| | Assignment 2 > Observations Assignment 2: Documenting Usage of Chosen Artifact Observation
Students and non-student subjects were asked to login as a "Guest" to StudentCentral and given the following tasks to complete while being observed. The "guest access" feature was used to make sure all participants would view the same screen and data while performing the tasks.
Tasks
- This semester you are taking the following courses and expect to receive the following grades.
| Course | Hours | Anticipated Grade | | HIST022 | 3.0 | A- | | MATH129 | 3.0 | B | | SPAN002 | 4.0 | C+ | | WMST050 | 3.0 | A |
What GPA can you expect? - Not including the classes above, what is your cumulative GPA for all of your previous courses?
- Suppose you change your current major to BA - Sociology, can you find one course that satisfies a remaining SOCI major requirement? Which sections of your chosen course are still open for Fall 2006?
- Please find your current balance due.
Each subject was signed into the guest access to StudentCentral (which displays the same information each time), given the questions, and observed and timed while they answered them. If the subject gave up while attempting to do a task, they were given help. The results are below.
Observation Data
Subject #1
Name: Susie
Sex: Female
Age: 47
Student Status: Sophomore (part-time)
When entered UNC: 2001
Time to complete all tasks: 12 minutes
Observations: subj did not know SC could help calculate grades. subj did not have it bookmarked. subj never used the calculator - had to help find. [First Task] 3.177 semester GPA (2 minutes to complete) - done correctly [Second Task] got semester grades - 2.736 (but got it from the semester grade thingy) which was the same as semester 2.736 subj a little stressed - sighing [Task Three] subj skipped question #3 (did not want to perform) - balance figured out easily #3. 010.001 Soc perspectives open (the rest cancelled) [Task Four] -$19,967.97 (credit?) - wasn't sure if it was credit or not. thinks she had a surplus but wasnt sure. subj did academic progress - she had never used. found soci 50, 51, 52 - correct. subj never did the course search. subj found back button confusing - warnings popped up about using back button. found soci 050, 002 and 004 were open - did not search for others since that completed the questionaire. | Subject #2
Name: David
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Student Status: Non-student
When entered UNC: N/A
Time to complete all tasks: 16.5 minutes
Observations: [Task one] Subject first searched the body of the page, trying to find the function that would help him calculate a projected GPA. He clicked on Grade Summary, Grades, Personal Information, and Academic Eligibility. Subject notably disressed at this point. Repeatedly asks if he is allowed to figure out the GPA by hand. He is asked to use StudentCentral to complete the task. Subject finds the link to the GPA Calculator on the side after searching for several minutes. Subject does not understand how to use the function. Reads the instructions at the bottom of the page but is still confused because it says that his completed hours and current GPA are already added into the equasion, but these fields above show 0.0 and he is not able to edit them. Eventually comes up with the answer. [Task Two] Subject had previously found his current GPA while searching for the GPA Calculator. This task takes very little time. [Task Three] After looking at the links on the main page, student clicks on the "What If?" function. Once inside "What If?" he scrolls down the entire first page and then goes back to the top to use the links there. He clicks on "Remaining" and is given a time-out notice. He uses the back button, asks for guidance, and then begins again. Subject tries to go back to first page but is given a browser back button error. Returns to "What If?" and uses their back link to get to the first page. Clicks on the course search engine link on the side to complete the task. Task is completed correctly. [Task Four] Statement found easily, but subject found the notation somewhat confusing.
Lots of comments throughout the observation such as, "This is stupid," and "do I have to use StudentCentral for this task?" Afterwards, the subject noted that he was very frustrated throughout most of the observation period. | Subject #3
Name: Leigh
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Student Status: Senior
When entered UNC: 2002
Time to complete all tasks: 14.5 minutes
Observations: [Task one] Subject first searched the body of the page, trying to find the function that would help her calculate a projected GPA. She clicked on Grade Summary, and Grades, then seemed stumped. Subject then methodically clicked on each available link down the middle of the page. When none of these yielded the function she wanted, she stared at the page for a while. Eventually, after several minutes, she found the link to the GPA Calculator on the side. She first entered all of the information correctly but was stumped by the un-editable spaces at the top. She goes back to the main page, checks her current GPA and hours, then returns to the GPA Calculator. However, the spaces at the top still show 0.0 and are un-editable. Subject scrolls down and reads the instructions, then enters the information again and gives the correct answer, noting that it is a guess. Task completed correctly. [Task Two] Subject had previously found her current GPA while searching for the GPA Calculator. This task takes very little time and is completed correctly. [Task Three] Student goes straight to the "What If?" function and chooses it. Once inside "What If?" she scrolls down the entire first page and then goes back to the top to use the links there. She clicks on "Remaining" and finds a class that she needs. She returns to the main page and uses the course search function in the body of the page to find an open section of the class. [Task Four] Statement found easily, but subject found the notation somewhat confusing.
Subject expressed frustration at the links on the side being out of the way and hard to find. She also noted that the GPA Calculator and notation for billing were confusing, and that she wasn't sure if these answers were correct as a consequence. |
Subject #4 Name: Johnathan
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Student Status: Non-student
When entered UNC: N/A
Time to complete all tasks: 24 minutes
Observations: [Task One] 4:36pm tried www.studentcentral.unc.edu before finding SC main site. No trouble logging in as a guest. Notes that tiny red lettering is hard to read (the Warning). Methodically read about the different services/functions. Clicked on the gpa calculator. looked for awhile, then clicked help. Entered given grades and successfully found the correct GPA @ 4:42. [Task Two] Thought that the 0.00 GPA reported on the GPA calculator screen was the current GPA. I asked him to find another method to discover the current GPA. 4:47 had to give hint for finding Grade Summary function in list. Found cumulative gpa at 4:47 [Task Three] 4:48 Located the What-If analysis tool. 4:51 After looking over the site, subject observed that he would rather stand outside an advisor's office for 30 mins rather than deal with SC. Needed a hint that the graphical words at the top of the page were links pointing to specific areas of the what-if analysis tool. 4:57 needed to clarify wording of question 3. User thought he had to check each course until finding one that was open for Spring 2006, not just to check one he'd chosen. 4:59 Finished task #3. [Task Four] At main menu, located cashier services functions and entered it. 5:00 located the current balance on the account detail page. Was slightly confused as to whether the last line in the table actually showed the balance due. 5:02 task completed.
Asked about logout button or to close the browser. At the end of the observation, when asked for comments, the subject replied "It's complete, I like it, and it's thorough. There's a lot of attention to detail. I mean, I like to know all the specifics of this stuff in case someone asks me, I'll have it right there in front of me. But in being so detailed, it can be a lot of information to sort through at the same time. I mean, you can only fit so much on one page, so there is a necessity to have multiple pages, and the more pages you have, the more difficult it becomes to navigate them without some sort of organization. But I'm not a web designer—I'll leave it to the guys that know what they're doing to figure it out. Can there be back buttons within each document? clicking the back button on the browser shows cache reload errors. I'd like some back buttons." |
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