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Problems discovered and possible Solutions:
Wiki Markup \[cosmetic\] Once game is created, it takes a while for the new game to show in the active games list. - Solution: optimize the backend to make the page updates load faster.Wiki Markup \[minor\] Registration does not verify email addresses. - Solution: run a check to make sure that email address field is a valid email string.Wiki Markup \[cosmetic\] It would be clearer if user names were real names. - Solution: have users identified by their first name and last initial.Wiki Markup \[cosmetic\] User expected tooltip to pop-up on hover rather than on click. - Solution: pop-up tooltips on hover using javascript.Wiki Markup \[major\] No error message when organizer tries to set game date to a day in the past. - Solution: add a similar error message as the one that notifies invalid game times.Wiki Markup \[major\] User is confused about Watcher status. - Solution: include a legend that describes user roles in PickFind games.Wiki Markup \[minor\] Takes a while to figure out the color correspondence of the game boxes. - Solution: include colors in the legend that describes user roles.Wiki Markup \[minor\] Can't figure out where to edit profile. - Solution: place the text "Edit" next to the edit icon.Wiki Markup \[minor\] User wonders if you follow someone, do they follow you back. - Solution: make following mutual if the other person confirms.Wiki Markup \[good\] User likes the visual information in the skill level bars. - Solution: thanks\!
Reflection
It was extremely valuable for our group to carry through an iterative design process from beginning to end. We learned a great deal about the strengths of rapid-prototyping and constant user evaluation. In most of the Course VI classes we take at MIT, there is usually some process, but it is never as deliberate or as user-centered as the iterative design we performed for this project. For example, none of us had paper-prototyped before, but we'll all likely use this tactic at least once more in the future. The idea of using quick, low-fidelity early prototypes is not exactly novel, but the implementation was an eye-opening experience for us. Involving the users at each iteration really helped to focus our group on improving the design for usability. Our final implementation has come a long way from our first brainstorming session in the basement of Stata.
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