AMS Rentsline Website Redesign

EECE 418
AMS Rentsline
Website Redesign
Pass 1
Dynagroup
Noreen Kamal – 68915941
Samuel Reh – 58136060
Tatsuya Sageishi - 72848062
Table of Contents
Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 3
SECTION 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Initial User Inquiry ............................................................................................................................... 5
Task Examples ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Task Validation .................................................................................................................................. 10
List of Requirements .......................................................................................................................... 10
Absolutely Must Include ................................................................................................................ 11
Should Include ............................................................................................................................... 11
Could Include................................................................................................................................. 11
Exclude .......................................................................................................................................... 12
SECTION 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 13
Design Alternatives............................................................................................................................ 13
SECTION 3 ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Low-Fidelity Prototype....................................................................................................................... 16
Walkthrough ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Heuristic Evaluation (Done by Group 1 Team KYKD) ........................................................................... 26
User Evaluation ................................................................................................................................. 33
Summary of Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 33
SECTION 4 ............................................................................................................................................. 35
Resource Management...................................................................................................................... 35
References ............................................................................................................................................ 37
~2~
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Age distribution of Questionnaire Respondents (n=8) ............................................................... 5
Figure 2: Likert Scale Distribution of Use of Internet for Searching Rental Accommodations .................... 6
Figure 3: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Type of Accommodations ......................................... 6
Figure 4: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Price of Rental Accommodations .............................. 6
Figure 5: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Distance to UBC of the rental accommodations ........ 7
Figure 6: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Seeing Pictures of Rental Accommodations .............. 7
Figure 7: First Sketch ............................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 8: Second Sketch ......................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 9: Homepage of Redesigned AMS Rents Line website with 2 bedroom and 3+bedroom selected 17
Figure 10: More Options Filter Selected from Homepage with a Property Pin Clicked ............................ 18
Figure 11: List View based on current filter criteria ................................................................................ 19
Figure 12: Details Page .......................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 13: Heuristic Evaluation page 1 ................................................................................................... 26
Figure 14: Heuristic Evaluation page 2 ................................................................................................... 27
Figure 15: Heuristic Evaluation page 3 ................................................................................................... 28
Figure 16: Heuristic Evaluation page 4 ................................................................................................... 29
Figure 17: Heuristic Evaluation page 5 ................................................................................................... 30
Figure 18: Heuristic Evaluation page 6 ................................................................................................... 31
Figure 19: Heuristic Evaluation page 7 ................................................................................................... 32
~3~
SECTION 1
Introduction
UBC students need to find affordable rental accommodations in close proximity to the university.
Additionally, commuting is difficult for those students with family in suburban locations since
UBC has limited housing on campus and it is located at the western edge of Vancouver. The
need to find rental accommodations that meet individual criteria is paramount. Currently, UBC’s
elected student society provides a rental housing website (Amsrentsline.com) to assist students in
finding housing that meets their needs; however, this website is cumbersome to use as pages
need to be reloaded when different search criteria is selected. Additionally, the map view is lost
when any search criteria is entered making the use of the website difficult. A redesigned rental
website will provide users the ability to quickly find available accommodations that meet their
individual needs. Our redesign will focus only on the student side of the website, and we will
not redesign the area to list or post a property for rent.
The intended users for this system are UBC students, as the site is developed by the Alma Mater
Society of UBC Vancouver (AMS). The AMS is an elected student society, and it aims to
“improve the quality of the educational, social, and personal lives of the students of UBC” [1].
Students are a unique set of users for many reasons including: they are often in need of housing
for less than one year (or short-term housing) because often return to their hometowns during the
summer months; they have limited budget; and they are willing to share accommodations. This
user group is also young and adept with using on-line interactive websites; however, UBC
students are diverse with students from various backgrounds, so the website needs to be usable
even for those people that are not comfortable with the internet. It should also be noted that this
website is not secure or limited in use to UBC students, and the extended user group is anyone
looking of for rental accommodations.
