Virtual Book Club
Info 608
Spring 2009
Group 5
Adam Lerman
Evan Freas
James Mallon
Kong Phang
Doug Traher
Executive Summary

Virtual Book Club (VBC)
◦ Designed for use with Internet Public Library
(IPL)
◦ Easily adapted to other online libraries
◦ Based on traditional book clubs, adapted for
the online experience
Executive Summary (cont.)

Features of the Virtual Book Club
◦ Reviews of books
◦ Discussion forums
◦ SubGroups
 Users are encouraged to form Special Interest
Groups (SIGs)
◦ Blogs
 User Blogs
 Author Blogs
 Professional Blogs
Executive Summary (cont.)

General Concepts of the VBC
◦ Adaptive
 Easily adapted to other media (i.e. video)
 Easily adapted to other formats (i.e traditional libraries
that maintain an online presence)
◦ Open
 Non moderated
 User maintained
 Free form
Executive Summary (cont.)

The prototyping project
◦ Conducted by the entire group
◦ Spanned the entire semester
◦ Made use of numerous volunteers

Elements
◦ Requirements Gathering
◦ Final Requirement & Requirement Evaluation
◦ Prototype development
Executive Summary (cont.)

Elements (cont.)
◦
◦
◦
◦
Heuristic evaluation
Cognitive Walkthrough
Usability Testing
Iterative Prototype improvement
Web 2.0 Application Introduction

Initial thoughts centered around our
physical library observations.
◦ Lots of traffic and activity
◦ All ages
◦ Books, magazines, periodicals, newspapers,
internet PC’s, wireless capability, multimedia
section, kid’s section, teen section
◦ Meeting place
Web 2.0 Initial Application
•
Initial Applications
– Virtual book/music/movie club
•
Initial Features
– Review forums
– Rating system
– Add and view various media sources
– Social networking site
– RSS feed for updates
– Targeted content for different age groups
– Individual user profile
Web 2.0 Final Application
•
Our Selection
– An online book club
•
Why an online Book Club?
– Natural extension of a physical library
– Easy integration into the IPL
– Extend the collaborative and social aspects of the IPL
– Platform could be extended to include a music and or
movie club
– Available to all age groups within the IPL
Requirements Gathering
•
Interview Demographics
– Male and Female
– Age range between 23 – 65
– Diverse occupations
•
Interview Results
– Interaction with physical library
– Usage and time spent at physical library
– Membership in social organizations
– Likes and dislikes of social organizations
Requirements Gathering (cont.)
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Internet usage
Digital library experience
Features of online book/music/movie club
Design of virtual club
Experience with popular websites and social
networking sites. Ex: Amazon, MySpace, etc
◦ Access interest levels with new technology.
Ex: Blackberry, iPhone, tablet, etc
Final Requirements & Evaluation
Functional
Requirements
Usability
Requirements
Performance
Requirements
Additional
Requirements
Support multiple
popular
customizable user
interfaces
The application shall
allow global reach
Support at least
5000 concurrent
user sessions at all
time.
Comprehensive
search function
Support full text
search capability
Support WYSIWYG
interface
The system shall be
scalable to support
unlimited
participants
User
recommendations
for books
First ten search
results shall return
with 5 seconds
Simplistic and
uninformed design
across all platforms
List of genres
Allow users to
organize activities
and invitations.
Application shall
have archived
section
Complete book list
Support private
messaging among
the users
Support sort and list
of most popular
titles
Chat feature
Final Requirements & Evaluation (cont.)
Functional
Requirements
Usability
Requirements
Performance
Requirements
Additional
Requirements
Allow all users to
monitor friends
Support information
sharing and
socialization
RSS feed for each
club
Support tracking on
all posts
Allow users to
reserve books online
Edit functions
Support handheld
devices such as the
iPhone, Blackberry,
Kindle or a tablet
Provide
recommendations
based on profiles
Ability to add media
Support a diverse
selection of titles
Support privacy
policy of the
organization
Link in side-menu bar
to the IPL homepage
Support user rating of Support discussion
products, and services forum with pluggable
look and feel
template
Final Requirements & Evaluation (cont.)
Functional
Requirements
Usability
Requirements
Support fixed chat
room hours
Support a moderator
to reduce clutter and
senseless comments
Support access to
membership roster
and schedule of
events
Allow users to post
content anonymously.
Support access to
group directory and
announcements
board
Allow user to
develop communities
and subgroups by
association or
interest
Support blog feature
by authors and active
users
Access to the
application shall be
free
Allow users to read
books online
Support all forms of
active content
Performance
Requirements
Additional
Requirements
Prototype Design

Usability Goals
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Utility
Learnable
Memorable
Safety
 Not taken into consideration for prototype
Design Principles
Visibility
 Feedback
 Constraints
 Consistency
 Affordances

Initial Prototype Demonstration
Initial Prototype Demonstration (cont.)
Heuristic Evaluation (HE)
Description
•
•
•
•
HE -Technique & Problems
HE - Sections Evaluated
HE – Results Statistics
HE – Results Analysis
HE – Technique & Problems
Visibility of system status
 Consistency and standards
 Aesthetic and minimalist design
 User control and freedom
 Error prevention
 Recognition rather than recall
 Flexibility and efficiency of use
 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from
errors
 Help and documentation
 Match between system and the real world

