Author Archives: jwluther

Th, 10/15: Usability & mid-sem eval

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Three tasks for today — two of which are carryovers from Tuesday…

1. Complete mid-semester evaluations.  I’ve done this with previous courses and found it be an effective way for all involved to reflect on our progress and make adjustments that we can all agree to. I will read all of your responses carefully, identify trends or patterns, and write a committal letter detailing changes we’ll make (which will need to be approved by you). To get started, visit this link or enter this URL into your browser:

http://goo.gl/7b8WBl

 

Answer the questions as fully as you can in the time allotted. (Or, if you find the co-writing process chaotic in Google Docs, you may answer the questions in a word processing program first and cut and paste them here.) You may also “like” your classmates’ responses by tallying this next to their answers or writing additional comments.

2. Review guidelines for making your own test. We’ll take a look at this handout, which is meant to help you think through the steps required for test design.

3. Analyze a usability report example and plan your tests. This is a very strong example of a usability report from  my Fall 2011 class and should give you an idea of what I’m looking for. Take a look at this, the handout above, and make a plan for the lab on Tuesday. As you do, consider:

  • Your objectives: What do you want to measure?
  • Your testers: Who are they? Who do they represent?
  • Your method: What kinds of tests do you want to run? How will they help measure your objectives? How many rounds of testing are you planning to do?
  • Your tools: What kinds of technology do you need to complete these tests?

T, 10/13: Usability

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We’ve got four tasks for today:

1. Listen and evaluate first tech briefing:  Simple web design (Lincoln & Mark). We’ll spend 10-15 minutes hearing from Lincoln and Mark and another 5-10 completing their evaluation form. Again, not only do these forms count toward your participation grade, they count toward the presenter’s TB grade. I’ll walk you through the form one more time before Lincoln and Mark begin.

Here is their deliverable.

2. Listen to usability lecture. Slides are here. I’ll share definitions, examples, technologies, and methods for usability or user-experience (UX) testing.

3. Review guidelines for making your own test. We’ll take a look at this handout, which is designed to help you think through the steps required for test design.

4. Analyze a usability report example. This is a very strong example of a usability report from  my Fall 2011 class and should give you an idea of what I’m looking for. We’ll take a look at some of its strengths and raise questions moving forward.

For Thursday, read about usability testing in Anderson and take a look at this usability study about the iPad. Depending on what we got through today, I’ll give you some time with your team to discuss how you’d like to design your tests for next week.

T, 10/7: Webtexts & project planning

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I’d like to start today by quickly reviewing what’s coming up, especially conferences on Thursday and Tech Briefings next week.

For the latter, I want to review four things:

  • You should have your deliverable ready at the start of your lesson
  • You have up to 15 min for your briefing; I time it. You will receive a notification from me at the 5 and 10 min. marks.
  • At the end of your briefing, the class has a few minutes to evaluate you in Google Forms, but may also choose to write notes throughout the briefing and complete the online form later.
  • Evals go to me for advisement; I judge some of your participation grade with this in mind.

After that, we have three tasks:

1. Looking closer at instructions as webtexts: Part I. In the last part of class on Thursday, each group looked at a different DIY instructions site.

  1. Team 1: All Recipes
  2. The Awesome Team (Name): wikiHow
  3. Minions: Instructables
  4. Francisco & The Girls: DIY Network

Take a few minutes to regroup and chat about your answers to these questions:

  • How are the instructions organized? What does the parts list look like? How are the pages designed? How do users navigate from one page/frame/screen/layer to another?
  • Describe and evaluate the visual elements — formatting, images, videos, etc. — in terms of font, arrangement, size, perspective, clarity, etc.
  • Describe and evaluate the text – the actual words — in terms of language used for action (verbs, verbs, verbs), sequence (order of steps), manner (how something is done), and purpose (why something is done).

2. Looking closer at instructions as webtexts: Part II.

On Thursday I also asked you to try to make or do something from one of these sites  (or somewhere similar), paying attention to what worked well with the instructions and what did not. Tell us about how this went:

  • How could these instructions be improved?
  • What would happen if they were rewritten in a different medium?
  • If there’s a comment section, how did folks add to the experience?

