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Problem: Users are sometimes unsure what happened when the screen transitions from one section (e.g. voting) to the next (e.g. ordering) through an event outside their control. This happens when the organizer chooses a restaurant.
Severity: Minor
Solution: Add a modal div explaining to users why they are transitioning. Announce the restaurant choice in that div.
Problem: There is minimal feedback when ordering items. This increases the chance of mistakes.
Severity: Major
Solution: Provide an "active" style for the menu items such that it is obvious when one has purchased them. Also indicate it on the order/chat tabs, possibly with a number indicator on the order tab.
Problem: The name for the current user (the one you are, e.g. "cmerrill") is displayed when ordering items, but "You:" is displayed when chatting. This is inconsistent and possibly confusing.
Severity: Cosmetic
Solution: Either show the username for both actions, or show "You" for both. Just be consistent.
Problem: It wasn't obvious to most of the users what the icons in the bottom left (the "done icons") were meant to indicate until they noticed one of them change to a check mark.
Severity: Major
Solution: Possibly place a user list on the right, rather than the bottom, and make the icons higher-contrast so that the X's and check marks are more clear.
Problem: Organizers were unsure as to how they could indicate that they were done.
Severity: Cosmetic
*Solution: *Provide some help test for the order submission button, indicating that Users are unable to indicate that they are done with voting.
Severity: Minor
Solution: Add a button to allow users to show that they are done (more on this later).
Reflection
From this project, we learned a great deal about the design process. Initially, we had many problems adhering to the prescribed process. We often found ourselves arguing about later details in the earlier assignments. For example, we were discussing implementation during GR1, and fonts and aesthetics during GR2 (as well as GR3). In addition, we were often reluctant to scrap already made ideas early on (though in the end, we did change our entire project idea after GR1, which was honestly one of the best design decisions we made). Once we focused on the current tasks, however, the design process ran smoothly and there were far less tensions among the group.
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