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Tasks should be added/edited to focus on the usability of advanced features (distinction between note and issue, hash tags for search filtering). This may be easier in the computer prototype.
Round 1 Prototype Iteration
Browse messages (Left pane) | Read message (Top right pane)
| Create new message (Bottom right pane)
| Reply to message (Bottom right pane)
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- 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.
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Round 2 Observations
| Task 1: Read Messages | Task 2: Create New Message | Task 3: Search and Reply to a Message |
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Critical Incidents | - Unsure where to find the unread messages at first
- Took 30 seconds of scanning the whole interface before found
- Thought there was only one unread message but there were two
- Assumed shading meant unread (though it indicates the currently selected message shown in the reading pane) and didn't seem to notice the bolding
| - Didn't see the "Alert Desk Captain" option immediately, but found after a little bit more searching
- Some users misinterpreted functionality of "alert desk captain" (sends DC an email as well as posting to message list; users thought only DC saw these messages)
- Some confusion about exactly where and to whom messages were sent
- After selecting the "Missing Package" template, didn't fill in any of the fields in the message body (description / recipient)
| - Took a while to find the "Reply" button
- Thought about using Create New Message to reply instead
- Before submitting the reply, weren't sure where the Reply would be visible afterwards
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Usability Issues | Unread messages lack proper affordances.
Similar to Round 1, multiple users had trouble finding the unread messages and/or identifying which messages were unread. We thought this was a paper prototype issue before so we didn't change it, but now we know it is a serious issue to address, | Visibility of advanced features lacking.
No one overlooked the advanced features this time, but it took too long to find for some users.
Message Recipients Unclear:
To whom the messages are sent is not indicated anywhere in the interface, which confused some, though most assumed (correctly) that it would be sent to everyone.
Template
Since selecting a category filled in a template in the message body, one user assumed they didn't need to add anything to it. Needs to draw user's attention to it so they add relevant information. | Visibility of Reply
The Reply button needs more visibility, though not standing out could be a downfall of paper prototyping since we sketched everything in pencil. |
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We conducted the second round of user tests on 3 desk workers. Several of them thought the advanced features (marking messages as a note/issue, high/low priority, etc) could be useful on the job. One user indicated they would use a feature that would automatically include resident's information (room number, phone number, etc) when their name was used in a message, which is a feature we wanted to add to CollabDesk but which was not covered in the scope of our tasks because it's not a key desk worker task. Another feature we had discussed adding was a way to see who has read a given message; one user told us that in some dorms you get a bonus if you read and initialed every page of the logbook that semester, so we will consider this feature more highly.
When asked, several users said they would find it useful to be able to see which messages were "resolved" or "unresolved" when scrolling through old messages.
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Browse messages (Left pane) | Read message (Top right pane)
| Create new message (Bottom right pane)
| Reply to message (Bottom right pane)
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- Add more information scent to the message excerpt boxes, such as whether the message is still waiting to be resolved, and whether there are any responses
- Make the font of the "Unread" section header larger and bold to parallel the bold titles of unread messages
- Collapse all unread messages by default, and automatically expand them when there are no more unread messages
| - Increase visibility of the "Reply" button by making it slightly bigger and by making it a bright color (maybe blue or orange)
- Implement a "seen by" feature which shows which shows which desk workers have read this message
| - Give keyboard focus to the message body after a category has been selected and the template has been applied
- Highlight the different fields in the message body that need to be filled in by the desk worker so they are not overlooked
- On hover over the "Create New Message" heading and the "Post Message" button, show a tooltip text that says the message will be sent to all desk workers in that dorm
| - Add a button to mark the message as "Resolved" (this will change how it is displayed in the left browse pane, drawing less attention to it)
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