The system needs to be on-line so that it is easily accessible. Additionally, the redesign needs to
ensure the system is fast and dynamic, or specifically, it needs to be responsive to the actions
such as filtering. Ideally, this would be achieved without reloading web pages. The system
needs to be simple and easy to learn to use, as users require using its full functionality without
using instruction or help documentation; the system's learn ability needs to be designed for
novice users and the system need to be a "walk up and use" type. The system also needs to be
pleasant to use in order to ensure that the users continue to use the system and recommend the
website to their friends.
We propose to redesign the UBC AMS housing website, www.amsrentline.com. This redesign
will be constrained to the web user interface, and it will utilize dynamic AJAX controls
[2]. UBC students’ expectations is that websites utilize the latest market trends in web
technologies; for example, the redesign needs to ensure that the interaction of the website
employs interactions similar to those used by Google Maps [3], which provides users with a
highly interactive map, where users can click on a location on a map to obtain additional
information.
~4~
Initial User Inquiry
In order to best understand the needs of the UBC students and other potential users seeking rental
housing, an initial user study was conducted to better understand the tasks and needs of this user
group. This user inquiry was doing using a questionnaire and interview process.
A questionnaire survey was conducted to learn about student needs when seeking rental
housing. The questionnaire questions, consent form, calculated data and completed
questionnaires can be found in Appendix A. Eight (n=8) respondents completed the
questionnaire, where 50% were male and 50% were female; 37.5% were between 20 and 22
years old, 12.5% were between 23 – 26 years old, 25% were between 27-30 years old and 25%
were over 30 years old. 62.5% UBC students. Figures 1 shows the age distribution of the
respondents.
Figure 1: Age distribution of Questionnaire Respondents (n=8)
All of the questionnaire respondents had looked for rental accommodations. The questionnaire
also asked the respondents several inquiries based on a Likert Scale that varied from strongly
disagree to strongly agree. The results showed that 62.5% strongly agreed to using the internet
to find rental accommodation with the balance agreeing to this state; this is shown in figure 2.
The questionnaire results also showed that the type of accommodation and the price of the
accommodation were of key importance, as is shown in figures 3 and 4. However, only 62.5%
of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the distance to UBC is important; however, this
is mostly because 62.5% of the respondents were UBC students (figure 5). Finally, figure 6
shows that all respondents agreed or strongly agreed that seeing pictures of the the rental
accommodations is important.
~5~
Figure 2: Likert Scale Distribution of Use of Internet for Searching Rental Accommodations
Figure 3: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Type of Accommodations
Figure 4: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Price of Rental Accommodations
~6~
Figure 5: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Distance to UBC of the rental accommodations
Figure 6: Likert Scale Distribution of Importance of Seeing Pictures of Rental Accommodations
The questionnaire also contained one open-ended question that asked respondents to explain any
other important factors when seeking rental accommodations. Many of the respondent said that
it was important to know the access to public transportation, proximity to grocery and other
shopping, and availability of parking, as well as the size of the suite. One of the respondents said
the system should provide the following:
"The location of the rental should be clearly displayed in [the] link and the site should allow a
filter for location, price and number of bedrooms."
Interviews were also conducted with 3 interviewees (n=3) in an effort to triangulate the findings
from the paper questionnaire, and to obtain some rich data to accurately develop the tasks for
seeking rental accommodations. Appendix B shows the interview questions, signed consent
forms from the interviewees, and coded interview results are shown in Appendix B. The
interviews confirmed that the price, the type of accommodation (e.g. 1-bedroom) and the
neighborhood are very important, but also the ability to see pictures of the suite and proximity to
~7~
public transportation. The interviews also revealed that the ability to filter based on their
requirements is very important. A couple of interviewee felt that accurate filtering as is shown
by the following quotes:
"Better filtering by neighborhood, as often there is incorrect filtering of neighborhood and
properties that don't even apply to that neighborhood come up."
"Yeah, I would like a feature where you can enter certain criteria and filter based on them, so
you can really narrow it down."
Another interviewee felt that the most important features in finding rental accommodations were
as follows:
"maps, sortability, searchability, filtering, pictures, specific features of a house."
