Original brainstorm:
Re-arrangement by group 2PAC:
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
As is analysis by Anna Shvetz: OSU Reddit
Visibility of System Status
It is fairly easy to recognize what page you are on and where links take you.
Match between System and real world
Most of the content is user-generated, so most of it matches the real world. There are reddit-specific terms (upvote, subreddit) but they are not technical.
Most of the content is user-generated, so most of it matches the real world. There are reddit-specific terms (upvote, subreddit) but they are not technical.
User control and freedom
It may be hard to find exactly what you are looking for. There are many tabs and also a search tool that should help, but it is hard to know exactly where to start.
Consistency and standards
Same structure and conventions are kept to throughout the site. Subreddit moderators have some control over visual elements (e.g. r/osu has buckeye leafs instead of arrows for upvotes and downvotes and a scarlet header with Brutus Buckeye).
Same structure and conventions are kept to throughout the site. Subreddit moderators have some control over visual elements (e.g. r/osu has buckeye leafs instead of arrows for upvotes and downvotes and a scarlet header with Brutus Buckeye).
Error prevention
Reddit has errors but not a lot of them.
Recognition rather than recall
The Help and FAQ sections are at the bottom of each page.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Allows users to search for specific topics or filter the posts basd on what is currently trending.
Aesthetic and minimalistic design
The design if this site is busy and somewhat distracting. There seem to be extra patterns and symbols that may distract the user and take away from the aesthetic appeal. There aren't too many colors used which is good.
Recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
The numbered errors (e.g. 502, 504) are just plain text and do not explain what the error is. When the site is overloaded, however, the error message is in plain language and accompanied by a funny illustration.
Help and documentation
There are frequently asked questions and a contact information page, which is helpful.
Charter Reevaluation
1. Business Goals
The main goal of this website is to provide a concise and effective service to OSU students. It's a place where they can meet people from their classrooms and exchange information such as classroom notes, ask and answer homework questions, receive feedback on projects in progress (such as art and design pre-critiques) and exchange materials.
In order to do provide a free service to students, there will be a space where advertisers can pay to place ads. Those ads would be tailored to our specific target audience. For example, there will be food advertisements (especially for healthy food) and bookstore advertisements. These funds will be used for the upkeep and improvement of the site.
2. Website Goals
The website will provide relevant information in an effective way to students in need of homework help, and provide a platform for students to sell/buy/exchange books, notes, and other materials (that do not break plagiarism rules!)
The main goal of this website is to provide a concise and effective service to OSU students. It's a place where they can meet people from their classrooms and exchange information such as classroom notes, ask and answer homework questions, receive feedback on projects in progress (such as art and design pre-critiques) and exchange materials.
In order to do provide a free service to students, there will be a space where advertisers can pay to place ads. Those ads would be tailored to our specific target audience. For example, there will be food advertisements (especially for healthy food) and bookstore advertisements. These funds will be used for the upkeep and improvement of the site.
2. Website Goals
The website will provide relevant information in an effective way to students in need of homework help, and provide a platform for students to sell/buy/exchange books, notes, and other materials (that do not break plagiarism rules!)
The website will have a relatively simple layout, so that students can navigate the site and accomplish tasks easily. Since using this site is optional to students, if it is too confusing then it won't be helpful and students won't use it. The site will be easy to sign into (using your OSU username and password) and it will be easy for students to add themselves to their respective classes. Students can choose if they wish to receive notifications via email or not.
The site will allow students to post resources from other websites (such as YouTube and Khan Academy). There may be a feed for student posts that imbeds videos from outside resources directly into the feed, or the fed may contain an ongoing list of links to take the user to these outside resources.
3. User tasks
This website will provide students with the opportunity to sell their used textbooks, materials, and class notes, as well as the chance to buy materials directly from other students. By avoiding the middleman (bookstores), student will be able to get more money when selling, and pay less when purchasing materials.
There will be a "board" where students that excel in a particular school subject and wish to make extra cash through tutoring can advertise tutoring classes. We would not change for students to advertise tutoring classes. As we mentioned before, food and books advertisers would be the only ones paying to advertise.