3. Working with Teams. The reading for today (“Project Planning and Tracking”) outlined some strategies for mapping a project with a team and checking in with it. Use this Google Doc as you meet with your group and apply the readings (be sure to save your own copy first!). Ultimately by the end of the class, I want the project manager from each group to send me an email briefing me on:

  • Your chosen host for your webtext and your reasons
  • Your project plan, addressing scope, assumptions, requirements for success, tasks + schedule, and the kinds of ways you’ll track your progress throughout the next few weeks

Th, 10/2: Intro to the Instructions Project

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We got our eye on four tasks today:

1. Letters are due tonight. Any last minute questions about these? A few reminders:

  • Please send me your letters and ad in one email. This is so that (a) I don’t lose your stuff, and (b) I don’t get twice as many emails as necessary.
  • Send me your 2 letters as doc or docx files — I don’t want pdfs and I don’t want Google Docs. This is so I can comment on these quickly and consistently.
  • Also attach your job ad as a legible doc, pdf, or png file. I won’t comment on these but I do want to know the context for your letter.
  • Name the files with your last name first and the assignment (i.e. Barrow_jobad.pdf).

Also, are you signed up for a conference?

2. The Instructions Project. We’ll quickly review the requirements for this assignment and look at some examples from previous students. These examples are not meant to be models to emulate, but should give you a rough idea of what’s possible (or at least what might be considered in the ballpark) for this unit.

3.Time to build. I’ll give you about 40-45 minutes of class time to meet with your group and come up with some ideas for your prototype. You certainly don’t have to decide on a design today, but this is a chance for you to entertain and evaluate some ideas. While branding isn’t really part of this project, you should consider the idea of your design enough that it makes sense conceptually to your audience (or imaginary customers).

4. Looking closer at instructions as webtexts. In the last part of class today, I’d like each group to look at a different DIY instructions site.

  1. Team 1: All Recipes
  2. The Awesome Team (Name): wikiHow
  3. Minions: Instructables
  4. Francisco & The Girls: DIY Network

You can handle this task as you see fit. If almost everyone has a laptop, though, you may look at different pages and compare designs. Or you might all choose one to discuss. No matter what you decide,  be prepared to discuss the following questions after 10-15 minutes:

  • How are the instructions organized? What does the parts list look like? How are the pages designed? How do users navigate from one page/frame/screen/layer to another?
  • Describe and evaluate the visual elements — formatting, images, videos, etc. — in terms of font, arrangement, size, perspective, clarity, etc.
  • Describe and evaluate the text — the actual words — in terms of language used for action (verbs, verbs, verbs), sequence (order of steps), manner (how something is done), and purpose (why something is done).

For Tuesday, I’d like you to try to make or do something from one of these sites  (or somewhere similar). It shouldn’t be too complicated and it certainly shouldn’t cost you anything. You could make a sauce, fix a door that sticks, or mix a cocktail (21 and up, of course). As you do, notice what works well with the instructions and what doesn’t. How could these instructions be improved? What would happen if they were rewritten in a different medium? If there’s a comment section, how do folks add to the experience? Come to class ready to share your experience!

T, 9/30: Workshopping letter drafts

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Today you were asked to bring 5 copies of your job ad/cover letter and 5 copies of your claim letter. We’re going to do something akin to peer-review as speed dating.

  1. We’re going to divide the class into two groups. Then, each group will divide in half, forming two even, concentric circles. Like this:

2. Those in the outside circle will exchange drafts with those in the inside. Each pair has 5-10 minutes to review each other’s claim letters and share feedback. As you review your partner’s letter, be sure to write down comments, questions, ideas, etc. in the margins. As you do, keep in mind the criteria we developed in class for this genre. After the 5-10 minutes are up, you’ll give each other your letters back.

3. The outside circle with then rotate one seat over, clockwise and repeat step 2.

4. Once everyone has had a chance to review your claim letter (about 30-40 minutes), we’ll switch circles so that the outside circle in Group 1 will switch with the outside circle in Group 2. This way, we’ll be able to diversify feedback.

5. Repeats steps 2-3 with your cover letters.

Th, 9/25: Cover letters, cont’d

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Today we’ll slow down a little bit and look at two more sample job ads and letters of response (although digital copies are available below, I printed out copies so you can write on them).

But first I’ll also share the Tech Briefing schedule with you and walk you through the Instructions Project.

On Tuesday, I’d like you to bring 5 draft copies of your cover letter (w/ job ad) and 5 draft copies of your claim letter. We’ll workshop these in class.