Review of Mockup5

Well after 2 weeks of mockups for Devcathlon, its time to look at what we got. The benefit of having three different versions is we can take what we like from each and fuse it into one.

To not forget any one page, I'll think I'll just quickly put my thoughts about some of the pages I come across and then summarize the site's overall issues toward the end.

The Home Page: (Command Central)

The user interface is similar to what there was in the first round of mockups. The first page you see when you login is the home page. The home page consist of a lot of the links to perform the basic actions as well as new events that prompt your attention. Actions include:

• My Profile
• Create a Match
• Accept/Decline Match
• My/Others' Pending Requests

I think this idea isn't a bad one depending on the official layout of "My Profile" page. Because the home page is the first page you'll see each time you login, users would more likely remember some of the content on the home page (assuming it won't be congested with text and other content). At the cost of one additional click to the home page, all major actions (CREATE, ACCEPT/DENY, etc) can be found in one "stored-in-the-back-of-your-mind" page. The page is simple and somewhat empty, which is good because we don't want anything to take attention away from new activities. It forces you to be aware of new events.

I mentioned that this would be good depending on the "My Profile" page layout. If the My Profile page is cleanly presented and doesn't have too much content to divert your attention away, then the home page can be done away with. Basically, if the content can be presented in a way where it doesn't get lost with everything else on a page, then it's a perfectly fine solution.

Filling out the Forms

The forms consist of mostly simple text-boxes and dropped down boxes which don't appear confusing. It's practically impossible to screw up the dropped-down boxes to become invalid field parameters. So I can understand why there are no explicit explanations on the page. The text boxes are slight concern I suppose. But almost all the text boxes are fields such as descriptions, which are completely variable for each object.

The only text box that may cause an error is the "Team(s) to invite" box, if a specified team does not exist. But frankly, users experience similar procedures when registering their HackyStat projects, or even when sending emails. If a team does not exist, then I assume the page will just return an error message specifying the problem.

There is one unique field so far, and that is the "File Path" for the self-report photo proof. I like the way it is now. Users are only allowed to specify the file by using the Web Browser's file dialog box thing-a-ma-jig, so no problems should arise. I would hate to allow users to manually type in the file path and getting an error. Is it "\" or is it "/"? Or is it ":" for Macs? Let the web browser (or OS) figure it out.

Achievements

This group was definitely creative with coming up with good programming related achievements. The use of cat icons was funny but I think adding in different themed icons would help spice things up even more. I didn't quite get the relation between some of them.

Overall Screen Spacing (White Space and content)

The current layout of most pages is good. The use of white space in between most items are well used so contents are easily readable. The only form I think could use a little more white space is the "Edit Profile" page. The type of information collected is fun and interesting. But it seemed packed tightly together one after another. White space will give users a little breathing room with their eyes.

The page is also the longest of all pages, requiring users to scroll down. Personally, I don't like my forms to be too long. I prefer forms that breaks up into smaller parts with intermediate save points. I hate having to refill input values, especially on long pages, if something went wrong. I think MySpace has a pretty good concept where profile information is broken up into tabbed categories.


Organization

Most of the pages follow the same consistent layout. They all follow a 3-color scheme: white, light blue and moderate dark blue color. When there are pictures, they are the same uniform size (with the exception of the "achievement" page) aligned neatly in what I assume is a table.

I think the achievement page feels a little different. The varying widths of the images makes the page looks unbalanced. The black stands out a little too much. It feels like the rest of the page subtlely ties together and then BAM! Black! Like an octopus squirted ink on the screen.

Strengths

1. Compare Achievements -- Cool concept which brings out the individual competitive side. I think it could use a row that shows the total achievement points at the bottom/top to compare.

2. My Matches -- I definitely like the simplicity of the My Matches page. I think too much detail on that page makes it hard to manuever through. If the user wanted details, then he/she could easily go to that page.

3. Match Details -- The Match Details page has the feel of an official sport box score. The competitors main scoreboard is at the top. Play-by-play at the bottom. The only thing missing is a box score where it shows who contributed to what.

Weaknesses

1. My Profile --- The layout has changed, where the tables are no longer in-line but instead on a new line per table. This is most likely accidental though and can be corrected.

2. Achievement Layout --- The usage of black on that page stands out too much. Different sized images makes it look uneven.

3. File a Self-Report Even --- This is really my initial problem from mockup2, but it hasn't been addressed. I think this action would be common and might as well be on the Home Page instead of the Team Page. In the form, the user can select which match he wants to request that point award with a drop down box.