Mid Term Review?

Our teacher did something I've never seen done before. She took a day, halfway through the semester and did the most useful thing a teacher has ever done. She reviewed everything we had covered so far in an hour and a half. This really helped pull everything into a big picture instead of the fragments we learned each class. In the Human-Computer Interaction, a lot of what we learn is different testing techniques for various stages of technological development. Sometimes it's hard to relate it all. This speedy run through really helped with that. Hooray!!! So impressed I could have kissed her...and she'd probably look at me the way this cat is looking at the little girl.

Usability Testing - In Class Activity

We did an in-class activity today. It was pretty awesome. We did some mock usability testing. The actual testing itself isn't so awesome but discovering how bad the Toronto Public Library website is was kind of fun. Even better was that it really gave us a good idea of what we are doing for our final project of the term. This means I might still be able to get and A but that's not really the point of this post. Today I was given what should have been a simple task. All I had to do was figure out if a book was available at a particular library location in Toronto. A task I have preformed a million times while working for CPL. The catch here was that I wasn't given a location, I needed to find the one closest to the Toronto Billy...Airport. Well, figuring that out using their website was next to impossible. They only make a city map with all location on it available under their link for newcomers to Canada. Well, what about just plain people in Toronto who never used a library before? Geez. Something that should have taken me 2 minutes took over 10 and I was only successful with lots of hints. I consider their website in need of a little work. Why was this so hard to find???

Card Sorting - A Way to Design Layout

In class we do tons of class activities. These are really great because we get to practice the concepts we are leaning helping to cement them in our minds and giving us a deeper understanding of the processes we are learning about. Recently, we did a card sorting activity. The idea here is to put each individual component that will be part of the whole onto and index card or electronic version of an index card.
 

So far it sounds a lot like the affinity diagrams, right? The difference is the cards are created by the research team while the sticky notes are created by the subjects themselves. There are many variations to do a card sorting activity. They can be open (participants are free to make any categories and connections they want), or closed (a predetermined framework is given to participants.) As stated before, this can be done with real cards, or electronically. Electronic versions allow for remote participation.

As for the in class activity, the order achieved by the participants in our group closely matched the layout from the website we based our cards on. This shows that the company must have done something right in creating their website. Hooray Them!!!

Affinity Diagrams...Sticky Note Heaven

Does anyone besides me have a sticky note obsession? I have some with my name on them, some of them have kittens, some have witty sayings, etc. I never thought I'd be able to put them all to good use. Then I met the affinity diagram. These tools for brainstorming are a sticky note lover's paradise. Here, let me show you.

OK, so the picture isn't super informative. Let me explain the concept. A general topic or question is assigned to a large group of people (these are often used in staff meetings). Each individual writes singular thoughts related to the topic on sticky notes. All the notes are placed randomly on a table or on the wall. Now people attempt to group them based on common themes. In the picture above the columns of yellow notes are the individual ones, the blue notes are the common themes and the, er, single yellow ones (they looked pink before???) unites commonalities between blue groups. And just like that, you have an understanding of the major themes of your topic. YAY!!!

Familiarity: Google Documents Meets Microsoft Word

An important element when designing softwear is making sure the design matches the mental model already posesed by the user. In terms of open access software, this may include followin a design that already exists, keeping the design familiar. In the case of Google Documents familiarity comes from matching symbols to those we are already familiar with from Microsoft Word.

We have developed a mental model for the select text colour function.

This is just one of example of the consistencies between the two products. Familiarity is only one part of matching mental models. The shopping cart function in commerce type websites is also building on the real world idea of shopping. The ability to remove things from you cart at various stages also matches what we'd expect from real life.

Apologies Twitter, I Have Seen the (F)light.

I can admit when I am wrong. I don't like it, but I can do it. In getting ready to revive this blog, I was rereading my old posts. I have decided twitter has now soared into something more than it once was. I guess that doesn't make my old post wrong, just outdated. There are now sites (like dlvr.it) which let you post simultaneously to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and other social media outlets. This allows posters to reach out to followers using any platform of communication. The same posts I get from  my favourite author on Facebook go to his Twitter followers as well. Since I'm reading the same thing they are, I can't snub the content anymore.