Task Examples
Based on the finding from the questionnaire and interviews, a list of tasks was generated. The
following lists these tasks:
1. Jenna is a 1st year business student, who is coming to study at UBC from her hometown
in Kamloops, BC. She needs to find a small studio or 1 bedroom apartment from
September to April, and then she will return to Kamloops for the summer. Based on her
savings from the summer months of working at the pulp mill, she can pay as much as
$500/month; however, she wants to be within 5 km from UBC and close to amenities
such as a grocery store and a Royal Bank. She needs to have access to shared laundry
facilities. She starts to search for housing and uses a few different websites. If the
website allows her to enter her criteria, she filters the results as much as possible: 8month term, $500 or less, studio or 1-bedroom, 5 km from UBC, close to amenities and
shared laundry. She appreciates those advertisements that have pictures and details about
the apartment or suite. She writes down the contact number and addresses for the places
that sound promising. She starts to call the landlords or building managers to determine
the information that was missing in the postings. Once she has a list of those apartments
or suites that meet her criteria, she makes appointments to see them.
Discussion: This task contains common activities that are carried out by undergraduate students
that are seeking rental accommodations. This group of students is unique as they often need
short-term accommodations and they are constrained by budget.
2. Michael is a Masters level graduate student specializing in English. He has just been
accepted at UBC, and he will be moving to Vancouver from Seattle with his two cats. He
wants to find a rental suite that allows cats, and a place that will enable his cats to roam
outside. He hopes to be able to study from his apartment as much as possible, so access
to the internet is very important to him. Ideally, he would like a studio basement suite,
and the proximity to UBC is not very important. He will be working as a TA and also
bartending on the weekends, which will allow him to have a budget of $750/month. He
uses a popular website to seek out rental accommodations, and he goes through each
~8~
posting to determine which one meets his criteria. This is time consuming, but he
perseveres through it, and he e-mails to himself those posting that meet his criteria. Later
he goes through his e-mails and contacts each landlord or manager to determine further
details about the accommodations and makes appointments with those that meet his
criteria.
Discussion: This task shows the activities that are carried out by a foreign graduate student, who
has an income but is not familiar with the local neighborhoods and the amenities. As a more
mature student he has additional responsibilities, which in this case is his two cats. However,
this can also be a family with children as well.
3. Frankie is a 3rd year science student, who lived on campus for the first two years of her
studies. She now wants to have her own place just outside campus, so that she can have
more freedom in getting groceries and cooking her own meals, visiting restaurants and
pubs, and accessing other amenities that Vancouver has to offer. She does not own a car,
so it is important to be close to a grocery store and public transportation. She would also
like to be no more than 10 km from UBC. She is willing to have roommates if there is
enough space for her to have a study space and TV in her room. She does not have any
furniture, but she is willing to buy a bed and desk if necessary. She would like to spend
no more than $650/month including utilities. She looks on-line for rental
accommodations and she also scours notice boards for people looking for
roommates. During her search, she will initially look at neighborhood to ensure the
correct proximity to UBC and proximity to amenities as well as transportation. She then
further filters the list by price as well as other benefits such as shared laundry facilities
and furnished suites. Once she has a short-list of potential properties, she will call the
property manager, owner or roommate, and ask more questions that were not answered
on the listing such as condition of the suite and size of the room. She may then have a
few properties that she will decide to look at. She keeps track of all this information
using a notepad.
Discussion: This task shows the needs of a more senior undergraduate student, who is looking
for some freedom from dormitory life. This student has very precise requirements for the
accommodation that she wishes to live in, and she goes through a system of note-taking to track
the rental accommodations that she is interested in.
4. Jonas is a young professional, who is currently living in Kelowna. He has just got a job
as a program assistant for the Mining Engineering program at UBC. He needs to find
some accommodations near UBC in a bit of a hurry as he starts work in 2 weeks. He is
not too picky about the type of accommodation, but he wants a place of his own that is no
more than 10 km from UBC, as he hopes to bike to work when it is not raining. He
would prefer to have in-suite laundry and easy access to parking (street parking is okay,
as long as parking is readily available). His price limit is $800/month. He starts his
search using the internet using a few different websites. If a listing looks promising, he
e-mails the listing to himself. He will draft an e-mail and copy its content if there is no
function to e-mail the listing. Later he will scour his e-mail and call the property
managers of each listing to see if he can set-up a time to view the property.
