Introduction
I like to think of myself as a web developer and designer, and coming from both these backgrounds, the familiar conflicts experienced are usually an extension of the common form versus function argument. As a pragmatist, I feel that form should always suit function, and while this suggests a wholly dependent relationship between the two, I don't deny that both are equally important in their contribution to the most important aspect of any application or product - the user experience.
Theory and beliefs aside, the case study at hand which will be subjected to my scrutinous albeit subjective dissection is a Facebook application called Get Help. I will examine a few key areas of which have been laid out in the assignment requirements, and my review of this application will be mainly based on inferences and observations made from the screenshots provided. Also, I don't intend to nitpick to the nth degree, so it's likely that I won't mention the obvious discretions.
On Usability
On Usability
A good user experience is a result of varying components, and ultimately subjective to each individual user's behaviour, but I do feel that there are general best practices that should be followed. I think Get Help gets the critical basics right to some extent - the layout is well-gridded with a certain consistency across the pages, the main navigation is clearly located at the top of each page, and the buttons are brightly contrasted to indicate a call to action.
However, the main navigation should have greater consistency as the current one suggests two different styles which can be confusing. Another unusual discrepancy is that the Profile tab in the Home Page is highlighted for no apparent reason, and that none of the other tabs are displayed in the same fashion in any subsequent screenshots. I would also recommend that the "Help him!" and "Refer a friend!" buttons be more differentiable, with the latter perhaps not being a button to reduce any distraction to the former, more important task.
An Aesthetic Mess
Introduction
An Aesthetic Mess
In terms of its aesthetics, Get Help clearly has a lot of noise in terms of the icons used. A key constraint of Facebook application development is that the amount of space available is far less than what a browser accommodates, so it is usually best to remove any unnecessary items on the page. Granted, appropriate icons can make an interface more aesthetically pleasing, but in the case of Get Help, most of them are redundant.
The Home Page, for example, lets you select an icon to match your 'fire', but this icon only appears on the project page and doesn't really serve any purpose in general. Finding an icon to symbolise "Building a soap sculpture" was clearly quite a lucky instance. That said, i think using icons to represent the badges is a good move as it adds more value and meaning to the badge by positing itself as an attraction to our visual senses.
Posting a Need
On Usability
Posting a Need
The usability of the Home Page is crucial, as it is from this page that the application is driven. Using textboxes for input is a good choice, as it is non-restrictive and gives users the freedom to type in more uniquely-worded phrases and tasks. I appreciate the flexible option of posting to Twitter and RSS, although I'm not really sure how posting via SMS would work. It would be wrong to surmise this option as irrelevant, however.
I also feel that the "Call for help!" button should be located at the bottom of the page, and that the section of details in general could be better organised in a tabular form with larger textboxes and less redundant fields like "Estimated time". Also, the input type of 'Who do you want to ask?' should be a radio button or dropdown box, and not a checkbox, as the current selections indicate suggest some sort of logical inconsistency. The SQL code below also does little to reassure the user that everything is going well.
Posting a Need (cont.)
An Aesthetic Mess
Posting a Need (cont.)
I think tags is an essential form of meta-data, and it allows for the future introduction of search and categorisation. For the deadline, a date-picker mechanism could be introduced to allow a more convenient selection, and the current implementation isn't clear about the format the date should be inputed. The term "Deadline" also indicates that the need for help is immediate until a specific date, and an alternate means of displaying the time parameter of the 'fire' could be a start and end time indicator.
For example, constructing the soap sculpture has a deadline, but I doubt the need is immediate. If it is, asking for help on Facebook would be quite a fruitless endeavour.
The Cycle of Interactions
Posting a Need
The Cycle of Interactions
The "Refer a friend" mechanism is interesting as it not only helps market the application, but it maps well with our current understanding of seeking assistance through our social circles. This crowd-sourcing system also increases the value of Get Help to its users, as users are ultimately looking for help beyond their first-degree associations. The availability of the "Invite" link at the top right hand corner also allows users to spread the application via word-of-mouth marketing.
Another interaction within this application that isn't covered in the screenshots is the feedback loop when the help seeker decides who has aided him or her, but I think how this is implemented is critical to the core objectives of the application. The comments section on each project page is useful for friends who want more information, and allowing such an interaction is a smart decision by the developers. Listing "Helpers" and "Probables" is also a good way for other people to find out who else is knowledgeable on the task in question.
Incentives and Karma
Posting a Need (cont.)
Incentives and Karma
I feel that the use of badges and a leaderboard as an incentive to encourage users to participate is effective to some extent. However, a core motivation for users in this application is the intrinsic kindness that people have, and if someone were to extend a helping hand in any instance, I believe it would be more because this user is sincere as opposed to needing a particular badge for his or her collection. A better point system would be a Karma score, as it maps logically to the action of helping another person, thereby deriving good Karma for oneself. Counting Karma would also be easier as the scale would be linear by which all users can be measured.
While the introduction of game mechanics will make the application more appealing and fun to use, there exists the possibility that it will introduce more noise to its functionality like spam. Users might try to game the system, which will decrease the signal-to-noise ratio of the application, and its overall value. I think that banking on the good-naturedness of people is a pretty safe bet, maybe coupled with a simple Karma score system.
In Conclusion
The Cycle of Interactions
In Conclusion
I would say that Get Help is based on quite a good concept, except its execution leaves quite a lot to be desired. Its current implementation as a first try isn't bad by any means, however, as design along with development is an iterative process as well. There are some improvements that can be made to the underlying mechanism of the application, but these will definitely be more apparent with continuous feedback from the actual users themselves.
Start over?
Incentives and Karma