While I recommend that you watch this entire video, I’ve configured it to start at the spell checker feature, as it is an example of what is so truly amazing about this application.  Forget about what you know about spell checkers.  This is skynet re-purposed to spell check.  In addition to the usual social networking uses, I imagine students with similar academic interests finding each other and collaborating within and outside the application.  Doing away with our under-performing bulletin board so as to have a more rich ongoing conversation with busy staff is also appealing.

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(1) Left panel is menu for all pages in the application.  It appears on every page so that users do not become lost in the application.  A color and icon change indicates current page.

(2) Top numbered panel serves as a breadcrumb for the current page.  Colors change to indicate to users where they are in the process.  Number icons change as well for accessibility reasons.

(3) A dialog box appears at the top of the page to indicate what users should do first.  It disappears once users make an initial selection.  Experienced users may disable most dialog boxes through a user preference wizard.

(4) A question mark icon is displayed at top right of screen.  Clicking it opens a text modal box that might also feature a video demonstration.  This feature is contextual and brings up different information depending from what page it is clicked.

(5) A question mark icon is displayed at key functions in case users have specific non-global questions.  Mouseover opens up a pop-up text window.  The four here explain what services are offered by each center and the particulars of group and individual tutoring.

(6) To assist users with navigation, selections are featured in a logical and prescribed order.  Users have to think less about what they need to do.  This increases the likelihood that their default behavior is the correct one.

(7) Users cannot move forward until they complete the form in the order prescribed. Here course, date, type, and submit buttons are not selectable until center is selected.

(8) Course selection is automatically generated either from a predefined list of subjects or from a user’s own course registration previously uploaded by an administrator.

(9) Courses for which there are tutoring sessions are presented differently than courses for which there is no support.  Perhaps using color, icon, or different font such as italics.

(10) Once users have selected a course the date, type and submit button become selectable.  Date and type are optional so they do not have to select in order to submit.

(11) The date can either be written in or users can click the calendar icon to bring up a calendar graphic popup to select start and end dates.

(12) Calendar and start/end input boxes validate in real time so that users cannot enter other than appropriate dates as determined by administrator preference selection.  Here that is seven days in advance.

(13) Clicking submit displays a modal window of search results.  Users can select their preferred appointment times from this modal window without leaving this page.

(14) From the modal window, users will be able to select multiple appointment times before confirming their selection.

(15) Real time validation occurs here as well.  Users cannot select a session that has already ended.  They also cannot schedule an appointment while it is ongoing unless an administrator selects this preference feature nor can they schedule appointments that conflict with current selections or previously confirmed  appointments.

(16) If a search produces no results the user is informed of this fact, explained why it occurred, and provided with next step options.

(17) Users must either confirm or cancel their selection(s) before closing the modal window otherwise they will receive an error message.  This feature prevents them from logging out without completing the scheduling process.

(18) Once the student confirms they receive a confirmation successful message before the modal box collapses.

Since most users will be using the application without an initial demonstration it must perform logically, and handle errors in an intelligent manner.  This design gives users a better visual, functional and feature rich experience while minimizing frustration, confusion, and errors.  The helper features and error handling is unobtrusive and therefore won’t frustrate experienced users.  The design while aesthetically pleasing is utilitarian.  It is neither frivolous nor extravagant.

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While scoping out Accutrack I wasn’t too much concerned with the specifics of how the application works, rather I was interested in its look and feel and secondarily my training burden if I had to introduce this to a large and itinerant staff.  The first video, Accutrack-Poking Around, is of me tooling around and clicking randomly through the application which is one of the methods that I use to evaluate software for discoverability and resilience.  The second video, Accutrack-Student, is of me logging in as a student, scheduling an appointment, and then logging out.  The third video, Accutrack-Tutor, is of me logging in as a tutor, checking my schedule, and then logging out.

Click for Tutortrac Student Video Tutorial.

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Update:  On a scale of 1-5, my get your act together indicator moved from 2 to 3.2.  Nevertheless, not yet regretting my purchase.

