Project Description

Students will create a 2-3 page internal report detailing the usability of a website or mobile app. This

will include findings, usability research, and recommendations. This will be the only formal project

where using “I” will be acceptable.

Resources

 Course Readings on Usability  Project 1 Canvas Resources  Class Lectures (Take Notes)  Office Hours

Due Dates

 PEER REVIEW (complete draft required for credit): see schedule and Canvas  FINAL DOCUMENT: see schedule and Canvas

ABOUT THE PROJECT

To follow-up on our in-class discussions, we’ve learned that understanding audience is paramount to quality technical writing. It is the technical writer’s job to construct an appropriate document based on what the audience expects and needs. We’ve also covered the basics of what a “good” technical document should do. We know that a technical document should:

 Address a specific audience

 Facilitate an audience’s ability to solve problems, gain new information, and to carry out work

 Use genre, style, design, visuals, color, type, etc. to enhance readability, clarity, and usability

 Allow the audience to gain information quickly and find information easily

Furthermore, technical documents are often the result of collaboration and usually represent an organization’s or company’s goals, culture, and values (Markel, 2015, p. 7). We also know that usability and user-based design is important in technical writing. In the broader sense, usability often requires testing the effectiveness of a product, design, or building. Usability engineers, for example, might spend time testing a design for a user’s ergonomic comfort. In terms of technical writing, usability and usability testing refers to the readability and usefulness of the document. To further our discussion on technical writing, audience, and usability, you are going to analyze how effectively a website or a smartphone app has constructed its interface for its intended audience. In

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other words, your job will be to navigate a website or app of your choosing and analyze how the website or app handles (or fails to handle) the needs of its users. The website or app will be your choice, but it must be one that has more than one page or function (in other words, a website or app which can be explored, has multiple pages, or has multiple user features). Although we will be doing limited usability testing during a class session, the assignment requires you to test the website or app on one user outside of our class (this user must have no background experience with the particular website or app interface).

NOTE

This is an individually written assignment. Make sure you thoroughly understand the assignment and have thoroughly explored the website or app before writing your internal report. Being specific and detailed in your report is required. For example, if you state that the app is easy to use, you must describe why, etc.

GETTING STARTED

Select a website or app that you use and know well (OSU’s website cannot be used for this project as we used it as an in-class example). This must be a freely available website or app that your instructor can also access. For example, you could analyze the app you use to edit, store, and print photos you take on your cell phone. Alternatively, you could choose to analyze the news website that you read every morning, etc. The choice is yours, but make sure to select a website or app that you already know well.

Once you’ve decided on which website or app to use, spend some time analyzing it and create a set of notes (your notes will be included with your project as part of your drafts and submitted as part of your final Project 1 portfolio through Canvas). In your notes (and eventual report) answer the following questions:

 Who is intended user/s (audience)? How do you know?

 What is the purpose of the website or app? Clearly state this.

 How is the website or app designed? What does it look like (colors, font, use of visuals, etc.)?

 How well does the website or app meet the technical writing attributes that were listed in the “About the Project” section?

 How easy do you find the website or app to navigate and accomplish your user goals? For example, notice how many clicks it takes getting to key information or how easy it is to locate a “help” or “search bar”.

 What features do you never or rarely use (and why)?

 Why do you use this website or app over other, similar ones?

As part of your usability analysis, you will need to “test” the website or app on a person who is not familiar with it. Have a roommate, classmate, friend, family member, etc. sit down with you and use the website or app. You should spend at least 20 to 30 minutes with this person. Make sure the person is aware of the time commitment. You can let the user explore as you take notes or you can also direct them to find certain features or do specified tasks (but don’t help them find the features or tasks as they explore). As they explore the website or app, take notes about what they do, where they click, how long it takes them to discover or

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use features, etc. You should also note what you expected them to do versus what they ended up doing (For example, maybe you always first check the sports link on the news site and you expected your user to do the same. Instead, they clicked on the local news link first because it was the first item listed in a dropdown menu). Be detailed in your notes and provide specific information about what the test user did, said, etc. in your report. When your user has finished exploring the website or app (let them explore at least 20 minutes), ask them more about their user experience with the interface. Ask the following questions and take detailed notes (which will be used to construct your report later). **Feel free to add to these questions, modify, or adapt them to better suit the website or app you used. List of questions:

 What was your initial impression of the interface’s style and look? Did you find the colors easy to see or pleasing? What do you think of the font? Etc.

 What are some of the design features that you found easy to use in this website or app? Describe why they seem easy to use?

 What was the best part of the interface? Why was it the best?

 How easy was it to find “help” information? Very easy? Hard? How many seconds or clicks did it take? How long do you think it should have taken? (Or ask about any feature they tested and how easy or difficult it was to find, navigate use, etc.).

 How did the interface of this website or app compare to similar websites or apps that you’ve used? (Make sure to record what they compare the website or app to as part of your report).