~9~
Discussion: This task is unique as it shows the process for someone, who is not a student but
rather a new employee at UBC. He needs are a bit different, as he is in need of parking, which
can also be required by students. He also is greatly limited by time, as he needs to find a place
and move into it as soon as possible so that he can start his job at UBC.
5. Jennifer is a student that is returning to full-time studies after taking a couple of years off
to work and reduce her debt burden. She has completed 2 full years of her pre-medicine
courses and approximately 15 credits of her 3rd year. She no longer wishes to live with
her parents as she did previously, as she found the commute from Delta to UBC to be too
long, and it negatively impacted her studies. She has enough funds to pay around $400
per month for shared accommodations. Since she is accustom to commuting from Delta,
she is willing to be as far as 15 km from UBC; however, she would like to be close to
express bus service to UBC such as the 99 B-Line, 480, 43, 84, or 44 bus lines. She
would also like to be close to grocery shopping amenities. She starts her search for rental
accommodations using various websites based on her requirements. The type of
roommates that she is willing to share accommodations with become increasingly
important, as many of the people that are seeking roommate are on income assistance,
and she would prefer to share with people who are also students and have the same
schedule as her. She is an early riser and she prefers to go to bed early. She is not too
particular about cleanliness, but she prefers a structured sharing of cleaning duties. She
needs to inquire these roommate preferences over the phone, as most of the ads to not
have any indication about the people that she will be sharing with She calls
approximately 25 places. She also meets with a number of people (around 10) that sound
like they match her needs for a roommate.
Discussion: This task shows a user who has very specific needs around public transportations
and proximity to amenities. She also has very specific needs in the roommates that she is willing
to live with. Based on these requirements she needs to speak with and visit many people in order
to better understand if the roommates meet her needs.
Task Validation
Three users were asked to read these tasks and provide feedback. They said that at least 1 of the
tasks resonates closely with them and their tasks when they are seeking rental
accommodations. They agree that price, neighborhood, proximity to transportation, proximity to
UBC, and proximity to grocery are among their top needs. These have come through in the task
descriptions. However, they said that pictures play an important role when seeking rental
accommodations and they did not find that explicitly mentioned in the tasks above, but the
mention of condition of the suite is often reflected with the pictures.
List of Requirements
Based on the inquiry with the users using the questionnaire and interview, and based on the task
validation the following list of requirements has been grouped into the following: absolutely
must include, should include, could include, exclude. Following each requirement is a short
discussion on how we categorized that requirement.
~ 10 ~
Absolutely Must Include





Live filters. Being able to filter results without reloading the entire page is very
beneficial when trying to narrow results quickly. People need to be able to efficiently and
quickly narrow their results to find a rental accommodation that fits their criteria.
Map view. Location is very important to people. By having a map view we allow our
users to easily view the exact location of all of the listings. This feature is essential to the
usability of the application.
Filter by price. From our results show in figure 4, we determined another major concern
of users is the price of listed properties. Being able to filter by price allows users to easily
find properties for rent in their exact price range.
Filter by type. In each task example, the user is looking for a different type of
accommodation. From figure 3, it is apparent that the type of accommodation is very
important to users, therefore this feature is absolutely necessary to include.
Mark listing as favorite. One feature that each subject we interviewed seemed to have a
need for is the ability to keep track of listings they are interested. It is often that a user
will find a property that fits their criteria, but want to follow up on the ad later. Generally,
a web user can take advantage of their browser's bookmark feature, but this feature
doesn't allow one to bookmark on a map, so it is an absolute requirement that our site
includes a way to favorite specific listings directly from the map.
Should Include





List view. We believe most people will be browsing ads using the map view because
location seems to be very important to most people, however sometime a list view is
necessary for sorting results by some other metric.