There will also be a space where students can add themselves to a group chat (by searching their class number and using their OSU login name and password) where they can seek help from other students regarding specific classes. This is a way to meet other students and help each other get through a class. The content would be exclusively school related. At the end of every semester every group would be deleted and new ones would be created for the following semester.
Group chats for art and design classes will have an extra feature that will allow them to post their work previous to class critic days. That way students can get feedback on their work before they submit it for class critics.
We will create a space where students can post links to relevant sites such as the Kahn Academy. The information of this space will not be deleted at the end of every semester, they will remain there for the future students to have access to.
To provide a free service to students and keep the website running we will allow ads that are tailored to the needs of the students to be posted on the website. We don't have a set cost yet. We will create a package cost that would state the cost per ad/space. Food dinners and bookstores would pay to place their ads on the website due to the high traffic of students.
This website will provide students with the opportunity to sell their used textbooks, materials, and class notes, as well as the chance to buy materials directly from other students. By avoiding the middleman (bookstores), student will be able to get more money when selling, and pay less when purchasing materials.
There will be a "board" where students that excel in a particular school subject and wish to make extra cash through tutoring can advertise tutoring classes. We would not change for students to advertise tutoring classes. As we mentioned before, food and books advertisers would be the only ones paying to advertise.
There will also be a space where students can add themselves to a group chat (by searching their class number and using their OSU login name and password) where they can seek help from other students regarding specific classes. This is a way to meet other students and help each other get through a class. The content would be exclusively school related. At the end of every semester every group would be deleted and new ones would be created for the following semester.
Group chats for art and design classes will have an extra feature that will allow them to post their work previous to class critic days. That way students can get feedback on their work before they submit it for class critics.
We will create a space where students can post links to relevant sites such as the Kahn Academy. The information of this space will not be deleted at the end of every semester, they will remain there for the future students to have access to.
To provide a free service to students and keep the website running we will allow ads that are tailored to the needs of the students to be posted on the website. We don't have a set cost yet. We will create a package cost that would state the cost per ad/space. Food dinners and bookstores would pay to place their ads on the website due to the high traffic of students.
4. Differentiators
MarketOSU is a site geared toward textbook and ticket exchange for students. While our site will also facilitate textbook exchange, it will also facilitate discussion, which OSU exchange does not do. However, our site will not be a place to trade tickets because it will be focused on academics. Both our site and MarketOSU will be tied to users' OSU accounts to keep out random people that are not students.
Reddit is a platform where links and/or text can be posted. Posts can be discussed in the comments. Reddit has topical subforums, known as subreddits. A subreddit can be dedicated to a broad or narrow interest (e.g. r/news, r/pics, r/cooking, r/glitch_art), a format of discussion (e.g. r/askreddit, where people ask and answer questions), or a geographical area, among other things. There is a subreddit for OSU (r/osu), where students and occasional faculty members discuss OSU-specific things. Members ask questions ("Is campus internet down for anyone else?", "Can anyone tell me some perks of being a first year FisherDirect student?", "Healthy Eating on campus?") give useful information ("Columbus Zoo admittance is FREE tomorrow!", "Do NOT rent through Craig King Realty") and generally discuss news and share triumphs and complaints. An advantage our site can have over r/osu is structure: r/osu is a catch-all for all OSU-related topics and is not conducive to fine-grained discussion about classes. r/osu dances on the edge of anonymity: while reddit accounts are not attached to a name, posting in r/osu makes it much easier for someone to figure out a user's identity.
Craigslist is known to everyone: a virtual bulletin board (divided by metro area) where people can buy and sell goods and services, look for jobs, and arrange events/projects. Each city's Craigslist page is divided into categories (Community, Housing, Jobs, Gigs, For Sale, Personals, Discussion Forums, and Resumes), which are further divided into subcategories. While our site will also be a well-organized virtual watering hole of sorts, it will be less sketchy (because Craigslist is useful but often sketchy), have better visual design, and be tailored towards OSU students.
MarketOSU is a site geared toward textbook and ticket exchange for students. While our site will also facilitate textbook exchange, it will also facilitate discussion, which OSU exchange does not do. However, our site will not be a place to trade tickets because it will be focused on academics. Both our site and MarketOSU will be tied to users' OSU accounts to keep out random people that are not students.
