The primary focus for iteration 4 of the project was to:
- check whether users understood what the service is for
- test hypotheses including:
- Start page content should align with the functionality of the service
- Users need a central point of reference to generate an accurate mental model of the service and can continue to successfully navigate as they return to the service
The full prototype of both journeys is available for iteration 4 it can be found:
https://plantech.herokuapp.com/d
Changing the start page to reflect MVS
In iteration 3 we found during user research that users became confused by the disconnect between the global vision of the service in its post-BETA form and the reality of the functionality on offer for the MVS release. For iteration 4 the language was changed to align with the MVS service more accurately, changes included updating information that described the service in abstract terms such as “How it could benefit your school” and “Who it’s for” to specific terms such as “What it is” and “Who to involve”.
It is important for users of the service to understand and assign the answering of questions to the appropriate members of staff within the school, in iteration 3 a “What questions you’ll asked” accordion-style display was added to the page, user research indicated that this functionality was missed by users for iteration 4 this information was removed from this page and placed closer to the question categories.
Above: Version D revised Start Page
Providing a central point of reference for new and returning users
In iteration 3 the self-assessment page was where users began answering self-assessment questions. At the end of that journey, users returned to the self-assessment page from where they would be able to either complete additional questions or access their recommendations. In user testing this approach was only partially successful. Users did not engage with the global navigation and only occasionally engaged with the success notification component.
We then developed this hypothesis: “users may find it easier to orientate themselves within the service if initially post login they arrived a view page that provided direct access to the various sections of the service.” Designs were considered which consisted of the display of high-level measures summarising progress and maturity which would then direct users to dedicated pages for self-assessment and recommendations.
Above: Rejected design for central point of reference “dashboard”
The reasons why this design was rejected were the following:
The parameters of the scoring mechanic to gauge a school's maturity had not yet been defined and was unlikely to be included as part of the MVS
There were usability concerns that page itself would confuse users making it difficult to progress on their various user journeys
There were accessibility concerns that screen-reader technology would struggle with the page structure
Only a small fraction of the data management/page functionality would be available for MVS
The final design which was selected for evaluation within the next round of user research was more closely aligned to the functionality proposed for MVS and provided access to progress indicators for both the questions and recommendations, the page content was designed to change as users interacted with the service and the success box was repurposed to provide simpler event messaging in an attempt to improve user engagement with sections below the page fold. As question categories are completed the progress indicators by section are marked as “NOT STARTED” or “COMPLETE”
Global navigation was pared-back to feature only the ability for the user to sign out of the service.
Above: central page as seen by first time users (left) and return users (right)
Including an interstitial page to support users when answering questions
To give users all the information they need to progress successfully though the Q&A process iteration 4 moved away from the passive accordion-based information display to a more active interstitial page that intercepts the users journey at the start of the section.
Above: Interstitial page for “Broadband connectivity questions”
Managing “recommendations”
As schools work with the recommendations that are generated from the service iteration 4 included the ability for users to mark them as “COMPLETE”
Above: closing a recommendation (left) COMPLETE flag on start page for recommendation (right)
Returning Journeys
One of the use-cases to be evaluated as part of the iteration 4 was to understand user's expectations as they explore and return to the service this was done in the following ways:
As sections of questions were completed what would their next steps be? Would they continue to answer further sections before reviewing recommendations or would they review recommendations as they completed a section.
As they signed out and signed back into the service would users understand what the next steps to take were such as: continuing to complete sections and review recommendations.
Above: Signed out flag on sign in page (left), New recommendation flag on main page (middle), completed recommendation on main page (right)