Filter by neighborhood. Although filtering by a specific neighborhood was very
important to one of the subjects we interviewed, we believe that the map view is
sufficient for visually selecting properties in a specific neighborhood. We do not believe
filtering by specific neighborhoods should be included, but is not an absolute must.
Reset the filter. The reset button is an important feature for all interface designs. It
allows the user to easily cancel their filter and start fresh. It should be included, however
if not, the interface is still very usable.
View pictures from map. From our surveys, we learned that viewing pictures of rental
properties is extremely important to users. Being able to view the pictures directly from
the map should be included, but isn't completely necessary because it pictures are
viewable from the listings detail page.
Filter by pet allowance. The questionnaire results for the ability to filter by pet
allowance are very spread across the spectrum. Many people could care less about this
feature; however it is quite essential to pet owners. Because this feature is so important to
the pet owning renters, we should include it.
Could Include

Alerts by email. The "Alert by email" button will allow users to enter their email and get
notifications if a new property fitting their search criteria pops up. Although, we think
this feature will be very useful to users, because none of our interview subjects
mentioned the need for this, we are not sure if people will take advantage of it. We
~ 11 ~


believe the lack of this feature will not severely detract from the overall usefulness of the
application.
Max distance from UBC filter. From our questionnaire results, we see that distance to
UBC is important to some people (less than we originally thought though), however users
can visually filter the distance to UBC by just looking at the map. Having this filter is not
a top priority.
View contact info from map. If the user is considering a property enough to call the
poster, they will most likely click the link to see more details before calling, and the
contact info is on the details page, so this feature doesn't seem necessary to us.
Exclude


Advanced filtering options. We will not change the current advanced filtering
option. This currently includes that ability to filter by property features such as: hydro
included, carpet, utilities included, dishwasher, stove, fridge, view, balcony, and 20 other
similar features.
Listing a property. We will not look at and change the existing functionality to list a
property, as this is out of the scope of the project and this group of users were excluded
the the proposal and the formative study of the project.
~ 12 ~
SECTION 2
Design Alternatives
The following figures show sketches of two different design alternatives. The first sketch shows
filter options, where the user enters the price into a text box. This sketch also show several dropdowns, where the user selects the distance from UBC, neighborhood, and age of posting. The
user can also use check boxes to select options such as furnished and pet allowance. The
available rental accommodations are shown on a map with different pins for different
accommodation types (e.g. 1-bedroom vs. shared). The sketch shows a reset button to reset the
filter options that have been selected. The map also contains a list button to view the available
accommodations as a list. The user can click on any pin on the map to obtain additional details,
which is shown as a bubble with address, pictures and contact information. The second sketch is
similar to the first sketch except that the filter options are shown using sliders. The price range
has a min/max slider. The maximum distance to UBC and age of posting is shown as a one way
sliders.
These two design options are radically different in the filter options, which has been identified in
the initial user inquiry (questionnaires and interviews) and task analysis as being of key
importance. The advantage to the first option is that the user has control over the entry of the
price and they can see all the options in the drop down selections. The downside to this is that
the filter area becomes cluttered and is visually overwhelming to look at. The second option is
much cleaner and the user can quickly select the price range, distance to UBC and age of posting
by using the sliders. The downside of this design is that the sliders do not allow the user to have
precision when selecting a price range.
~ 13 ~
Figure 7: First Sketch
~ 14 ~
Figure 8: Second Sketch
~ 15 ~
SECTION 3
Low-Fidelity Prototype
A low fidelity prototype was developed based on the preliminary user inquiry, task development,
requirements and design alternatives. The low fidelity prototype was developed using Adobe
Photoshop and the key pages will be shown with the interaction described in text.