Reddit is a platform where links and/or text can be posted. Posts can be discussed in the comments. Reddit has topical subforums, known as subreddits. A subreddit can be dedicated to a broad or narrow interest (e.g. r/news, r/pics, r/cooking, r/glitch_art), a format of discussion (e.g. r/askreddit, where people ask and answer questions), or a geographical area, among other things. There is a subreddit for OSU (r/osu), where students and occasional faculty members discuss OSU-specific things. Members ask questions ("Is campus internet down for anyone else?", "Can anyone tell me some perks of being a first year FisherDirect student?", "Healthy Eating on campus?") give useful information ("Columbus Zoo admittance is FREE tomorrow!", "Do NOT rent through Craig King Realty") and generally discuss news and share triumphs and complaints. An advantage our site can have over r/osu is structure: r/osu is a catch-all for all OSU-related topics and is not conducive to fine-grained discussion about classes. r/osu dances on the edge of anonymity: while reddit accounts are not attached to a name, posting in r/osu makes it much easier for someone to figure out a user's identity.
Craigslist is known to everyone: a virtual bulletin board (divided by metro area) where people can buy and sell goods and services, look for jobs, and arrange events/projects. Each city's Craigslist page is divided into categories (Community, Housing, Jobs, Gigs, For Sale, Personals, Discussion Forums, and Resumes), which are further divided into subcategories. While our site will also be a well-organized virtual watering hole of sorts, it will be less sketchy (because Craigslist is useful but often sketchy), have better visual design, and be tailored towards OSU students.
5. Audience/behavior
The audience of this website will be OSU Columbus campus students. Students may be of any age but most students are 18 years old to mid twenties. This site may be utilized more by younger students who may be taking prerequisite or general education classes that have large class sizes. However, any student in any size class may utilize this site to find help or additional resources. Students that are less outgoing may find this as an easier way to interact with classmates. The website will be free to use with an active osu ID, since it is expected that most college students either don't have much extra money or won't wish to spend money for this service.
Students will approach this website as a way to informally and quickly find the materials or the help they need. They may utilize the site functions as little or as much as they like, whether they wish to to solely use it to find materials and other resources on the web, or wish to use it to make friends or connections in their class to ask questions or find people to work on assignments with. The site will be moderated, and the students are expected to behave with respect towards others and use ethical collaboration practices (i.e. no plagiarism). However, students are expected to feel comfortable using the website and to approach the site without intimidation. Students often do not use the Carmen discussion tool and do not utilize the emails of classmates, since they may feel awkward or will not receive replies. This site allows students to behave less formally and to not be afraid to collaborate with students or ask for help when they need it.
Monday, January 20, 2014
As is analysis by Rhayssa Hinkle: OSU Carmen's Discussion Board
Although OSU Carmen's Discussion Board isn't a website, it is the closest service we found to our Student Board, a place where students can exchange information about their classes and homework. For that reason we found it was relevant to analyze Carmen's Discussion Board.
1. Visibility of system status
1. Visibility of system status
The Discussion Board is easy to find and pretty straightforward, right under the Activities menu. The mobile version is a lot more challenging. In order to even find Carmen you have to switch to the desktop version.
2. Match between system and real world
The language is simple and easy to understand. The messages can be sorted by "unread" and "read", as well as "shared".
3. User control and freedom
It is pretty clear how to go back and switch to another class to enter a different discussion board. All a student has to do is click on the class name on the top left hand corner to return to the class menu, or click on "Home" also on the top left hand corner to return to the Carmen menu and select a different class.
4. Consistency and standards
The Discussion Board is really simple and it doesn't have many commands. Although it is consistent, it very limited on what it offers.
5. Error prevention
Since it is very limited there isn't much room for error. A message pops up after you post a comment to let you know it was successfully posted. However, it does not let the student know when someone replies to the post. The student has to keep checking to see if there are any replies.
6. Recognition rather than recall
The Discussion Board doesn't have many function so it easy to remember where to go and what to do.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
The Discussion Board is very limited in its function so it doesn't tailor to unexperienced users any differently than to experienced ones.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
The design is very minimalistic. The background is white on gray. It looks like a paper page with two tabs on the top. It isn't very aesthetically pleasing. It looks really boring and plain.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
To access the Discussion Board the student needs to first log into Carmen. Carmen gives out an error message if a wrong user name or password has been typed. On the right side of the screen there is a list of questions students can click on that will help to reset the password in case it has been forgotten.
