Writing Battle

(click to enlarge)

1. The front page displays the topic, countdown timer and a text box. When the user goes to the front page, there is automatically a "READY SET GO!" countdown.

2. On GO!, the countdown timer starts and the user can begin typing in the text box. On the right side is another text box, which is the opponent. In that text box, the user can see the opponent's text appear live as the opponent is typing.

3. When the timer reaches zero, we stop accepting input from the user.

4. After submission, other users can quickly vote on which writing is better (a simple, binary, which one wins, i.e. without comments). Later, users can comment on the writing, both in-line, highlighting and commenting on specific words or sentences in the writing, or below the text like traditional comments.

5. After a small time to wait for votes, the user sees if he won or lost.

Analysis

Learnability

Pros

The layout is simple, with minimal features on the page. The text box, active text cursor, and countdown prompts encourage the user to begin writing. The opponent text box shows the opponent writing, which encourages the user to also write in their text box.

Cons

The double text boxes may be confusing. Even though the opponent text box is gray, the user may still try to type in it and be confused as to why the text box is being autopopulated.

It may also be difficult to communicate that this tool is to improve writing and stimulate ideas via short, quick writing prompts. This would have to be addressed in some manner, perhaps with a tutorial or text box or first-time visitor box.

Efficiency

Pros

The UI is designed to be fast. The user goes to the page and starts writing after 3 seconds. We can add keyboard shortcuts for actions like "start again", after a round. We can also allow several different writing times, like 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, etc.

Cons

The user would have to wait for the entire round time to finish (e.g. 5 minutes per round) before getting a result. Even if we allowed the user to navigate away from the page if he finished early, we still have to allow time for the opponent to finish.

Safety

Pros

If the user accidentally navigates away from the page during a battle, he can return to the site before the time has run out to continue writing.

Cons

Depending on our particular implementation, if the user force refreshes the page, his current writing during a battle may be lost.