Heuristic Evaluation By
McInterface Group (Linda, Saifon, John)
1. [H3 User control and freedom]
(Severity 1, 1 evaluator found this error)
The screen that displays each course
has 'view system rating' link. Once users click on this link, they cannot
go back to the course description page (which is the next step they
are mostly to perform) without clicking the 'back' button. It only provides
links to the course listing screens.
Suggested
Solution: Add a link to the course description page on the 'system
rating' screen.
2.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2, 2 evaluators
found this error)
The interface uses the word 'average'
for average rating. This might be a little confusing for difficulty
rating since 'average' can also refer to a level of difficulty. The
conventional word used is 'overall.'
Suggested
Solution: Change 'average' to 'overall.'
3.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2, 3 evaluators
found this error)
In the add comment screen, it is
not clear what 'continue' button does. Users might wonder whether it
will submit the rating/comment or gives a preview.
Suggested
Solution: Replace 'continue' button with 'preview' button and 'submit'
button.
4.
[H7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator found
this error)
For this interface, this 'continue'
button seems to refer to previewing the input. Having only this button
is not sufficient because users might want to take a shortcut by submitting
the input directly without previewing it.
Suggested
Solution: Same as #2.
5.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3, 2 evaluators
found this error)
After clicking 'continue' button,
the following screen appears. It is not clear, however, whether 'Edit
comment' button only refers to the comment part or both the rating and
the comment. It is not clear either whether 'Add comment' button means
submitting this comment or adding another comment (like what 'Add a
comment' link does). The first time I used the interface, I thought
the button refers to adding another comment.
Suggested
Solution: Replace 'Edit comment' with 'Edit' and replace 'Add comment'
with 'Submit.'
6.
[H4 Consistency and standards] (Severity 2, 2 evaluators found this
error)
On the Add a comment screen that
provides a drop-down list, choosing an item in the list, but the first
item (IS202), will automatically direct users to the corresponding course
description page. If the first item is chosen, the user needs to click
the 'Go' button to see the course description.
Suggested
Solution: Modify the system so that it either waits for users to
click 'Go' button before proceeding to the next screen, or automatically
direct users to the corresponding course description page for all items
in the list.
7.
[H10 Help and documentation] (Severity 1, 1 evaluator found this error)
In the Help / FAQ section, there
are separate links tailoring different users' tasks. Each link corresponds
to an individual page for each help section. However, users might want
to read more than one sections at a time, which can be accomplished
only by clicking back and forth between 'Help / FAQ' link and each topic's
link.
Suggested
Solution: Have all help content on one page and separate each topic
by bookmarks.
8.
[H5 Error prevention] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator found this error)
The system currently allows users
to input no ratings/comments at all and submit them.
Suggested
Solution: The system should force users to at least input one rating
or a comment.
9.
[H6 Recognition rather than recall] (Severity 2.5, 2 evaluators found
this error)
We think that the thumb symbols
are a little bit confusing. When new users see a number of thumbs in
the ratings, they do not understand what it means, for example, the
rating is two thumbs out of how many thumbs as the maximum rating? Users
have to follow the rating system link to look at the legends for the
rating system and they have to remember the legends in order to understand
the ratings or inputting their own ratings.
Suggested
Solution: The system should force users to at least input one rating
or a comment.
10.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3, 2 evaluators
found this error)
The label for one thumb is good
and the label for two thumb is fair. We think that one thumb should
mean fair and two thumbs should mean good. The way different people
judge something is good, fair, and excellent may be different.
Suggested
Solution: Use a scale of numbers to represent the ratings to get
people's perception more accurately.
11.
[H8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 1, 2 evaluators found
this error)
The explanation of ratings system
for Course Ratings and Instructor Ratings are the same.
Suggested
Solution: Combine the explanation of ratings system for both of
them to minimize information that are presented to users.
12.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator
found this error)
It's not clear to users how to add
ratings only, without comment.
Suggested
Solution: Change the wording of the 'Add a comment...' links into
something like 'Add ratings/comments...
13.