 What are problems (or a problem) with this interface? Describe them. What do you think should work differently? What changes would you, a new user, suggest? Would you use this website or app again?

Once you’ve finished your notes, finished testing a user, etc., you are ready to construct your internal report. Use the guidelines below to organize, craft content, and prepare your internal report. Remember that there are many “good” ways of organizing this report. Build your paragraphs around strong topic sentences and use specific details to support your claims. Make sure to always cite any information paraphrased or related to a source.

PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

 Analyze a document for usability, show how user-centered design matters in technical writing, and analyze audience.

 Paraphrase and cite material using APA.  Use language that is not only grammatically correct but also descriptive and specific.  Follow formatting instructions.  Apply technical writing principles:

1) Identify purpose and audience 2) Improvise genre 3) Construct audience 4) Use rhetorical tools consciously

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Rhetorical Context

Audience:

Your instructor will be your audience for this first project.

Purpose:

1. To show understanding of audience, purpose, user centered design, etc.

2. To understand usability.

3. Learn the format of an internal report.

Think:

What does this audience want or need? What details will be important to include in your

internal report? How will you support your findings and recommendations?

Assignment Content Requirements

Sources: The website or app that you analyze will serve as a source. You must mention it by name and cite it both in your report and on the reference list. When appropriate, you can include a link or a small screenshot of the feature/s you point out in your report (this might help show a reader what you mean and show flaws/interface features). Screenshots of the app or site are recommended (but not required). If you provide a screenshot in the report, make sure to properly label and caption the image (go to Canvas and find the document “Using Visuals in Technical Documents” for a resource). You must also cite any images used within the report and on the reference page.

Parts to Include in the Informal Report (although you will have to use your discretion to organize your information):

 Framing and Introduction: establish which website or app you used, briefly describe the purpose of the website or app, and briefly describe the intended audience. This likely should take at least a paragraph. Also provide the proper framing for a technical document: establish the purpose of the report (what the report sets out to do, inform, or provide), establish the organization of the coming report, etc.

 Body: start with your user experience and describe your usual use of the website or app and your analysis of the website or app. Use your notes and create more formal, organized paragraphs of information Organize paragraphs around topic sentences. Detail how the website or app fulfils technical writing ideals (or not). For example, detail and rate the effective features on the website or app, etc. Cite any information specific to that website or app within the report. This likely will take 3 to 4 paragraphs (perhaps more). If you use a screenshot or screenshots, make sure to properly label, caption, and cite them (both in your report and on the reference page).

 Body: briefly describe the user you had test the website or app, their age, their typical website or app usage, if they fit the target audience for the website or app, etc. (don’t use their names, keep physical identifying features anonymous). This should take a paragraph. Then describe their background with using similar websites or apps, how much direction you provided as they navigated the website or app, if you simply took notes on how they navigated, etc.). Describe the testing process, what the tester did, what was easy, what they did not discover, etc. For example, you might note how long it took them to find certain features on the interface that you

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prompted them to find (for example, how long it took them to find the link to the “about us” page). You would note features they thought were easy to use and ones that didn’t seem to meet this user’s needs. Include how the interface helped or hindered the user. You must be specific. Vague descriptions will lower scores. In other words, accurately record the user’s experience and provide concrete details relating to the user’s experience. This part should take 3 to 4 paragraphs (perhaps more). Cite any information specific to that website or app within the report.

 Body Comparison and Findings: describe how your experience as a longtime user of the website or app was different from the new user you had test the website or app. Be specific and provide specific details and examples. This should take 1 to 2 paragraphs. Cite any information specific to that website or app within the report.

 Recommendations: based on your analysis and your user’s analysis, what specific changes might make the website or app more user centered? How might the website or app better support established users (like you)? How might the website or app better support new users (like the person you had test the website or app)? Provide specific examples. The recommendation should take a 1 to 2 paragraphs. Cite any information specific to that website or app within the report.

Assignment Style Guide and Format:

 Note: Any visuals used will not count towards the page total for the internal report.  Times New Roman font, 12 point for headings and body.  Page 1 Header Content (Note: place in the header section on page 1 only, left margin):

Student Name WR 327 (class time) Date

 Pages 2+ Header Content: Last name and page number in the top right corner of headers on second and subsequent pages (Note: but no last name/page number on page 1).

 Report Title centered and bold within the body of the document: Usability of______________  Bold font for headings aligned with left margin (use headings to organize parts of the report)  Single spaced block paragraphs. No indentations, 1 blank line between paragraphs.  No default extra white space between paragraphs.  Headings to separate sections and create transitions.  Properly labeled, captioned, and cited visuals (if visuals, like screenshots, are used). See the

document “Using Visuals in Technical Documents” for a formatting resource (found on Canvas).  APA in-text citations and References page.