Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
Get to know the user base really well first. If possible, observe them using the application in their own space to understand their frustrations as well as what works best for them now. Learn the limitations of Sharepoint so that when you communicate usability recommendations, you won't hear too much "we can't actually fix that". Be clear on what the goals of the app will be. What are users trying to accomplish? Are they sharing files, communicating through a discussion board, sharing a calendar, etc? Every Sharepoint site/app is set up a little different because each group using it will have different goals. Know the user and the goals and you'll be on your way to a good start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
I agree with Samantha. If you can get an interview with the users before they use the application, this will be useful. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
Sometimes you cannot visit your customers from any reason (which would no doubt be the preferred option). If you cannot conduct focus groups and observe your customers using the app, then: * Talk to the support representative and ask them which issues get the most volume * Listen to the marketing people and their complaints on why the tool isn't perfect * Use Web analitics software to learn about your visitors behavioral patterns * Publish online survey and ask your customers for a few minutes to help you improve the service * Use any possible (and impossible) way to gather as much information as you can Julia http://www.israeltour-online.com http://www.diigo.com/profile/danikreg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
lucky you...if there ever was a treasure trove of opportunities to uncover usability issues with an enterprise application, sharepoint is it! Keep in mind that sharepoint is a type of content management system, where the "ownership" is distributed down to the users of the site usually. I have found that rarely is proper IA development applied here, for fear or taking away the freedom of the users to do what they want. As a result, a large problem with the usability that people experience is not sharepoint's fault, but a problem with its implementation. That said, if you wanted to test the out of the box usability of sharepoint, you could design a series of scenarios (e.g. create a list, change the list name, assign a new user to the web site etc...) and you would find that there are a lot of things that are usability challenges. The question would be, what can you do about them? It would be like identifying there were problems with the MS Word interface. However, that said, you could use that information to provide extra help guides for your users, or isolate certain users from having to execute tasks that might be too confusing for them etc... To test the implementation of the site, use the same approaches that one would for any website/application. Make sure that the structure of the information and the terminology used are tested to make sense the user community in question. Good luck with it! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
Earley associates had five webinar series on Sharepoint IA. The link is http://www.earley.com/webinars/jumpstarts/sharepoint-search-and-information-architecture where you will need to register to download the webinars (it's free). They were pretty informative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability review of sharepoint application
I think you've got most of the points covered; it's just tough sometimes to distinguish between what can and can't easily be addressed. The unfortunate thing is even in a new implementation there are often so many issues in play it's difficult to tell. A recent review I helped conduct of a newly-implemented intranet at a Fortune 50 client (developed by the company responsible for half of the 'top ten' intranet sites) was a complete mess - from IA to visual design to poor(should be unlawful and maybe is) HTML/CSS/web standards compliance to just plain painful to use content editing tools. That said - it's certainly possible to address many of those issues, but it's important to remember that only a portion of those can be corrected through better organization and USE of the tools, another portion can be corrected through better front-end implementation (many of the 'web part' blocks come stock with poorly done table/mixed CSS HTML), and the rest are much more difficult to address as they are mired in 'that's how the tool works' - i.e. the process for a user to create a page, put web parts on it and edit that content can be pretty painful. Certainly lots of challenges, but as a sailing instructor once told me: when you're starting all the way back, it's the land of opportunity and you have nowhere to go but up! Categorize the challenges according to biggest bang for the buck compared with size of the challenge in addressing it. That way you can find the 'low hanging fruit' that are easier/less costly and keep resources available for some of the tougher challenges on your list. Good luck! Jason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44420 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