Update: Clockspot now has auto invoicing with email notification.

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THE STRUCTURE PRINCIPLE

Your design should organize the user interface purposefully, in meaningful and useful ways based on clear, consistent models that are apparent and recognizable to users.

Clicky, a web analytics program, is an example of the Dashboard screen pattern.  This pattern provides multiple sources of information at a glance so that users can quickly ascertain a state of affairs and take purposeful action.

Macintosh Explorer, a file search application, takes it cue from Windows Explorer.  It’s an example of the Master/Detail screen pattern.  I include it here because it doesn’t depart from expectations, which is in fact one aspect of a well crafted application.  It doesn’t unnecessarily require you to learn an entirely new metaphor in order to use it.

THE SIMPLICITY PRINCIPLE

Your design should make simple, common tasks simple to do, communicating clearly and simply in the user’s own language, and providing good shortcuts that are meaningfully related to longer procedures.

Deleting a file from your computer is a very complicated task.  Yet the metaphor of a trash or recycle bin to which we simply drag and drop a file is both familiar and satisfying.  The ease of use and intuitiveness of this bit of user interaction belies the truly revolutionary thinking that goes into creating effective user interface.  A good application gets out of the way and allows you to get on with it.  A great application assists you in creating extraordinary products that you could not have created otherwise.  A bad application bogs you down in tedium and never gets out of the way long enough to allow you to forget that you’re using it.

The MicroSoft Windows upgrade feature is an example of the latter behavior in that after an upgrade it requires a system restart; however, it repeatedly requests a restart even after a user has indicated that they do not wish to restart.  It also doesn’t provide an option to delay restart for a certain period thereby requiring users to disrupt their focus or workflow and restart, or repeatedly cancel intrusive restart requests.  Macintosh’s Itunes is notorious for being similarly obnoxious.

THE VISIBILITY PRINCIPLE

Your design should keep all needed options and materials for a given task visible without distracting the user with extraneous or redundant information. Good designs don’t overwhelm users with too many alternatives or confuse them with unneeded information.

Clicky also utilizes this principle well.  Notice that while selected functions are visible others are hidden behind tabs and that these tabs are clearly labeled and grouped in a coherent fashion.

Another example of the use of this principle is the Mac OSX dialog box which defaults to the six most frequently used options screen but enlarges to include more choices if the user invokes this option.

Yet another welcomed behavior is a popup tooltip that provides information about what’s behind a button or an icon.  This bit of information saves time from having to click through yet remains hidden until it’s needed.  These flourishes are not only helpful but can be executed skillfully and beautifully thereby changing an application UI rating from A to A+.

THE FEEDBACK PRINCIPLE

Your design should keep users informed of actions or interpretations, changes of state or condition, and errors or exceptions that are relevant and of interest to the user through clear, concise, and unambiguous language familiar to users.

Pageboss is an example of the successful application of this principle.  It is another web analytics program that returns key metrics about a website.  The interesting behavior to consider here is that it takes a while for the application to collect and return this information.   It, therefore, needs to keep the user informed about its current state and how long it will take to complete the task.  I would say that PageBoss gets an A for describing its current state, another A for doing so in a visually appealing manner and a B+ for informing the user about time to completion.  Had the task taken considerable more time to complete, a progress bar with a HH:MM:SS estimated time to completion would have been more useful.

Another example of the effective use of the feedback principle is the file transfer program, Transmission.  From the initial drag and drop to the automatic download, progress and color change to signal completion, Transmission gives conventional and unambiguous indication of its states, resulting in a satisfying experience for the user.

Other examples of feedback are data fields that glow, throb or change color when they gain focus or need user attention, buttons that become de-selectible when pressing them would not be appropriate, and workflow cues such as numbers, arrows or animation that help users to determine in what order to proceed through an application.

