GroupAte:Heuristic Evaluation Notes
From CS 160 Fall 2008
Contents |
Violations
Josh's notes
- The text that shows when you hover over a menu choice would be too small on a real iPhone. It is small enough on the "gigantic" demo iPhone that the people designed for in Flash. Moreover, hovering .. isn't possible on iPhones!
Jonathan's notes
0. [H2-2 Match System and real world]
All inconsistancies on what can be done on an iPhone vs. what is in the prototype. Namely, hovering is not possible, and to type, there is no external keyboard.
1. [H2-2 Match System and real world]
To navigate the register screens, the buttons are called "Go down" and "go up." Because there is no (clear) reference for up or down (i.e. a scroll bar), this is very confusing. Why not just "next page" and "previous page."
2. [H2-8 Consistancy and standards, Asthetic and minimalist design]
For all buttons, there are not enough distinguishing features that make them look like buttons. (this is assuming hover doesn't exist, which it doesn't for the iPhone). There should be some shape to these buttons, especially when the user has to know where he/she can touch.
3. [H2-5 Error prevention]
No confirmation of data entered in the registration process.
4. [H2-8 Consistancy and standards]
On the second register screen, the name of characters on the graphics label is inconsistant with what is show above the register button after selecting. e.g. RedPanda vs. Red Panda, Hobo-Man vs. Hobo Man
5. [H2-3 User control and Freedom]
No way to exit the game to return to the phone
6. [H2-3 User control and Freedom]
No way to cancel during any of the "loading" screens
7. [H2-10 Help and Documentation]
There is no "Tutorial" that is mentioned.
8. [H2-8 Consistancy and standards]
When battling, the orientation of the hardware needs to change from portrait to landscape without warning.
9. [H2-3 User control and Freedom]
No way to exit the fight
10. [H2-10 Help and Documentation]
There is no access to help from the fight
11. [H2-8 Consistancy and standards, H2-2 Match System and real world]
After a battle, the "Go Back" is confusing. This should be something along the lines of "continue"
Nathan's notes
1. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 2]
On the "Select a Character" screen, it is unclear what ramifications this will have? What ramifications will choosing a particular character have? Is it purely cosmetic? Or does one character give different stats/performance compared to another?
2. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 2]
The "messages" alert is very bright and eye-catching. This is good if the user has new messages - however, the same alert displays even when the user doesn't have new messages, which is distracting because the Messages button is so much brighter/different from the other buttons.
3. [H2-10 Help and documentation] [severity = 4]
There is no tutorial mode, and no help available to tell the user how to play the game.
4. [H2-4 Consistency and standards] [severity = 3]
When the game starts, the character starts off in a running animation, even though it remains completely still. When the character runs, it is in the same running animation. It's confusing whether the character is actually supposed to be in motion or not. When I initially began and didn't know how to run, I was assuming that there was a bug that prevented the character from moving, because it looked like it was running.
5. [H2-6 Recognition rather than recall] [severity = 1]
The white tabs indicating that a monster/battle scene is about to appear relies on recall rather than recognition - no first-time user could expect the monster to appear. There is also no indication in the scene itself that a monster is coming. Similarly, I expected the last tab to be another enemy, not the "finish line" for the level.
6. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 3]
In the battle sequence, the user's "health bar" (I think it is a health bar) doesn't change. There should be some indicator of the user's status during the battle sequence. Also the enemy's health seems to "reset" if it is able to attack - not sure if this is a bug.
7. [H2-2 Match between system and the real world] [severity = 1]
Some of the text is confusing. Why would I "go back" after defeating the enemy? Or after completing the next level? I would like to "continue".
8. [H2-6 Recognition rather than recall] [severity = 2]
If I want to search battle records, I would not logically click buttons to "Fight Player" or "Fight Computer". A better categorization would be Fight -> Player, Computer, and View Battle Records-> Player records, Computer records.
9. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 4]
The description text on the menu buttons is far too small to see. Also, consider that there is no "mouse over" feature for an iphone or other touchscreen interface.
10. [H2-9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors] [severity = 4]
After the user becomes lost in the battle sequence (or stands in place for a long time in the running sequence), you should have a dialog that tells the user what they should be doing, since the user is obviously stuck.
11. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 3]
Not an issue now, but in the future if this is actually implemented on the phone, something (vibration?) should indicate to the user that he/she has entered a battle sequence, since the program seems to enter the user into long running sequence and may unexpectedly port them into battle.
12. [H2-3 User control and freedom] [severity = 3]
Automatch only gives one option for who to battle. The user should have an option to "search again" or "find new match" if they do not like the automatch.
13. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 2]
It is not clear what are clickable buttons and what are just links. For example, when reading message, REPLY and GO BACK are the same font so it's not apparent they are buttons.