[H7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] (Severity 1, 1 evaluator found
this error)
In the Course Description page,
if the browser's width is narrow, users would need to scroll to the
right in viewing the Course Description.
Suggested
Solution: Make the width of the table dynamic, automatically changed
according to the browser's width.
14.
[H1 Visibility of system status] (Severity 2, 2 evaluators found this
error)
There is no feedback to confirm
that comments/ratings have been submitted or cancelled.
Suggested
Solution: Provide a confirmation message after comments/ratings
have been submitted or cancelled.
15.
[H1 Visibility of system status] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator found this
error)
The system does not tell user whether
he has successfully logged in/logged out or not. The user may mistakenly
think that he has logged out when he actually did not.
Suggested
Solution: Add a Welcome Page/Goodbye Page after users have logged
in/out.
16.
[H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator
found this error)
The =93Add A Comment=85=94 link
is misleading. It makes users think that it allows users to make comments
on the website, not the courses.
Suggested
Solution: Change the name of the link to =93Rate a Course=94.
17.
[H4 Consistency and standards] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator found this error)
The =93List of courses=85=94 links
make users think that by clicking on the links they will go to pages
different from those they see when they click on the =93Browse courses
by=85=94 links.
Suggested
Solution: Show the users that both links lead to the same pages.
18.
[H6 Recognition rather than recall] (Severity 2, 1 evaluator found this
error)
If users want to look at the ratings
they have to log in. However, not every Login Page has a link to the
Registration Page. Nor there is a link to the Registration Page on the
left panel. Only when you click on the link to a course without logging
in will they show the Login Page with a link to the Registration Page.
New users have to remember or know this if they want to register.
Suggested
Solution: Add a link to the New User Registration Page in the left
panel of the webpage.
19.
[H7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] (Severity 1, 1 evaluator found
this error)
There is no =93Back to Top=94 link
at the end of each section in the courses list page. Users have to scroll
up to go to the category links at the top of the page.
Suggested
Solution: Add a "Back to Top" link at the end of each section in
the courses list page.
Statistics
|
Heuristic Rules
|
Number
of Violations (19 Total)
|
| H1
Visibility of system status |
2
(14, 15)
|
| H2
Match between system and the real world |
6
(2, 3, 5, 8, 16)
|
| H3
User Control and freedom |
1
(1)
|
| H4
Consistency and standards |
2
(6, 17)
|
| H5
Error Prevention |
1
(8)
|
| H6
Recognition rather than recall |
2
(9, 18)
|
| H7
Flexibility and efficiency of use |
3
(4, 13, 19)
|
| H8
Aesthetic and minimalist design |
1
(11)
|
| H9
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors |
0
|
|
H10 Help and documentation |
1 (7)
|
|
Severity
Levels (0-4)
|
Number
of Violations (19 Total)
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
0.5
|
0
|
|
1
|
5
|
|
1.5
|
0
|
|
2
|
11
|
|
2.5
|
1
|
|
3
|
2
|
|
3.5
|
0
|
|
4
|
0
|
Overall
Recommendations
We
think that the problems with highest priority are the rating system
and the rating/commenting system.
Less
is more. The rating system can be made simpler by using a numeric scale,
say 1-5. This way, the documentation of the rating system can be eliminated.
The 'view system rating' link can be replaced by a simple explanation
such as "Scale: 1-5, 1 worst or easiest, 5 best or most difficult."
A more self-explained representation might be "worst o o o o
o best" (this can be done better using graphics). The goal is to
eliminate the 'view system rating' page.
The
logic of the rating/commenting system is somehow unconventional. The
'continue' button should be replaced by 'preview' and 'submit' buttons,
while clicking on the 'preview' button gives a preview of the user's
input and clicking on the 'submit' button directly submits the input
to the system and acknowledges that to the user. The 'submit' button
also have to appear on the preview page.
Even
though most problems have a relatively low priority, we suggest that
problems related to the laugauge should be fixed, since it is easy to
implement these changes.
For
more details of recommendations, see the 'suggested solution' section
under each violation.