Class, you’ll need to download these scans of your sketches in order to do this week’s assignment.

Also, don’t forget to go to the LinkedIn group and post a message about your observations during the usability test. Your group members are counting on you to share your insights!

Under the top navigation, you’ll see that each class that we meet has it’s own link. You’ll find the class slides and full homework assignments in those pages.

Go ahead, check out the Class 1 tab. You’ll also find the class syllabus and links to the student questionnaire there.

Last week, we quickly put together a plan for doing an online usability test for houseparty.com

Here is the script that I submitted to the users. One interesting thing to note, I did not give any of the users a scenario. I wanted to see how they interpreted the site from a dead start. This is actually contrary to the real world, where currently most people find out about the service through their friends, so they usually are somewhat familiar with the service before they arrive. However, if House Party wants to expand considerably, they’ll probably want to reach out beyond those that have already been personally introduced to the service – therefore it needs to communicate it’s core value quickly and succinctly. For a novel concept like House Party (and for all unique businesses), communicating what it is and what it does can be a major challenge.

Here were the instructions I gave participants:

Task 1:
Please visit www.houseparty.com

Take a minute to look at the home page.
What are your first impressions of what the website is for?
How confident are you in understanding what the site is about?

What do you expect to be in each of the pages listed in the navigation?

Spend up to two minutes exploring the site until you feel very confident about it’s purpose. If you already feel confident about the site’s purpose, then proceed to Task 2.

Task 2:
At this point, in your own words, please explain to us what House Party is. What kind of company does this site represent?

Task 3:
Is your interpretation of the navigation still the same? What do you think “Find a House Party” means?

Task 4:
Does the site hold an interest to you? Why or why not?
If it does hold an interest to you, what part of the site would you be inclined to explore?
Please explore for as long as it holds a genuine interest to you, but no longer.

Task 5:
From the Home Page, please tell us what you think clicking on the “sign up” would get you. What would you be signing up for?

Task 6:
Please click on Sign Up, and go through the registration process.

Task 7:
After you finish Signing Up, please explore the page you land on. Does this match what your previous expectations of what you could do after you signed up?

What catches your eye next?

Task 8:
What do you expect is behind the “Apply to Host” link?
Please click on it. Does it match your expectations?

Class, here are the scans that I promised you of your work. You’ll need it for this week’s homework.

Welcome, to all my usability students for the Summer 2011 semester. Here are some essential links for you:

• Class 1 assignment, resources, and slides
• Class Syllabus

You can find future classes listed in the top navigation if you would like a preview of what is to come.

New slides and homework assignment for Feb 22 have been posted.

Students: you all should have received an invite to join the class LinkedIn group. Please go there and post your observations from yesterday’s usability tests.

As a reference for this week’s homework, please download the photos for your group:

Photos of Donations sketches (1.6MB)
Photos of Volunteers sketches (684K)

Two of the photos from the Volunteers flow came out pretty badly. For the students that worked on the Volunteers flow, please post to our LinkedIn group on what you think is in the photos.

See the slides here.