Usability Plan

Subjects/Demographics

The number of subjects included a sample of eight individuals, from both the family/friends population and professional population. The professional audience by Vivian’s workplace. They were the primary users who provided us with solid and objective feed back on our site. The family/friends population was provided by Ari, and Omone.

Characteristics of Target Subject Population

Family and Friends

1. Keyonta Ackmadoo, Student-Senior in Information Systems
2. Theresa Scott, Novice User/Internet Surfer
3. Jon Feld, Novice User, basic word processing and Internet surfing
4. Mathew Lecht, 4 years of experience as a computer programmer

Professional

The level of education for this population was quite high. Computer literacy is a definite, considering the professional population we are targeting are professionals who are on the computer for eight hours a day, five days a week.

1. Laura Williams, Programmer
2. John Hancock, Trainer/Installer
3. Dino Doslas, Programmer
4. Jay Fisk, Programmer

Where the Study was Conducted

Family and Friends:

Conducting a study with this population took place very informally: over the phone or by email.

Professional

The professional test group took place during the day, where Vivian personally conducted the interviews. This audience is one that required formal interactions see below.

Aspects of Site That Were Evaluated

Search for Homes, Buyers, The Buying Process, Qualifying, Home Needs, Preview Homes, Make Offer, Purchase/Contract Agreement, Offer Accepted, Loan Application, Home Inspections, Loan Approval, Closing Activities, Review Documents, Rent vs. Buy, Mortgages and Closing, Relocation, About Us, F.S.B.O., Selling Process, Why use Prudential, Why use Stephen and Charlene, Establish Price, The Sellers Role, Showing your Home, Marketing your Home and Real Estate Services.

I. Presentation

1. Is SSRE site aesthetically appealing and easy to follow?

All answered yes to this question.

2. Does SSRE site display a Professional Presentation, which is aesthetically appealing?

All answered yes to this question.

II. Ease of use

1. How easy is it to navigate through site and use features such as the search for homes or to use the buying process?

Very easy

III. Information provided

1. Is it interesting?

Most said yes, a few said too much information.

2. Do we need to omit or add anything?

No, everything seems to be on the site. You may want to delete FSBO, why give away how to sell your home.

3. Are objects and text used appropriately?

Should include phone number on site.

4. Information provided (quality and quantity): Do we provide information about Prudential and Stephen and Charlene that a potential client would find useful when evaluating them as their potential realtor? Is the quality and quantity sufficient – too much or too little?

Just right for someone who is unaware of the real-estate process.

How Subjects Responded

Depending on the availability of subjects, two methods were used. For subjects we could not meet with directly, they were sent an e-mail that contained the questions. In this e-mail study participant downloaded a text document that had the questions. The document requested that all answers be placed directly under each question. Open-ended questions will be used to enable the subject to elaborate on a particular question/topic. Subjects we met with directly were asked the same questions provided in the e-mail.

Presentation

BAC asked the user how she/he first felt when encountering Stephen’s web site. Does his site psychologically appeal to the user? Is the background a moderate one that does not distract the user? Is the color too dominant over the text and graphics, or can a user easily read and interpret the text and graphics presented. Is there too much information provided at once? These are questions we used to isolate the aspect of presentation.

Responses were favorably, however it was mentioned about the text size in the navigation needs to be larger. BAC will work on this.

Ease – of – Use: To measure the ease with which a user navigates through the SSRE site, a task to be performed by the user would be required in our interview. This, of course, applies to subjects who we are able to meet with directly. We measured ease - of - use in time intervals. For example, a user was asked to find a link for a selling process on the Selling page. Next they were asked to find a home. Vivian timed how long it took the user to complete this task.

Out of the four individuals tested, 1 took a longer time then the other 3 that were tested. Shorter completion times demonstrate high ease – of - use.

Information Provided

This aspect was the most important for the subjects. In our interview, BAC had them explore Stephen’s site and then asked if there was too much or too little information. After test subjects had explored all the links, they were asked to evaluate whether or not we had given appropriate and vital information that a person would need to complete their search when hiring a real estate agent.

All four of the individuals agreed that the information provided enabled them to make a decision on a real estate agent.

Other Questions asked to all subjects

After taking into consideration time constraints and availability (especially for the professional subjects) we limited our study to twenty questions.

1. When first arriving at the homepage, do you feel by looking at the objects and text presented that you understand what the site is about?

2. Are the characters on the computer screen hard or easy to read?

3. Are the images fuzzy or sharp?

4. What do you think about the frames to keep our picture and phone numbers on all pages?

5. Is the site aesthetically appealing and easy to follow?

6. Were the screen layouts helpful?

7. Position of instructions on the screen? Example: "click here for..."

8. How hard or easy is it to go back to previous screen?

9. How much effort does it require to navigate throughout SSRE’s site?

10. Can tasks can be performed in a straightforward manner?

12. Search for a house listed, the address is as follows: MLS # Quick Jump To MLS #: AA4057624 .

13. How difficult or easy was it for you to figure out how to use the search for homes?

14. Does the site display a Professional Presentation, which is aesthetically pleasing?

15. Is the content captivating or boring?

16. Is there too much information or too little?

17. Are objects and text used appropriately?

18. Do you think the graphics used are adequate or inadequate?

19. How was the ease of use clicking on the hypertext?

20. What is your overall reaction of this site, please rank how closely each aspect comes to meeting the goals of this site?

The Types of On-hands Interaction

The questions asked in e-mail and in person were structured in a way that required the subject to interact with the system. Some questions were based on a user's ability to perform a particular task.

When the Study was Done

BAC conducted the study after the final corrections to the website were implemented.