10. Help and documentation
The Discussion Board has a "Help" tab that informs the student of its purpose. It doesn't allow the student to ask questions or receive answers. It is not interactive and not helpful at all.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
As is analysis by Gina Torelli: MarketOSU
MarketOSU is a website only for OSU students that allows students to post books, sporting event tickets, and other event tickets that they would like to sell. Students can search for items that they wish to buy, and can then contact the seller.
1. Visibility of system status
The system status and navigation is pretty straightforward due to the simplicity of the site. The title of the page is on the top. It may be confusing to people that you can switch pages either by going back to the home page, or by using the drop down menu. On the mobile site, it is confusing which words are links and which are not.
2. Match between system and real world
The site uses terms that are easy to understand. The main pages are accessed by links titled "books", "basketball", "football", "events", and "watchlist".
3. User control and freedom
It was not clear to me at first how to return to the home screen from the page I was on, which made me feel that I didn't have control over the website at all times. Also, there is a "watchlist" feature, but I was unsure how to add items to the watchlist.
4. Consistency and standards
The site has separate links for "browsing" and "searching" which is confusing to me since most sites have both these functions on the same page. In fact, MarketOSU does have a search bar on the browse page, so I'm unsure why it is necessary to have an additional link to do this.
5. Error prevention
The site allows you to sign up to use the site, and then sends you a confirmation email for verification. This assures that you are signing up with the correct email.
6. Recognition rather than recall
The available actions are clearly visible on the home page. The site has a limited amount of functions, which lessens the amount of information to recall. Also, the functions have pictures along with words so it is easy to recognize where to go.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
The site has a limited amount of functions, so it doesn't cater to inexperienced users any differently than experienced users. There is a "watchlist" function that allows users to place items there and come back to them later, which may increase efficiency of use. There's also a mobile version of the site which is intuitive to use if you have previously used the site.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
The site does have a minimalist design. It has a plain white background and has a minimal amount of text. There are advertisements that are somewhat distracting. The design could probably be more aesthetically pleasing.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
An error message is given if the wrong username or password is used to sign in. However, it does not give any instruction on what you can do if you forget your password. Also, if you are selling a book and if you cannot find the book by searching it's ISBN, you can manually add the book.
10. Help and documentation
MarketOSU has a Frequently Asked Questions page that has answers to a few questions that users might have. It also has a page that lists contact information. However, there is no page that provides an extensive amount of help.
Research Plan
The mission of #help! is to help students be successful by providing an easy way to collaborate and exchange materials and information. Creating this website will support our mission by including an online textbook exchange that provides a convenient and cost-effective way to obtain materials. It will also support our mission by including discussion tools and a platform to interact with other students. We want the audience to feel connected to the OSU community and to be able to easily ask questions and exchange textbooks.
The target audience will be Ohio State Columbus campus students, especially those in large lectures which inhibit students from having one-on-one time with the professor. Also, all students can benefit from the textbook exchange.
The top 3 goals of our business/idea include:
1. Provide a secure platform where students can exchange textbooks and materials.
2. Provide a space where students from the same course can interact, collaborate, and form study groups.
3. Provide a place where students can find help by looking for available tutors and students can list themselves as tutors for certain classes.
We will use HTML, CSS, and Dreamweaver to design an intuitive layout that makes the site comfortable to use. Ideally, the programming behind the site would make it run smoothly and efficiently; we could use some sort of outside widget for the message boards.
We will keep the site updated to include the current classes at OSU by importing the class lists from Buckeyelink.
The top 3 goals of our business/idea include:
1. Provide a secure platform where students can exchange textbooks and materials.
2. Provide a space where students from the same course can interact, collaborate, and form study groups.
3. Provide a place where students can find help by looking for available tutors and students can list themselves as tutors for certain classes.
We will use HTML, CSS, and Dreamweaver to design an intuitive layout that makes the site comfortable to use. Ideally, the programming behind the site would make it run smoothly and efficiently; we could use some sort of outside widget for the message boards.
We will keep the site updated to include the current classes at OSU by importing the class lists from Buckeyelink.
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