THE TOLERANCE PRINCIPLE

Your design should be flexible and tolerant, reducing the cost of mistakes and misuse by allowing undoing and redoing, while also preventing errors wherever possible by tolerating varied inputs and sequences and by interpreting all reasonable actions reasonable.

No doubt you’re familiar with the ‘Do you really want to do this’ popup dialogs that come complete with the ‘Don’t ask me again’ option.  Developers initially assume that users are unaware that their actions might be harmful or irrevocable and so give them the option to backout of the action and once informed to opt out of any subsequent warnings.  A revert to default button is also an example of the Tolerance Principle in action as it keeps a user from making time wasteful or irrevocable decisions.   Given the repercussions, VisualHub, a video conversion application, has a perhaps too humerous although still effective warning for its users who wish to change their preferences.

An example of a poorly designed Tolerance Principle is a web mail client that I no longer use and that will go unnamed. The application will timeout if it does not get any input from the user.  Normally this would be a useful security feature except for the fact that it does not provide a warning before timing out.  It also does not recognize keystrokes as user input for its timeout feature and does not autosave.  Extraordinary omissions for a mail program.  The consequence being that if you type a very long email the program is almost guaranteed to timeout without saving your work.  In fact, it will have timed out leaving you typing unawares long before you invoke the send command.

THE REUSE PRINCIPLE

Your design should reuse internal and external components and behaviors, maintaining consistency with purpose rather than merely arbitrary consistency, thus reducing the need for users to rethink and remember.

Utilizing a familiar metaphor that is used consistently throughout the application can reduce learning time.  Soundsoap uses the metaphor of an electronics device that would be familiar to most users.

Assets such as radio buttons, click boxes, pulldown menus, etc.  should be used purposely and in the same manner and return the same types of result wherever they are encountered. The discussion found on the website linked here provides some insight into the considerations that go into where and how one might place buttons on a web form.  The point is that a developer can place any button anywhere.  A good developer makes defensible standards compliant choices in the interest of user experience.

THE AESTHETICS PRINCIPLE

Your design should have a consistent look and feel throughout.  It should be visually appealing and conform to longstanding principles of design aesthetics.

It is possible to design user interfaces that improve upon a users’ experience solely as a function of its aesthetic design in the same way that a beautifully decorated residence improves upon a resident’s living experience.  Visually appealing applications make use of icon design, formatting and color to create a sense of purpose, occasion and harmony.  It’s important to note that aesthetic considerations are always in service to improved functionality as discussed at usabilitypost.  The point is to move orange juice, [subtraction]; that is, rather than winning design awards the goal is to optimize an application so that users are more productive.  For instance, the use of color is important as it allows a user to quickly and easily scan an application’s interface thereby reducing eyestrain and improving the application’s usability.

The web analytics program Woopra is an example of design overwhelming usability issues.  Notice that the clash of colors does not enhance but rather competes with the data that is being displayed.  Everything on a application window is data that your brain needs to process.  Too much data processing leads to brain drain which does not optimize user productivity.  To avoid this, a good rule of thumb is that a third of any application window should to be whitespace.

THE ACCESSIBILITY PRINCIPLE

Your design should consider the needs of the entire range of potential users including those with accessibility issues and account for their experiences whenever possible.

While color is an important design factor it should be used as a secondary navigation or state change cue as some users who are visually impaired may have accessibility issues.  Users who are colorblind for instance may not be able to notice distinctions that are indicated solely by a color change.  Older or visually impaired users may need to adjust an application’s text size. It should be possible to do so along with other minor adjustments.

Update:  Click to read usabilityposts’ own list of design principles and sylvantechs own very helpful usability list.

Update:  Adobe Air app blog with UI critiques.

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For example, when students check out of our center they are given the opportunity to answer three questions, were you satisfied with your visit, are you planning to return, may we contact you about your responses.  This information is time sensitive and therefore should be easy to access, perhaps displayed on an administrator dashboard with other key metrics available upon login, it should be displayed both numerically and/or graphically depending on user pre-selection, and be tweakable by date, tutor, range, etc.  Since we are interested in actionable information some means for comparison over time and across tutors should be possible. [Google Analytics]   Perhaps also a means for having the program flag occurrences that fall within a certain threshold.  This information should be printable and be easily exportable in industry standard formats such as Word, Excel, and XML.

