Scenarios

Scenario 1: Ed is not sure which direction he would like to go in and would like to find out more about the different areas of study. He decides to read about the courses offered and what other students thought about how useful they were. He goes to the SIMians course comment forum and begins browsing through the courses related to Human-Computer Interaction. The title of IS 213 catches his eye and he reads the reviews of the course. Liking what he is reading, Ed checks out the courses that students who liked IS 213 also liked.

Scenario 2: Ed remembers that he was getting pretty interested in network systems at his old job, so he searches for courses that teach about networking. He searches for the word "network" and finds IS250. He reads the comments.

Scenario 3: Annie has just taken IS250 and was really pleased with the course. She's about to graduate and wants to give her feedback about courses before she leaves. She wants to write a comment so future students can read it. She liked the course, thought the professor was excellent, and thought the coursework was challenging but worth it.

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Changes from the Low-fi Prototype

Problem: Users had no context for using the page and did not know where or how to begin.
Solution: Added a main "start" page with a brief explanation of the site and direct links to the most-used functions.

Problem: Users wanted to use "Add a comment" both before and after selecting a particular course.
Solution: Enabled verb-noun interaction through left-hand "add comment" button and noun-verb interaction through links on each course page.

Problem: Users were confused by number, arrangement, position, and terminology of the constant elements.
Solution: Simplified constant elements by:

• Eliminating extra search functions.
• Removing "Shopping Cart" function.
• Removing some browse functions (core courses, non-SIMS courses).
• Removing the separate button for the "New User" function.
• Eliminating "Tools" label.
• Moving browse functions toward the top of the screen.

Problem: Users did not know what do do after task completion; needed exits.
Solution: Added basic navigation links at the bottom of each course and course comment page.

Problem: Users were confused by the (official!) subject groupings and titles under Browse by Subject function.
Solution: Revised subject groupings according to the new career sections.

Problem: Users were not given the range and meanings of the rating options.
Solution: Provided link to ratings explanation page.

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Storyboards

Scenario 1:
1. Start at main page.

2. Go to the Browse by Subject page.

3. Go to the HCI section.

4. Go to IS 213.

5. Read description, log in.

6. Read comments.

7. Go to a course that other people who liked this course also liked

 

Scenario 2:
(Start at the 214 comments page, while still logged in.)

1. Search for "network."

2. Read search results page.

3. Go to IS 250, read comments.

Scenario 3:
(Log out of system and start from main page again)

 

1. Click on "Add a comment" button. Log in.

2. Look at course selection page.

3. Choose IS 250.

4. Enter ratings and comments.

5. Continue to preview page.

5. Continue to commments page.

6. Pretend new comments are there. :)

 

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Last Modified: Mar-22-2001

Copyright 2001: Linda Duffy, Jean-Anne Fitzpatrick, Sonia Klemperer-Johnson, James Reffell