icon for My List is confusing. Do you mean "email my list"? (SE, SC)

23. [H8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 3)
Very confusing having two calendars. The Editor's Picks calendar looks too similar to the Your Picks calendar. Feature Your Picks more prominantly. Perhaps combine the calendars and mark the editor's picks differently.

24. [H8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 1)
The individual date is hard to see. Make the numbers bigger or bolder. (SC)

25. [H10 Help and Documentation] (Severity 3)
I like the idea of being able to do one action on many events at once, using the Add, Email, or Delete icons. But can you make it more clear that this is the case? The icon key could be labeled better, indicating that icons perform the actions on checked items, not on everything on the screen. For example, "Add Checked Items to My Email List" instead of "Send to eMail List." (SE)

Search Page

26. [H1 Visibility of System Status] (Severity 3)
On the search page, there is only one column of check boxes and two potential labels for them-blue envelope label or MySF. It's hard to tell which column the checkbox belongs to. It's also unclear what happens if you were to check the box. What do you do next? Click on the labels closest or those at the bottom? What if you wanted to add the event to both your list and your MySF? Perhaps you could clarify in key to say "Add all checked items to Email List" or something of that nature.(MT, SE)

27. [H3 User Control and Freedom] (Severity 1)
At the end of the search results, it's very unclear how the user proceeds to view more results. Should say something like "View next 10 results" in large letters. As is, it seems like there are only 10 results. Also, if a user scrolls all the way to the end of the list, s/he may want to search again if s/he didn't find something desirable, and there's no suggestion at the end of the list about how to find more events or how to fix an ineffective search. How about a link to search help? (SE)

28. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 3)
At top of search result screen, you have the option to search again, but this function seems to be labeled "Happening in SF." Users may think this is a different search engine or different function. (Maybe it is?) They may waste time searching again on the same criteria if they don't see what they want. How about labeling it "Adjust your Search and Try Again"? (SE)

Update Preferences

29. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 2)
I don't think "Update Preferences" should go to a page identical to "Registration." Some things probably shouldn't be changed, such as userid. If a person changes their userid, will their old account be lost? Do people's genders usually change? (Well, okay, sometimes I guess they do). Anyway, consider bringing users to a new page that has unchangable information hard-coded, with only the preferences available for change. Also, consider changing the bottom button to read "Update my Preferences" instead of "Create My SFNight" so users know they're not creating a whole new account. (SE)

Event Profile

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is213/s01/projects/P4/InteractivePrototype1/prototype_n/event3.htm

30. [H6 Recognition rather than recall] (Severity 3)
Music icon next to the Map button is confusing. What is it supposed to do? Is it related to the map? (SC)

31. [H7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] (Severity 3)
What does Send to Email list mean? Is this My Preferences, or is this to my friends? Do I have retype all my friends' emails each time I add an event? This seems very tedious. (SC)

Event and Venue List

Location: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is213/s01/projects/P4/InteractivePrototype1/prototype/mylist.htm

32. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2)
"Remove my list" is vague. Use "Delete my list" instead. Can user have more than one list? If the user can only have one list, then "Delete my list" is unnecessary - just delete each item until the list is empty. Actually, the user always has a list, but it just might be empty. The original wording makes it sound that the member can have multiple lists. I think multiple lists are a good idea since the user may have different groups of friends. (SC)

33. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3)
What does the button "Send my list" do that is different from emailing the list of friends at the top of the page? Why put the email form at the top of a page that says "Event and Venue List"? It seems that the user should see event titles first, and then be able send the events to friends. Currently, the "Send my list" button is at the bottom of the page, but the email addresses are at the top. (MT, SC)

Positive Feedback

We like the idea that the user can add multiple items to his/her SFNight Calendar and Email List with one icon click. We like the Editor's Picks. We appreciate that the user can choose events according to venue and geographical location. The maps and directions areuseful. We like the photo on the Event Profile page. The ranking of venues on the home page is very useful. We like how the top picks of the week are on the home page. We like the functionality of receiving email advertisements for future events, based on events we attended in the past. The search results page has a lot of useful content in a compact format. The graphic design is very professional looking.

Good luck on your second prototype!