The point of the above requirements is that the application should be scripted to provide relevant information at the moment when that information would be most useful and to do so without an overwhelming amount of clerical intervention from the user.

This focus on actionable information should be the goal for upgrading Tutortrac, as really very fundamental questions such as which students am I seeing today or how many students are presently in the center require far more effort than necessary to locate and attention to interpret.  In essence the application redistributes tedious tasks rather than removing them altogether, which afterall was the great promise of computerization.

Yet despite these objections, I still think this application worthy of the attention that it will take to make it a better product, if nothing more than there are few viable options.  But, this is a 14 year old application and by any recognizable standard that should be sufficient time for it to have developed into its maturity  complete with the functions that are  standard for a modern internet based product and given the cost, reasonable to expect.

I’m hoping that with this upgrade Redrock Software will deliver on the promise of Tutortrac, that they will do what Steve Jobs famously criticized Microsoft for not doing.  That they will use this opportunity to push to be the sector leader in bringing truly innovative products to their customers.  I’m hoping that Tutortrac 4.0 will be both an evolution and a bold and forthright step into the 21st century.

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Screenflow (MAC) – screen capture

Mousepose 3 (MAC) – cursor highlighting

Canon Powershot A520 – live video capture

iPhoto ‘09 (MAC) – live video downloading

iMovie ‘09 (MAC) – video editing

Camtasia Studio 6 (PC) – video annotations

Quicktime Pro (MAC) – video conversions

Flowplayer (web app) – video embedding

JW Player (web app) – video embedding

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Tutortrac’s database setup is interesting.  There is only one database of students and this database gets updated each time there is an upload.  What this means is that individual semesters aren’t repositories of snapshot data.  For example, you can’t go back six years, say, to find out how many freshmen came to your center.  Why?  Because all of the freshmen have now graduated and they are no longer freshmen.  For this reason, you cannot do trend analysis on key metrics without having saved each semester’s data outside of Tutortrac.  No one would think to do this as this peculiar behavior is not widely publicized and unless you’re a database expert it’s unlikely that you’d ask.  This is not a feature.  It was a poor design decision that speaks to the disconnect between what users need and what RedRock is prepared to deliver.  Certainly there should be more documentation available and perhaps popup notification every time that an upload is attempted.  There should also be a one click function for exporting the database into some separate repository where it can be easily accessed when needed.

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This new website improves upon the previous site by focusing on aesthetics, ease of navigation and increased speed and functionality.

Aesthetics

The overall site design is more polished and internally consistent. The intent was for it to be simple while still remaining visually appealing. The red and black scheme complements Rutgers’ design aesthetic. Some visual references to the old site have been retained to maintain a thematic bridge and to facilitate navigation.

Navigation

The site is much easier to navigate. Information is grouped in a more coherent fashion and more functions execute on the same page from which they were called.

Speed

We eliminated several images and minimized the remaining. Pages were eliminated when possible. As a result, the site folder size is halved and now loads more quickly.

Functionality

The site contains more features than in the previous version. Our goal was to add useful rather than cosmetic functionality. We believe that we’ve succeeded.

• Selected tables are sortable
• Designated links execute a tooltip on mouseover
• All primary pages have a site search box and text-sizing functionality
• Visual cues to filetype proceed selected links
• Layout is fluid and conforms to different screen resolutions
• Email links are encrypted as a SPAM fighting measure

This site was produced internally using code and applications freely available on the web. Over the next few weeks we will work on fixing a few lingering glitches and to make additional improvements relating to standards compliance, speed and accessibility. Our goal is to have a site that can serve as a model for excellent learning center web design. We also intend to make the resources that were used in creating this site available on our blog. Please share your opinion from our contacts page.

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