GR6 - Usability Problems

• The tutorial screen was welcomed by all our users. The only issue was with the visibility of the "Next" button.
   
  Solution: Instead of having both an arrow AND a next button, we could make the arrow itself a button and change its text to say "Click here for next tutorial". This will help serve double-duty, acting as both an instruction as well as providing the affordance of a button.

• The user wanted a way to locate a friend on the map easier.
  
  Solution: Provide the ability to go to a friend's location via the Profile page, i.e. with a button stating "View Current Location".                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

• The on screen message confused some users as it said "Friend has been Added", when it actually meant that the request had been sent.
  
  Solution: Reword the on-screen message to say that the friend's request has been sent.
• The users automatically knew that the notification received about the friend accepting the request was actionable, but there was a case where the user was then tempted to press "Delete Friend", as it was the button that stood out the most upon reaching the Profile page.
  
  Solution: Help safety by placing the delete functionality into the options menu (Activated by pressing the device's physical menu button) which would only then appear on the screen. We could also highlight the choice a different color like "Red" to bring the user's attention to that as an important choice, (i.e. externally consistent with what the Facebook mobile application does to indicate that a user wants to log out). We can also maintain safety by bringing up a confirmation dialog prior to actually deleting the friend.
• Upon successfully adding a new friend, some users expressed an interest to know where the user was on screen. However, the newly added friend merely gets added onto the map without much feedback.
  
  Upon adding a friend, we can actually make the notification actually pan to where the newly added friend is. Also, we can do something like what other applications do and provide a sort of "dropping pin/dropping down" animation which would help bring attention to where the newly added friend is located.

• The user wanted to be able to select a place by address or name rather than by selecting the location on the map.Solution: Provide a search bar to type in the desired location and place a marker on the map based on the input. * The user didn't notice the Done button when selecting a location on the map and instead hit the Back button.Solution: Make the done button more prominent.* The user wanted to be able to add notations about the event, such as specific room numbers.Solution: Provide a field to allow users to add messages/comments to the event.

• The user was not aware of the Propose Change button and went to RSVP expecting Propose Change to be an option.
  
  Solution: Make the Propose Change button more prominent or include this functionality within the RSVP option.
• The user wanted to give a reason behind the proposed change.
  
  Solution: Provide a field to allow users to comment why the change to the event was suggested.
• The user wanted to differentiate between accepted events and those with a pending proposed change.
  
  Solution: Incorporate an indicator to inform the user that a proposed change is pending.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

• The user wanted to block proposing changes within a certain time before the event.
  
  Solution: Allow the user to input a time after which they will not entertain changes.  If the current time is passed that then the Propose Changes button can be deactivated for the other users.                                                                                                                                        

1

• The user had no problems with the tutorial.

• User exhibited no difficulties identifying the correct icon in the action bar, thanks to both the the tutorial and the correct affordance provided by the button.

• The on-screen message said "Friend has been Added". The user was then surprised to find his friends list still empty.
  (Confusing the User)
• When the notification bar displayed the counter, the user then understood that he had actually sent a request and had just received confirmation.
  (Good Visual Variable)

• Expressed an interest in being able to specify a place by name, which would then pan the map to the location.
  (Efficiency)
• The user hit the Back button instead of the Done button, losing his selected location.
  (Safety)

•  Did not exhibit difficulty in performing the task -- found it intuitive to follow based on the application's general workflow.
  (Internal Consistency)

•  Generally found the overall interface useful and intuitive.

2

• The user was tapping on the arrow image pointing to the next button, as opposed to the next button itself, in trying to proceed to the next step in the tutorial. 
  (Confusing the User, Unclear Affordance)

• The user wanted to have a way to search for a friend, either through the friend's list or a search bar. This would improve the efficiency of locating someone as opposed to manually tapping each marker.
  (Efficiency)

• Upon receiving the notification that his friend had added him, the user proceeded to tap on the notification, as he saw the ">" arrow.
  (Good Affordance)
• The user was tempted to press the "Delete Friend" button, and he said that it was the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the profile page.
  (Safety)

• Expressed a wish to have free text area to add a some comments to the event invitation, much like most applicaitons that send invitations to others.
  (Matching the Real World)
• Hoped for a way to be more specific in selecting a location (i.e. Room Number or a particular floor).
  (Matching the Real World, Efficiency, Visibility)

• Expressed a wish to have free text area to add more information as to why a change was being proposed.
  (Matching the Real World)
• Wanted to view events which he/she had proposed a change for in the Events List with some sort of indicator that they were pending.
  (Visibility)
  
  

• Expressed a wish to be able to prevent users from proposing a change too close to an event.
• Was generally interested in conveying more information with regards to his action to his friends.

3

• The user had no problems with the tutorial.

• The user expressed concern that in the event that many of his friends were clustered close to one another, that it would be hard to locate a particular friend. He later discovered that the map's zoom levels implemented direct manipulation for panning and zooming, and expressed satisfaction.
  (Learning by Exploring)

• The user wanted to know where his newly added friend was after adding him. However, the friend took a while to locate where his friend was.
  (Efficiency)

• Expressed an interest in being able to specify a place by name, which would then pan the map to the location.
  (Efficiency)

• Did not not realize that the propose change button was there. Proceeded to RSVP "Yes" without making the change, thinking that the part where a suggested change came after the RSVP.
  (Visibility, User Model of System)

• Initially thought ">" in the notifications list meant that the notification was new.
  (Visibility)
• When asked about how he/she was able to distinguishing whether notifications were read/unread, user realized that the beige tint in the background was already triggering that knowledge unconciously.