Thursday: 08/12/2011

Today in we class we done a mock assignment on Jakob Nielsens heuristics for a User Centred Design. Here's my Final mock assignment. The title for this Mock Assignment was; From a HCI approach evaluate an email software application of your choice and provide a detailed analysis including recommendations and research.

Mock Assignment

The email software application I have chosen to provide a detailed analysis from a HCI approach is Gmail. Gmail is one of the fastest growing email software in the world and has high expectations to fulfil its high reputation.

Visibility of system status:

Gmail has recently updated its software and has numerous options to provide your feedback about their new ideas. As soon as you log on, there are pop down menus for the user to provide what they think of the new layout. Also, they update you constantly, whether it is by pop-up or by email but they always fill you in on what they’re doing. Once they update something they let you no as soon as they do it which is effective and shows they care about their users. There is an option that you can click on where it explains the “new look” and watch a video about it to enlighten us in our knowledge of the new page and an option to send your feedback on their new ideas.

Match between system and the real world:

The language and phrasing used on this software is effective and isn’t impossible to understand. The familiarity between the email software and real world is noticeable and makes browsing through your emails much easier and understandable. The order of arrangement on this page is noticeably strong that leaves no confusion for the user in what they want to do. There is nothing impossible to deal with in Gmail everything is manageable and user friendly.

User control and freedom:

Like all good web pages there is an emergency exit on Gmail. The arrow on the top left hand corner of the page helps you to abort an unwanted state that you’ve mistakenly gone into. This is a well known attribute to any web page, an easy escape to go back to the page you were on before without having to close down the webpage completely. The freedom to do so is an attribute in itself that doesn’t confine the user to a single option; they have choice which is most important.

Consistency and standards:

The consistency of the page is again, another big factor in the popularity of a page. If you chose an option and it brought you further then all the options changed logo’s or places on the webpage it would make users wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. This idea of change makes to user confused and the likeability factor disappears and users are lost. It is important to hold this consistency and the layout stays in the same order.

Error prevention:

The prevention of errors in Gmail is consistent. If an error has a chance of occurring a confirmation option before you commit to the action will pop up and explain what may happen if an error occurs. This prevents the user from the unknown and if an error does occur they’re prepared for it.

Recognition rather than recall:

The option list in Gmail is logos. The logos are ones that users would be familiar with like a bin to delete what you want to delete. If you are unsure of what a logo means, you can hover the curser over it and it tells you what it is. Everything is explained and nothing has to be memorized. The order of the page can be easily recognised and the user doesn’t have to recall what choice they just made. An example of this is shown here. à

Flexibility and efficiency of use:

The flexibility of Gmail is the same for everyone. There is no expert mode or a mode for inexperienced users. The experience is the same for all users whether you’re an experienced or inexperienced user. There are no accelerators on this email webpage it’s the same for everyone. The efficiency of the page is the same which makes it easy for everyone.

Aesthetic and minimalist design:

Gmail has no popups or clutter on the webpage which attracts the user to only the information they need and no added messages that are pointless or take away their concentration or reason why they went onto the webpage in the first page. Unlike Yahoo, the webpage is clutter free and no annoying popups occur that may anger the user.

Help users recognise, diagnose, and recover from errors:

When an error does occur, Gmail always gives a solution of what you can do to recover or fix the problem. A help menu comes up and it runs through a step by step guide on a diagnosis to help you get to where you intended to get before this error. If it is your broadband or internet it also gives you a run through of idea and solutions to fix it.

Help and documentation:

If you encounter a problem whilst on Gmail you can click into the Settings option as shown;                à and click on help. à This will open up a new webpage that gives subheadings of what subject you need help in. You can fix a problem or learn more about the webpage to broaden your knowledge.

Evaluation:

Overall, the Gmail webpage is a good example of a “heuristic evaluation” webpage. It has all the elements that Jakob Nielsen listed in his expertise on User Centered Design which made him who he is today. The webpage is an easy to use guide which allows you to communicate with people all over the world, for free. This webpage covers all the “heuristics” that Nielsen listed. It gives a clear visibility of system status that always keeps the users informed of new and updated software whether it be an email of what there doing, pop ups showing you what they’ve done or simply by asking you for your opinion on new ideas. The use of language is similar to the real world language, no extraordinary language is used so that the user cannot read or finds it hard to understand. The freedom of use for the user is something that they enjoy browsing through knowing that they can come and go with what they want and there is no legislation to tell them otherwise. Throughout the webpage the level of consistency is one to admire. There is nothing that changes position or becomes impossible to read so that the user gets confused or baffled. The prevention of error is one that is dealt with extremely well. If you have a problem or an error there is always a solution or help at hand to guide you to clear the error but that is unusual if it happens because errors are not something that occurs often. The recognition of the logos used to guide the user to choose their options help them to move further through, no words are used just logos to describe there options. For example a bin is used for deleting something instead of the word delete to click on. But if you run into a problem understanding the logos you can hover the curser and it tells you what it is. The flexibility of use is good also because it doesn’t matter if you’re experienced or inexperienced it is used in the same way. No information that is irrelevant or rarely needed is used in this webpage; everything is there for a meaning and nothing is there to annoy the user.

Conclusion:

Recommendations:

There is not much I would recommend for this webpage. It does what it intended to do, there is nothing there that is cluttered or annoying fir the user and it is not impossible for the user.


Some of the images that I used are not showing on my blog. They were images used to explain my explanation.