Page History

Main

This is the central view of CollabDesk, with the browsing pane on the left and the reading/writing pane on the right. The individual panes are shown closer up below.

Left Pane

Here the user can see their unread messages in the top section with bolded titles. The currently selected message is shaded gray. Messages can be scrolled through or searched.

The user's unread messages have all ben read now, so no messages are bolded.

As the user types their search query, we autocomplete after 3 characters. When you press enter, the messages are now filtered by "phone".

Right Pane

The top half shows the currently selected message. Pertinent information like the title, who wrote it and when are visible at the top; on the upper right corner the two icons are grayed out, indicating that this message is not high priority and has not been alerted to the desk captain.

The user picks a template from the dropdown menu, writes their title, and fills in the message. The tags section at the bottom of the Create Message area got cut off, but there you can specify tags with a # for keywords or categories.

The user has responded appropriately to the lost phone message, and now it appears underneath the original message.

Critical Incidents

•  Not sure which messages are unread
  • one user thought selected email was unread because of shading, other started clicking through every message
• Message automatically opened on sign-in confused some users

•  Expected functionality from template (default fill in for subject, message, hash tags)
• "Note vs Issue" made users confused
• "Template" dropdown, checkboxes were overlooked
• Trash can (delete) button confused users

•  Users were confused by "title" of reply
  • one user wished it had been filled in

Usability Issues

Unread messages lack proper affordances.
Multiple users had trouble identifying which messages were unread. Currently, unread messages were simply bolded (similar to Gmail), but some users missed this or thought the selected (shaded) message meant that message was unread (the shaded message reflects the message this is currently open).

Visibility of advanced features lacking.
Users overlooked some of the advanced features including the template, "alert desk captain", "high priority", and "note vs issue"

Affordances of Functionality: Users expected the template to accomplish much than it did. Users did not understand the purpose of the hash tag

Perceived User Model of "Reply" varies.
Some users saw reply as a Facebook comment, and were confused by the extra features (title, hash tags). Others saw it as an email reply and expected the title to be filled in

• Added “High priority” and/or “Alert desk captain” icons to quick view of messages.

• Added “Edit” and “Delete” buttons. The “Delete” button does not permanently remove messages.
• Previously, we always showed “High priority” and “Alert desk captain” icons on each message, and highlighted them if they applied to the message. Changed it so they only appear when they have been selected.

• Changed trashcan icon to a “Clear” button to make it more clear that clicking this clears all the fields in this panel.
• Removed “Close” icon, which had been an “X”.
• Changed “Minimize” icon from “-“ to double down carets.
• Changed panel heading from “New message from <Desk worker name>” to “Create New Message”.
• Created titles, tags, and skeleton messages for each template in the “Templates” drop-down menu.
• Increased font size of “Alert desk captain”, “High priority”, and “Note vs. Issues” choices.
• Added an example tag: #example, instead of showing just “#”.
• Changed “Title” to “Subject” to more closely follow Gmail analogy.

• Filled in “Subject” line with “Re: Original Message Subject” as in Gmail. This field is editable.