To: Abigail PerezFrom: Jesse SanchezDate: August 9, 2009Subject: Recommendation Report for "Transcripts Online"

Enclosed is the Transcripts Online Tutorial Conduct Report. I have analyzed a Powerpoint Presentation on a tutorial on how to access "Transcripts Online". This tutorial was created to inform students who attend TSTC in Harlingen, Tx.

The report analyzes the tutorial "Transcripts Online", which was created on the software Powerpoint. The purpose of this report is to show memorability and satisfaction of the tutorial, and of course to state any problems, errors and recommendations. The designer of the tutorial can revise their tutorial after I have critiqued it.

I found no mistakes or errors in the tutorial, the information that was given was very accurate and understandable. The only recommendations that should be made to improve the instructions tutorial based on the usability test would be to add more color and life to the slide show. Perhaps more pictures would bring more life to the instructions presentation. Both of my testers found the music in the background to be very soothing to listen to while viewing the instructions.My target users are TSTC students who wish to get their transcripts to transfer or apply to another school. The user shouldn't have any experience with viewing their transcripts on the Webadvisor site, because the tutorial is an overview on how to go about to obtaining student transcripts. The student should know their WebAdvisor user name and password or be able to make a phone call to the help desk to get it. Also the user must have experience with using a computer, must know how to access internet, and how to navigate through web site.

It is my hope that this report will help be a success when viewing and putting it to actual use. Please let me know if you have any question regarding errors, or recommendations that I have made on the tutorial, you can contact me at (956)970-0670, or you can via e-mail me at: <mrhawkmo@gmail.com>.

REPORTED USABILITY TESTING

Prepared by: Jesse SanchezTSTC DMDT Student

Report Distributed August 9, 2009

Prepared forAbigail Perez

Designer of "Transcripts Online"

ABSTRACT

This report examines and analyzes the Powerpint tutorial titled "Transcripts Online". The real purpose of this report is to show and explain the memorability and satisfaction of the tutorial to the designer of the tutorial. I will explain and point out some of the errors and problems of the tutorial that I noticed when giving it to testers. Recommendations are given to the designer of the tutorial to make revisions and any possible adjustments to improve the tutorial. I gave two testers the exact same Usability Test on the tutorial titled "Transcripts Online", I made notes of any problems, hesitations, or memory loss from viewing the actual tutorial, and then actually putting the tutorial to the test. Usability Testing is a method used to critique and evaluate reports that need to be improved and corrected. I had two testers that participated in the Usability Test. Both of my testers were able to navigate and scroll through MYTSTC to view their "Transcripts Online". The tutorial was very accurate and understandable with no errors founds. The only thing I made note on was for the designer to put more life to the powerpoint, as in; more graphics, and color. The tutorial was very easy to go through and proved its point. The user profile for the tutorial are TSTC students who wish to get their transcripts to transfer or apply to another school. The user shouldn't have any experience with viewing their transcripts on the Webadvisor site, because the tutorial is an overview on how to go about to obtaining student transcripts. The student should know their WebAdvisor user name and password or be able to make a phone call to the help desk to get it. Also the user must have experience with using a computer, must know how to access internet, and how to navigate through web site. It was concluded that the tutorial was accurate and successful in the Usability Testing, furthermore this tutorial can be put to real life use.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................................iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................1

INDTROUCTION.....................................................................................................................................2-5 Testing.........................................................................................................................................................2 Guidelines....................................................................................................................................................3 Project Goals...............................................................................................................................................3 User Profile..............................................................................................................................................3-4 Scenario and Tasks.................................................................................................................................4-5 Test Protocol...........................................................................................................................................4-5 Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................................5

ANALYSIS OF REPORTED TRANSCRIPTS ONLINE......................................................................6-8 Figure 1........................................................................................................................................................6 Figure 2........................................................................................................................................................7 Figure 3........................................................................................................................................................8

APPENDIX...............................................................................................................................................9-10 Appendix A.................................................................................................................................................9 Appendix B...............................................................................................................................................10

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................11

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................12

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report analyzes the tutorial "Transcripts Online", which was created on the software Powerpoint. The purpose of this report is to show memorability and satisfaction of the tutorial, and of course to state any problems, errors and recommendations. The designer of the tutorial can revise their tutorial after I have critiqued it. I gave two testers the exact same Usability Test on the tutorial titled "Transcripts Online", I made notes of any problems, hesitations, or memory loss from viewing the actual tutorial, and then actually putting the tutorial to the test. Usability Testing is a method used to critique and evaluate reports that need to be improved and corrected. I had two testers that participated in the Usability Test. Both of my testers were able to navigate and scroll through MYTSTC to view their "Transcripts Online". The tutorial was very accurate and understandable with no errors founds. The only thing I made note on was for the designer to put more life to the powerpoint, as in; more graphics, and color. The tutorial was very easy to go through and proved its point. The user profile for the tutorial are TSTC students who wish to get their transcripts to transfer or apply to another school. The user shouldn't have any experience with viewing their transcripts on the Webadvisor site, because the tutorial is an overview on how to go about to obtaining student transcripts. The student should know their WebAdvisor user name and password or be able to make a phone call to the help desk to get it. Also the user must have experience with using a computer, must know how to access internet, and how to navigate through web site. It was concluded that the tutorial was accurate and successful in the Usability Testing, furthermore this tutorial can be put to real life use.