The main home page for the website will be a map-based view of the available rental
accommodations. This is shown in figure 9. This first page shows the following features of the
landing page of the webpage:



A map of Vancouver is displayed with a default of 18 km from UBC shown on the map
Coloured pins are displayed on the maps where rental accommodations are available
o
The colour of the pin depicts the type of accommodation; for example, a blue
pin means that it is a studio apartment
o
By clicking on any colour of pin in the top legend, the system will filter for
that selection
o
If a pin is chosen, the colour of the text changes to blue to provide feedback
to the user
o
Any number of pins can be selected; for example, this page is showing only
2 bedroom and 3+ bedrooms
o
To unselect a chosen pin, the user can click on it again
The user can select More Options to filter by more than the type of rental
accommodations (Page 2)
~ 16 ~
Figure 9: Homepage of Redesigned AMS Rents Line website with 2 bedroom and 3+bedroom selected
When the user clicks on More Options, additional filter options are displayed. This is shown in
figure 10. The user can get back to figure 9 by clicking on Less Options. The filter options that
are available are as follows:
 By selecting More Options, additional filter options opens below the pin legend
and above the map, and More Options selection changes to Less Options which
will close this box and go back to looking the same as Page 1.
 The user can filter the available accommodations by the price. The price range
can be adjusted by a range slider, and feedback of the selected price range is
shown to the left of the slider in blue text
 The user can filter the available accommodations by their distance to UBC. The
maximum distance to UBC can be selected by a slider, and feedback of the
selected distance is shown to the left of the slider in blue text
 The age of the posting can also be filtered with a slider. Once again the feedback
of the selected age of the posting is shown to the left of the slider in blue text
 The user can also filter by neighbourhoods using a drop-down menu, which will
display neighbourhoods such as Point Grey, Kitsilano, Dunbar, Kerrisdale,
Downtown, Marpole, West End etc.
~ 17 ~







The user can also select pets check box if they need to find rental
accommodations that allow these pets
The user can reset the filter options by clicking on the Reset button
When a user clicks on a pin, a bubble containing all available information on the
rental property appears. This information includes the price, address, pictures and
contact information, and by clicking on the blue text the user will go to the
Details page
The bubble also has the option for the user to select add to favourite
The user can also filter by favourites by selecting the check box
The user can close the property bubble by selecting the x in the top right of the
bubble
By clicking on the List button on the map, the user can switch from map view to
list view (Page 3)
Figure 10: More Options Filter Selected from Homepage with a Property Pin Clicked
~ 18 ~
The user can click the List button on the top right of the map to view the listing as a list
view. This is shown in figure 11. The main interactions on this page include the following:




The list view shows all the same properties that were on the map view, but as a list
The filter options in Page 2 remain in place (same functionality)
The user can sort the list view by price, distance to UBC, or age of posting
The user can select the Map View button to get back to the map view
Figure 11: List View based on current filter criteria
By clicking on any property in the list and map view, a details page for each listing is
displayed. The details page is show in figure 12. The key aspect of the details page is as follows:
 This page displays more details about the selected accommodation
 The user can click on Print this Page button to obtain a printout of this page
 The user can click on Rental Alerts by e-mail button to obtain e-mail alerts for new
listings
~ 19 ~


Additional functionality such as book marking is also available on this page
The user can go back to the listings (list view) by click Back to Listings button
Figure 12: Details Page
~ 20 ~
Walkthrough
A cognitive walkthrough was conducted on this low-fidelity prototype for all the major tasks that
were identified. The cognitive walkthrough was based on 4 main questions:
1. Will the action be evident to the user?
2. Will users connect the correct action with their goal?
3. Will users interpret the system's response to the chosen action correctly?
4. Will users' mental models be affected?
The following table shows the cognitive walkthrough for this design.
Will users
Will users
interpret the
Will the
Will users'
connect the system's
action be
mental
Task/Step
correct
response to
evident to
models be
action with the chosen
the user?
affected?
their goal?
action
correctly?
Comments/
Actions
- perhaps not
the blue text
- perhaps not
is not
- Once the
as it is not
obvious,
Filter listings by
action is
apparent that
difficult to
type of
known it will
the legend
see and hard
accommodations
be connected
key is also a
to correlate to
to the goal
filter
what filters
have been
chosen
- better
feedback and
a more
obvious
understanding
of what to do
will allow
users to
develop an
accurate
mental model
- the key
legend needs
to be updated
to make it
more obvious
that they can
be selected
- the blue text
needs to be
changed to a
better color
- the user
needs to
select more
options,
which may
not be
Filter listings by obvious that
price
price is
located here
- the user
may click
property
search in the
top menu
- users'
mental model
will be
changed
when they
first select
more/less
options as
they will see
the filter
options that
are available.