How We Collected the Data About Specific Aspects

An interview consisting of twenty open – ended questions was used. We used a rating scale of 1 to 7 on each question. The subject then rated the question by placing a number between 1 and 7. The number seven (7) being the highest rating and one (1) being the lowest on a scale of 1 to 7.

How We Evaluated the Data Collected

BAC developed two categories for each aspect we focused on. These categories included any suggestions/criticisms and supporting comments that subjects provided.

How We Presented the Data

Logically, data was presented based on how subjects view the pros and cons of SSRE’s website in the categories of presentation, ease of use, and quality/quantity of information provided. Original goals and how they compare to current results of the usability study were analyzed. Visually, we are presenting the data in Microsoft Excel in an outlined format that encompasses the points mentioned above.

How We Applied the Data to Our Conclusions

BAC evaluated all comments about the original goals of this website to demonstrate whether or not they were accomplished or if they were on their way to being accomplished. For example, if users felt that we had done a solid job presenting the objects and text in SSRE’s site, we presented these comments. However, if the majority of responses demonstrated that we had not met these goals, and then our conclusion would include how BAC can improve the site based on the constructive criticism provided. BAC will discuss our observed shortcomings and evaluate how we can correct them.

Performance Across Platforms (IBM PC compatible vs. MAC): Has been tested

Performance Across Browsers (Netscape vs. IE): Has been tested

Appearance in Various Screen Resolutions: Has been tested

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Testing

A study was conducted to evaluate the usability of SSRE web site. Eight participants were used for this study due to time constraints. Each participant has their own life style, their own level of education, and their own career. They were asked to participate in this study to help improve the website that BAC developed. The study was conducted in various locations. Some of the participants did the study at home on their own computer, or at school, while other participants did the study at the workplace. The participants were asked to evaluate how well the site supported common user tasks. For this task to be accomplished, the participants were asked to find information about Stephen, Prudential, and how to search for a home. The results of this study are included in this report under Website Results (See Table 1.1: "Website Results" below).

Three aspects were evaluated while the participants were navigating through the site. First, time to complete the task. Second, the number of errors encountered while completing the task, and third the ease of completing the task. The researcher provided the participants a written questionnaire that contained twenty questions. It took participants about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. To be able to answer the questionnaire the participants had to navigate through SSRE’s web site. For example, the researcher asked the participants to find a specific house. The researcher asked the participant to time themselves to determine how long it took them to find the information.

The formative evaluation, conducted by Vivian at her workplace, the subjects had completed a questionnaire and had also answered questions verbally (see attached questionnaires). Two of them commented on how much BAC had developed on SSRE’s site, and they thought that no changes were necessary except to fix items such as a phone number to the Home page, and to change wording under Sellers page to click here to be consistent with other screens. Overall they stated that the site was appealing, had consistency, efficiency, ease of use, flexibility, and a good format. These subjects felt that BAC had developed a user-centered design that had speed, accuracy, and satisfaction for the user.

Friend’s Subjects’ Comments Were as Follows

Mathew Lecht noted that he had a runtime error on search home link. He felt that BAC had met its goals in providing a web site that was easy to use and navigate.

John Feld received illegal operation error on buyer’s links, felt overall that the site was pleasing, and had interesting content.

BAC Walkthrough of Site

Vivian: Move margins over, navigation from black to blue background, move navigation up, and add phone number to home page.

Charlene: When viewing in Netscape, pictures rotate but they do not fade in or out as they do when using in IE. The header in Netscape "Don’t Settle for Less... Settle With the Best..." does not come up at all, whereas in IE that phase drops down one by one. Forms look better in 3D in Netscape than IE. Pictures were sharper in Netscape than in IE.

Christopher: Navigation: can’t see if system settings are on high. Linking Problems: When on the "Buying Process" page when you click on the link "vendors", under the "Qualifying" Heading, the link takes you to a Vendor Page. When you click the "back" link, instead of taking you back to the vendor page, the "back" link takes you to a new page called "Real Estate News and Services".

Power Point Presentation: Getting error messages, couldn’t get out (froze), had to do a ctrl-alt-delete to get out, then the presentation came up.

Grammar/spelling corrections as noted on each page Rent VS Buying, Second Home, Home Needs, House Requirements, Special Needs, Searching Homes, Make offer, Purchase Contract Agreement, Loan Application, Home Inspections, Closing Activities.

Matt: Vendors: Back link on Buying Process went to Real Estate News. Buyer’s link problem: Buying Process says return to top, but goes to chart. F.S.B.O. Do we want to have so much information on the site regarding this process, making it easy for someone to sell a house themselves? Real estate news and services: What does FHA and Mip stand for, requires an explanation. Useful phone numbers “back” at the bottom of page takes user to the Sellers page.

Omone: Navigation print needs to be larger.

Ari: Need to add phone number. On submit request forms there is no data integrity checking. Key fields may be left empty or information entered into wrong field.

Results of the Walkthrough Process

All of the above comments were corrected except the PowerPoint presentation and the data integrity checking issue. The PowerPoint presentation is in the process of being reviewed to determine the cause of the problem. The data integrity is currently being corrected on all the forms and will be corrected before November 17, 2001.

Results from Testing

After collecting all results from the research, the results were compared and analyze using Microsoft Excel. Also, the researcher compared the overall reaction/response from the participants by asking the participants to choose a number from 1 to 7, in which 1 was considered the lowest score, and 7 the highest. This information was entered into Microsoft Excel (See "Table 1.1: Website Results" below.)

Table 1.1: Website Results

In conclusion, the study performed helped the researcher improve the website in a way that will enable the user to navigate the site better.

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The Integral Worm • Christopher Paul • Independent Senior Technical Writer/Editor

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