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INTRODUCTION

This report examines the nature and disposition of the tutorial that explained to TSTC students how to access their online transcripts. The purpose of this report is to provide and address problems that were visible in the actual tutorial on how to access online transcripts. Unfortunately there were no visible problems on this tutorial, only recommendations.

Technical questions arising from this problem are its to plain, needs more life to the presentation. Instructions were very easy to understand, I had no problems at all with the instructions at all. Only thing I had a problem with was that the text and background were to boring, could have came up with a better color scheme.

When a design has a usability problem, it's because someone made a wrong decision. They chose to take the design in a direction that creates frustration for the user. A different design choice would have prevented the frustration (Spool, 2005).

Testing

The meels I chose were memorability, and satisfaction. Memorability refers to the users ability to remember the tutorial. Sometimes testing for the measure involves giving the user the same tasks twice to determine if he/she remembers how to use the tutorial. You know that they remembered by not giving them any instructions the second time or timing the task to see if completion time was shorter. Satisfaction refers to the users feeling about the tutorial. It's ratings are usually determined by putting a post-test questionnaire together, in which the participant is asked about his/her satisfaction of the tutorial. I chose memorability, because when I viewed the tutorial it was very self explanatory and easy to use. The reason i chose satisfaction is because, I knew this information could be used and put to great use.

Guidelines

It's important that the student did not have to revisit the tutorial each time they tried to look at their transcripts. My tutorial was designed to teach TSTC students how to view their transcripts on the Webadvisor web site. If the student was not able to navigate and log in to Webadvisor to view their transcripts correctly, then there was no success in the tutorial. The tutorial was designed clear in the instructions given, very easy to remember. If the student got confused in the process of obtaining their transcripts, or mislead by the text and graphics in the tutorial. That results in error of the tutorial to be addressed in a better manner.

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Project Goals

During the test taking process, I observed and made notes to errors made by attempting to view transcripts without reviewing the tutorial. I watched for for errors made by the student and made note to what confused the tester. I also paid attention to how well the student remembered the discussion in the tutorial. Benefiting and learning from this test can really come to good use when transferring to another school. If test results in no success I would need to clarify the designer of the errors and confusion in the instructions.

User Profile

My target users of my TSTC Webadvisor tutorial on how to view transcripts is relatively for TSTC students who wish to get thier transcripts to transfer or apply to another school. The user did not have any experience with viewing their transcripts on the Webadvisor web site, because the tutorial was an overview on how to go about to obtaining their transcripts. The student should have known their Webadvisor user name and password or was able to make a phone call to the help desk to get it. Also the user had experience with using a computer, accessing the internet, and knew how to navigate through the web site. I have chosen two users who participated in my usability test. He and She are two close friends of mine, it is the males first semester, and the females third semester at TSTC. The students wanted to check their transcripts online for personal use. They were not familiar with Webadvisor. My subjects had knowledge of using a computer and accessing the internet. They both also knew their user names, and passwords for my TSTC verification.

Scenario and Tasks

I gave my test users a scenario to use during the test to make it feel like a "real-life" situation. I gave the testers two sets of tasks to complete. One was done while using the tutorial. That task tested for satisfaction, made after viewing the tutorial once. The other task was done with out the tutorial, and that task tested for memorability. Here is the scenario I gave the two users:

"You're a new student at TSTC and your wanting to access your transcripts online for personal use. You've never fully navigated through the web site, and need to access your transcripts on Webadvisor" Set 1: Tasks the user will perform while using the tutorial: • Open up powerpoint presentation• View powerpoint presentation

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•After viewing powerpoint once, access the internet• Navigate through My TSTC and Webadvisor like advised in instructions• Should be able to access their transcripts Set 2: Tasks the user will perform after using the tutorial:

• Log into My TSTC using your username and password• Go into your webadvisor, and click on students• Click on academic profile, and on unofficial transcripts• Click on undergraduate• Click on show transcript

Some specific tools were required in order to conduct the usability test. Here is a list of the materials that both users and I will need to complete the test.

• Computer• Internet, High speed if possible• TSTC user name and password• Paper and pen for note-taking• Questionnaire and pen for user• Reward for user- snack

Test Protocol The usability test was conducted at user ones apartment at La Casita, in Harlingen. My second user was tested in the S building at TSTC. The users and I had access to the internet. It took place on Tuesday, July 21, sometime between 4pm and 5pm for the first user. The second users test was taken on Wednesday, July 22 around 3pm and 4pm.