- the model
will also be
developed
when they
use the sliders
and see the
- the system
can default to
have more
options
displayed and
the user can
select less
options if they
don't want this
screen
- the blue text
colour should
be changed to
a colour that is
easier to see.
-the feedback
- when they of the min
do find the
and max price
slider in the selected using
two sided
the sliders is
slider is fairly displayed to
simple to use the left of the
as it uses a
slider, which
control that is easy to
most users
understand,
have learned but the blue
early in their text is
life
difficult to
read
~ 21 ~
Task/Step
Will the
action be
evident to
the user?
Will users
connect the
correct
action with
their goal?
Will users
interpret the
system's
response to
the chosen
action
correctly?
Will users'
mental
models be
affected?
Comments/
Actions
dynamic
filtering of
the properties
shown on the
map
- the dropdown menu
is easy to use
as most users
-the user will have seen
need to select this before
and use it
more
Filter listings by
options; once often on
neighborhood
again this
various
may not be
websites
obvious
-a user may
wish to select
more than 1
target
neighborhood
- once a
neighborhood
is selected the
dropdown
will display
the selected
neighborhood
but the map
does not have
corresponding
feedback
- The users'
mental model
will not be
significantly
impacted by
this feature
other than an
understanding
the a
neighborhood
filter exists.
- one thing
that may
effect the user
mental model
is an
understanding
of how the
neighborhood
filter is
working: 1)
by a list
selection that
the landlord
filled in, or 2)
by location
calculation
done by the
system
- a user needs
View pictures of to click on a
a property
pin on the
map
- the
information
bubble that
pops up is
- the mental
model will be
modified the
first time a
- the only
option in the
map view is
to click on a
~ 22 ~
- consider
having the
more options
as the default
with the ability
to allow the
user to select
less options
- provide
feedback on
the map of the
selected
neighborhood
boundaries
- consider
having a
method to
select more
neighborhoods.
- can provide
instruction on
the map to
encourage
Task/Step
Will the
action be
evident to
the user?
- or get to the
details page
from the
bubble link
on map or
clicking on a
property in
the list view
Will users
connect the
correct
action with
their goal?
pin, but some
users may not
understand
this and miss
this crucial
step
Will users
interpret the
system's
response to
the chosen
action
correctly?
easily
understood
and the
pictures are
shown on it;
the link on
the top of the
bubble is
obviously a
link to the
details page
Comments/
Actions
user clicks on users to click
a pin, but
on the pin
they will
understand
this option
afterwards.
- add bus
routes and
possibly key
bus stops on
the map
- can also
consider
adding in other
points of
interest such as
grocery stores
- the
prototype has
not means to
Filter listings by filter by
proximity to
proximity to
public
public
transportation
transport.
Users would
need to know
bus routes
Filter property
by proximity to
UBC
Will users'
mental
models be
affected?
- the one way
slider is
simple to use
- user may
want a two
- the user will
way slider
see this after
but it is
clicking on
unlikely that
more options
they wish to
have
minimum
distance to
UBC
-the feedback
of the max
distance to
UBC selected
using the
slider is
displayed to
the left of the
slider, which
is easy to
understand,
but the blue
text is
difficult to
read
~ 23 ~
- the users
mental model
of how to use
the slider and
how sensitive
- change the
it is based on
colour of the
the feedback
feedback text
provided will
develop the
users mental
model of this
feature
Task/Step
Will the
action be
evident to
the user?
Will users
connect the
correct
action with
their goal?
Will users
interpret the
system's
response to
the chosen
action
correctly?
-the feedback
of the age of
the posting
- the one way that
slider is
is selected
simple to use using the
- the user will
and most
slider is
Filter property see this after
users have
displayed to
based on the age clicking
seen this
the left of the
of the posting
on more
control
slider, which
options
before and
is easy to
understand
understand,
its use
but the blue
text is
difficult to
read
View details of
the property
- the user
needs to click
on the pin
and then
click on the
blue link in
the bubble
that appears,
which is
obvious once
the user
knows to
click on the
pin.
