Evaluation And Analysis Of Interface Design (revise Q3)

Q1. Part 1.
Lisa Territto is only 30, yet has already been endowed by her father the responsibilities of a CEO in a multinational company working under the rules of a Joint Venture with an international corporation Remington Seeds. She has a good understanding of business economics having graduated with a master’s degree in this field. Lisa spends most of her day in meetings communicating with suppliers and designers finding a solution to the questions of constructing a new seed plant out of town. The questions revolve around the specifics of design and necessities in facilitating the plant with everything that the process of corn cleaning and shelling requires. Lisa needs to organize the work of all departments, yet maintain rigid control over the process of supply, delivery, and construction, so that there would be no delay and the plant would be finished prior to the new operating season, thereby increasing company revenue and expanding the company’s client base.
The primary functions that Lisa executes in Microsoft Team are:
Participates in meetings with suppliers maintaining rigid control of all processes connected with plant construction. Lisa joins these meetings through an email invite sent for each particular meeting. By clicking the “Confirm Join” link at the bottom of the email, Lisa is transferred to a new browser window where is offered several option, the two most important of which are either to continue in the Microsoft Teams App, or in the Browser. Most often Lisa continues using the browser based version as it is quickly brought up on the screen. However, there are times when the system glitches and Lisa opts for the Use App option. This alternative version brings up the Microsoft Teams App and after a significant amount of loading time joins the conversation. In the process of the meeting Lisa not only uses the webcam and microphone (although both can be turned off) depending on Lisa’s preferences, but also can bring up her display and make it visible to other participants of the meeting, thereby allowing everyone to see her point of view, or question, or opinion on the subject matter in question.
Organizes meetings herself in order to get status reports from her employees responsible for the process of plant construction. In the Microsoft App Lisa uses the calendar function to invite other members she wishes to get status report from by adding the email of the corresponding individual to the list of invites. The alternative is when the meeting is weekly organized then there is no need to create the meeting anew. All people with presence required can access the meeting through a previously created invitation or link that is available to them in their email.
STN
Joining a meeting
Regular
Start. Clicks on the “Confirm Join” link in an email.
Transitions to an introduction in-browser Microsoft Teams window.
Contextual window pops up suggesting to open the meeting in the Microsoft Teams App with a Confirm or Cancel options.
Cancel allows view of the in-browser window inquiring how one wishes to connect to the meeting: download the app, continue in the browser, or open the meeting in the app.
Clicking continue in the browser redirects the user to a Microsoft Teams in-browser window.
The individual can input his/her name and press the button connect.
The software redirects the user to a waiting list where the moderator of the meeting then connects the user the particular meeting.
Alternative
Start. Clicks on the “Confirm Join” link in an email.
Transitions to an introduction in-browser Microsoft Teams window.
Contextual window pops up suggesting to open the meeting in the Microsoft Teams App with a Confirm or Cancel options.
Confirm redirects the user to a Microsoft Teams App.
The individual, whose login details are often already input by default, can press the button connect.
The software redirects the user to a waiting list where the moderator of the meeting then connects the user the particular meeting.
Organizing a meeting
Regular
Start. Clicks on the Microsoft Teams App button.
The app starts up.
Press Plan a Meeting.
Contextual window pops up with a request to input the meeting details.
Input the meeting details such as name, date, time start and time end. Duration is calculated by the App.
After confirmation, another contextual window pops up, where one chooses either to copy the invite or use the Google Calendar.
By choosing the Google Calendar, one is transferred to Google Calendar where one inputs the emails of the required individuals, and after saving the invitations are automatically sent with a “Confirm Join” link available to the people.
Alternative
Start. Open email. Click on the Microsoft Teams Meeting from previous week.
Clicks on the “Confirm Join” link in an email.
Transitions to an introduction in-browser Microsoft Teams window.
Contextual window pops up suggesting to open the meeting in the Microsoft Teams App with a Confirm or Cancel options.
Confirm redirects the user to a Microsoft Teams App.
The individual, whose login details are often already input by default, can press the button connect.
The software redirects the user to a waiting list where the moderator of the meeting then connects the user the particular meeting.

Q1. Part 2.
Usability Problem – Wireless headphones connection
A significant usability problem often met while using the Microsoft Teams software (both App and browser-based client) is the connection of wireless headphones to be used in the meeting by the user. It is impossible to connect the headphones when the meeting is aloof even if such an option does become visible in the settings menu. In order for the wireless headphones to work, they have to be connected to the hardware prior the start of the meeting and even before the Microsoft Teams software (both App and browser-based client) is even started. This creates problem for sound, and thus makes the meeting almost impossible to participate in. At the same time, problems appear with the “regular” sound drivers of the computer. Most likely there is a conflict between the drivers of the Wireless Headphones and the Computer Sound System, making it impossible to switch while in the meeting.
Good Design features
Toolbar icons are easy to read and are highly visible in the contrasting theme of white against a dark background.
The main window in the middle allows to turn off the microphone and camera prior to joining.
The blue highlight when the button is on serves as a good indication of what the user is attempting to do.
The size of the text and font are easily readable and need to be maintained throughout all updates.

Q.2. The assessment of player experience between two games of my choice.
My Contribution
The experiment will follow the within group design when the assigned individual (test subject) is testing all the conditions. In this specific case the same individual will be playing two games of my choice, namely World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (available for freeplay up to character level 20 downloaded from the official www.blizzard.com website) as well as League of Legends (available to play for free). Both of these games have been pre-installed on my laptop computer and have been prepared for the test evaluation by the test subject. At first the participant was required to play each game within a span of 30 minutes thus providing him with the opportunity to develop a personal reaction and first opinion about these games at hand. Then, the participant was requested to provide his feedback in free form. Then the participant was introduced to the peculiarities of the game in terms of variables that enhance/diminish the player’s experience.
One can add as many variables and in-game characteristics as one would like (the number of characters, the description of the combat system in numbers, the area of the world, and so on), but the degree of usefulness of such an impartial and objective review will still tend to be closer to zero. The variables significantly affecting player experience interestingly correspond to Nielsen’s heuristics classification. Thus, these categories were taken as the backbone of this research:
Visibility of system status. Does the in-game default setting inform the user about what is going on?
Match between system and real world. Is the language within the game clear?
User control and Freedom. Are the controls clear or there is a need in a tutorial?
Consistency and standards. Is scenario consistent throughout the whole gameplay?
Errors in language use. Are there any errors in the in-game language, text?
Error prevention. How have the game designers prepared for error prevention?
Recognition. Are all objects clearly visible?
Flexibility and efficiency of use. Can things be sped up for expert users?
Aesthetics of the game. Are the language cues minimalistic?
Help. Are there any in-game cues or help window?
The 10 variables presented above are independent variables capable of influencing players experience, which is the dependent variable in this experiment.