• I set up the snacks in the kitchen area, and or by snacks at TSTC bookstoreto be eaten by the users after the test.• Then, I went over to his/her computer with high speed internet.• I opened the tutorial and test it, to make sure it is working.• I explained to the user the scenario and that he has two sets of tasks tocomplete. I told them that they will complete one set while they are using thetutorial, and the other without the tutorial. I also told them that I will beobserving the test and taking notes.

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• We will both went to the computer.• I picked up my pen and paper to takes notes with and instruct the user tobegin the tutorial.• The user read the introduction of the tutorial and clicked on the internet browser.• I told the user that he must access the website to log in to.• I then narrated the tasks in Set 1 one at a time as they progresses in thetutorial.• While they are completing the tasks, explained in the fourth section of thisTest Plan, I then allowed him to ask me for help if he had a problem or forgota task. That allowed me to see specific problems in the tutorial.However, I waited one or two minutes before giving an answer, to see ifhe was able to solve the problem on his own. If the user was doing the wrong thing,but didn't realize it, I would interrupt him so the problem doesn't compound.This pointed out areas of the tutorial that may be misdirecting.• Once the user was done with the tutorial and Set 1 of the tasks, I told him to log out of the webadvisor site and close the tab of the tutorial site.• I then narrated tasks in Set 2 to the user one at a time, making sure theycompleted one before I begin another.• I then treated these tasks exactly the same as the others, regarding how muchtime I told each user to solve a problem, and whether or not he can askme questions. However, I did not interrupt the user if he made a mistakeduring this set of tasks.• After the Set 2 tasks are completed, the user logged off Webadvisor andclosed the Internet. I then gave the users a questionnaire that I had preparedin advance. It consist of 5 questions that ask the user about theirimpression of the tutorial and its usability, and asks for comments abouthow it could be improved.• When the user completed the questionnaire, I then went to the side to get the snacks.• I thanked the user for assisting me

Questionnaire:

• Will you be bale to log in and use MyTSTC and Webadvisor again without looking at this tutorial?

• Was the tutorial useful?• Did the tutorial help you feel comfortable navigating through the Webadvisor site?• How well did you learn the aspects of the site that were discussed in the tutorial?• Were you able to access your transcripts?

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ANALYSIS OF USABILITY REPORT

Figure 1

The tutorial was created in Microsoft Powerpoint 2007. The slide show consist of 12 slides, 10 being actual step by step instructions. The tutorial was designed in a simple manner with very little colors. The tutorial was real straight forward about what it was explaining. In figure 1 you will find a screen shot of the actual presentation.

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Questionnaire Figure

Figure 2

Questions Male Female

Will you be able to log in and use My TSTC and Web advisor again without looking at this tutorial?

Yes of course Yes I will

Was the tutorial useful? Very easy to use and useful

Yes it was

Did this tutorial help you feel comfortable navigating through Site?

Yes it did help me Yes it did

How well did you learn the aspects of the site that were discussed in the tutorial?

I learned it very well Very well

Were you able to view your transcripts? Yes I did Yes, I was

The two testers were asked the same set of five questions for a questionnaire. The only difference is one tester is a female, and the other is a male. In Figure 2 it simply states the question and how the male and female answered the question.

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Notes Figure

Figure 3

When both users were completing the tasks that was given to them, I was on the side taking notes to any particular gestures, noises or complaints. In Figure 3 you'll find that I have made a chart on how many times the users got distracted, made noises, and how they reacted to the tutorial.

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APPENDIX ATester 1

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APPENDIX BTester 2

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Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusion of my usability test read that the participants did not have any trouble navigating through the Webadvisor website. Both students were able to access and view their transcripts, one actually printed them out. My first tester found the tutorial to be really easy to listen and view. He did not hesitate at all once he came to moving on to the next step. Once he viewed the transcripts he said he was through and had no problems at all. My second tester also found the tutorial to be very self explanatory, she had no problems at all accessing and viewing her transcripts. She decided to actually print out a copy for herself.

Notice all the sounds and behaviors and comments that might be relevant. Remind the subject to verbalize and be as open with their thinking as possible (2002).

The only recommendations that should be made to improve the instructions tutorial based on the usability test would be to add more color and life to the slide show. Perhaps more pictures would bring more life to the instructions presentation. Both of my testers found the music in the background to be very soothing to listen to while viewing the instructions.

Kaufman (2006) says usability testing breaks down the wall between the designer and user, and shows us how real users do real tasks in the real world. Another thing that Kaufman (2006) says is that usability testing should be an iterative practice, done several times during the design and development life cycle.

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REFERENCES

Kaufman, J. (2006). "Practical Usability Testing." http://www.digital-web.com/articles/practical_usability_testing/

Spool, J. (2005). "Seven Common Usability Testing Mistakes." http://www.uie.com/articles/usability_testing_mistakes/

(2002). "Usability testing." http://www.cu.edu/irm/stds/usability/index.html

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