HE – Sections Evaluated
The IPL home page
 The KidSpace page




Math and Science
Computers and the Internet
The TeenSpace page


Homework Help
FAEQs (Frequently Asked Embarrassed Question)
HE – Result Statistics
Heuristic
Average Number of
Violations
1
Average Severity Rating
Consistency and standards
9
2.25
Aesthetic and minimalist
design
User control and freedom
6
2.5
3
2
Error prevention
2
3
Recognition rather than
recall
Flexibility and efficiency of
use
Help users recognize,
diagnose, and recover
from errors
Help and documentation
1
2
3
2.5
0
0
2
2
Match between system
and the real world
1
3
Visibility of system status
3
HE – Result Analysis
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Average Number of
Violations
Average Severity
Rating
Cognitive Walkthrough Description
•
Purpose - evaluate detailed list of tasks
– Simulates how a user would potentially utilize a
product
– Determines whether or not it is designed
properly for ease of problem-solving and learning
as intended
•
Steps:
– One - determine characteristics of potential
users (personas)
– Two - create a prototype that focuses on a set of
sample tasks to be performed and assessed
– Three - use a scenario to guide the tester
through the chosen tasks
Cognitive Walkthrough Tasks

Chosen Tasks – establish precise
sequence of steps to accomplish them
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Task 1: Read reviews of Grapes of Wrath
Task 2: Write a review of Grapes of Wrath
Task 3: Search for ‘American Literature’ club
Task 4: Join the book club and website
Task 5: Navigate back to the home page
Task 6: Sign in
Cognitive Walkthrough Tasks (cont.)

For each step of a task it is necessary to
answer a set of questions:
◦ Will the users try to achieve the right effect?
◦ Will users be able to easily identify what to
do to complete the task?
◦ Will users associate this action with the effect
to be achieved?
◦ If the correct action is carried out, will users
be given proper feedback to know this?
Cognitive Walkthrough Outcomes
•
•
No problems performing cognitive
walkthrough
It was determined that:
• Users would know what effect to achieve
• They would know an action is available and
the one that they choose was appropriate
• Users would know that they were
completing the task correctly
Usability Testing Description
Goal – assess whether or not a product may be
efficiently utilized as intended by a specific population
• Formal approach – uses a number of design testers
with no previous experience regarding the product
•
– Observes hands-on how they interact with it and the
problems they incur
•
Steps:
– One – initial background survey is given to participants
– Two – observe users carrying out specific set of tasks on a
prototype as instructed by the evaluator
– Three – reaction survey is presented to ascertain testers’
thoughts
•
Use think-aloud technique
Our Usability Test Demographics

Ten different users
◦ Seven female, three male
◦ Seven users in the 18-30 age range bracket,
one in 31-45 bracket, two in the 46-60 range
◦ Selected from diverse backgrounds and
occupations
Our Usability Test (cont.)

Process:
◦ Users were given background surveys
◦ Users were briefed on the prototype,
including its purpose and tasks to be carried
out
◦ Users performed tasks and were encouraged
to think out loud
 Evaluators dictated notes on their observations
◦ The session concluded with a reaction survey
 Assessed users’ thoughts about the prototype
User Testing Summary and Analysis
•
•
Generally, users could follow the scenarios
provided and choose the tasks as expected
A few problems were uncovered
– Terminology disagreement between one tester
and the designers
– Search bar was not fully functional and was not
anticipated to be used
– One user clicked on discussion board which was
not functional and did not lead to reviews (the
task at hand)
– One user could not readily find the links available
to read and write reviews
USABILITY TESTING DATA
Usability Testing Background Survey Information (Averages)
Traditional
Library
Experience
General Web
Experience
Social Site
Experience
Interest in
Social Sites
3.2
3.1
3
3.1
Likelihood of Likelihood of
Using Online Using Online
Library
Book Club
3.3
2.8
Usability Testing Reaction Survey Information (Averages)
Overall
Prototyp
e
Impressi
on
Ease of
Use
Usefulne
ss of
Features
Ease of
Navigati
on
Control
Placeme
nt
Appearance
6.6
7.7
6.9
7.3
6.9
6.4
Organiza
tion
How
well it
conform
ed to
expectati
ons
Likeliho
od of
Using
this
Prototyp
e
7.0
7.0
6.5
Iterated Prototype

Removed link for discussion board
◦ Board was not implemented, so no link was
necessary

Clarified ability to click book covers
◦ Some users were not aware covers were also
links to details page
◦ Added text directing users as such

Search bar enhancement
◦ Search bar can now be used to search for
book titles as well as individual book groups
Iterated Prototype (cont.)

See More Titles link
◦ Link was not implemented in 1.0
◦ Allows users to see all titles in alphabetized
list

Book-specific links
◦ i.e. Read/Write reviews, Reserve, Read online
◦ Moved to right sidebar
◦ Made larger

Minor Aesthetics
◦ Hyperlinks all colored blue and underlined
Summary

Semester Long Project

End Result, a workable prototype for a virtual
book club

Academic Results
◦ A working knowledge of many aspects of HCI




Requirements Gathering
Prototyping
Functionality Analysis
Usability Testing