14. [H2-7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] [severity = 2]
Reply should auto-fill the receiver's username, also RE: [original subject]
Recommendations
Nathan's recommendations
1. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 2]
On the "Select a Character" screen, it is unclear what ramifications this will have? What ramifications will choosing a particular character have? Is it purely cosmetic? Or does one character give different stats/performance compared to another?
- If the characters are purely cosmetic, perhaps change the wording to "Select an Avatar" or something. Or simply leave it as it is, and the user will learn from recall, which is OK since this is a fairly minor, one-time issue.
- If the characters have different abilities or stats, these should be listed. If it can all fit, a small table underneath the icons with the stat numbers would be useful. Otherwise some sort of "info" button that would take the user to a separate description page would help.
2. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 2]
The "messages" alert is very bright and eye-catching. This is good if the user has new messages - however, the same alert displays even when the user doesn't have new messages, which is distracting because the Messages button is so much brighter/different from the other buttons.
- Have a less attention-grabbing messages button dedicated somewhere. It should display the number of unread messages, ex. "Messages (3)". When a new unread message is received, the current alert is fine, but it should not show up when there are no new unread messages.
3. [H2-10 Help and documentation] [severity = 4]
There is no tutorial mode, and no help available to tell the user how to play the game.
- Tutorial mode needs to be implemented.
4. [H2-4 Consistency and standards] [severity = 3]
When the game starts, the character starts off in a running animation, even though it remains completely still. When the character runs, it is in the same running animation. It's confusing whether the character is actually supposed to be in motion or not. When I initially began and didn't know how to run, I was assuming that there was a bug that prevented the character from moving, because it looked like it was running.
- There should be a "standing" animation for when the character is not moving.
5. [H2-6 Recognition rather than recall] [severity = 1]
The white tabs indicating that a monster/battle scene is about to appear relies on recall rather than recognition - no first-time user could expect the monster to appear. There is also no indication in the scene itself that a monster is coming. Similarly, I expected the last tab to be another enemy, not the "finish line" for the level.
- I don't quite see a need to tell the user when an enemy will appear in a predictable manner. I would leave the tabs out completely, and if you wanted, place actual enemies in the scene of the game, so the characters will run into them directly and start a battle sequence.
6. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 3]
In the battle sequence, the user's "health bar" (I think it is a health bar) doesn't change. There should be some indicator of the user's status during the battle sequence. Also the enemy's health seems to "reset" if it is able to attack - not sure if this is a bug.
- Make the health bar decrease as the user is hit.
7. [H2-2 Match between system and the real world] [severity = 1]
Some of the text is confusing. Why would I "go back" after defeating the enemy? Or after completing the next level? I would like to "continue".
- I would suggest changing the text to "Continue", or "Next level"
8. [H2-6 Recognition rather than recall] [severity = 2]
If I want to search battle records, I would not logically click buttons to "Fight Player" or "Fight Computer".
- A better categorization would be Fight -> Player, Computer, and View Battle Records-> Player records, Computer records.
9. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 4]
The description text on the menu buttons is far too small to see. Also, consider that there is no "mouse over" feature for an iphone or other touchscreen interface.
- Obviously make the font bigger, but this does not fix the hover limitation. Honestly, I think the menu labels are intuitive enough already - there isn't any need for extra description.
10. [H2-9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors] [severity = 4]
After the user becomes lost in the battle sequence (or stands in place for a long time in the running sequence), you should have a dialog that tells the user what they should be doing, since the user is obviously stuck.
- After the user becomes lost in the battle sequence (or stands in place for a long time in the running sequence), you should have a dialog that tells the user what they should be doing, since the user is obviously stuck.
11. [H2-1 Visibility of system status] [severity = 3]
Not an issue now, but in the future if this is actually implemented on the phone, something (vibration?) should indicate to the user that he/she has entered a battle sequence, since the program seems to enter the user into long running sequence and may unexpectedly port them into battle.
- Make the phone vibrate/ring when a battle scene is encountered.
12. [H2-3 User control and freedom] [severity = 3]
Automatch only gives one option for who to battle. The user should have an option to "search again" or "find new match" if they do not like the automatch.
- The user should have an option to "search again" or "find new match" if they do not like the automatch.
13. [H2-8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] [severity = 2]
It is not clear what are clickable buttons and what are just links. For example, when reading message, REPLY and GO BACK are the same font so it's not apparent they are buttons.
- Differentiate the fonts of regular text, and "clickable text". Or make clickable things look like buttons.
14. [H2-7 Flexibility and efficiency of use] [severity = 2]
- Reply should auto-fill the receiver's username, also RE: [original subject]