-in the list
view the user
can simply
click on the
property
View contact
information to
follow-up on
-the user can - This action
-yes, it is
view contact will be
evident
details in the evident once
- the
underlined
blue text that
appears in the
bubble is
easy to
understand as
a link and
most likely
will be
interpreted to
the correct
action
-moving to
the detail
page is
probably
what the user
wants to do,
but it is not
obvious on
how to return
to the map
view
~ 24 ~
Will users'
mental
models be
affected?
Comments/
Actions
- the users
mental model
of how to use
the slider and
how sensitive
- change the
it is based on
colour of the
the feedback
feedback text
provided will
develop the
users mental
model of this
feature
- the user will
develop their
mental model
of how the
system
functions and
how to get to
the details
page
- have a back
to listings
button at the
top of the page
as well as the
bottom,
perhaps
allowing the
user to return
to map and list
view
- the mental
model will
not be
- instruction to
encourage
users to click
Task/Step
posting
Keep track of
properties of
interest
Will the
action be
evident to
the user?
Will users
connect the
correct
action with
their goal?
Will users
interpret the
system's
response to
the chosen
action
correctly?
property
a pin is
bubble on the clicked
map, the list
view and the
details page
- the favorites
checkbox on
the filter is
difficult to
understand if
users have
not add any
properties to
their favorites
- there is no
add to
favorites in
the list view
Will users'
mental
models be
affected?
affected
greatly by
this
- the user
may not
connect the
action of
adding to
favorites to
their goal of
keeping track
of properties
and then
viewing only
their favorite
properties for
that browsing
session
Comments/
Actions
on a pin.
- gray out the
favorites
checkbox
unless
- the user
properties have
may have a
been "added to
confused
favorites"
mental model
-add an alert
- once a user of the
modal box to
clicked on
favorites
tell the user the
add to
function as
property has
favorites
they will not
been added to
there is not
understand if
the favorites
indication
the system
for this
that the
will
browsing
property has remember
session and
been added or this after they
they can click
what occures return to the
the favorites
website on
check box to
another day
view only
(using
favorites
cookies)
- add the
favorites
functionality to
the list view
~ 25 ~
Heuristic Evaluation (Done by Group 1 Team KYKD)
Figure 13: Heuristic Evaluation page 1
~ 26 ~
Figure 14: Heuristic Evaluation page 2
~ 27 ~
Figure 15: Heuristic Evaluation page 3
~ 28 ~
Figure 16: Heuristic Evaluation page 4
~ 29 ~
Figure 17: Heuristic Evaluation page 5
~ 30 ~
Figure 18: Heuristic Evaluation page 6
~ 31 ~
Figure 19: Heuristic Evaluation page 7
~ 32 ~
User Evaluation
An informal evaluation of the prototype that was previously described was conducted with two
users, who are currently seeking rental accommodations. They felt that the map feature, where a
bubble pops up with additional information about the property was very helpful. The pictures
that appeared in the bubbles were especially appreciated. They also liked being able to go
between the map view and list view, as this is something that they would use frequently for
various reasons; the map view to get a visual representation of the location of the listing and the
list view to be able to sort the listings. Another feature that they liked was the key legend and its
location at the top.
There are also several areas that could be improved. One user felt that the map view should also
contain information such as bus stop or route locations and also where grocery stores are
located. They felt that the neighborhoods filter was a bit abstract, and it could be made less
ambiguous by shading the area of the selected neighborhood or showing the boundaries. This
also shows that it is important for our system to ensure that the neighborhood for any property is
determined by its address rather than allowing the landlord to select the neighborhood, as often
we see landlords that put their property in a more desirable area than it is actually found. One of
the users felt that proximity to public transportation, parking availability and proximity to
shopping should be included in the filter options ahead of pets. Finally, the alert by e-mail
button was found to be confusing. One user wondered what properties they would be alerted of,
and this user would rather be able to simply e-mail selected properties to themselves or to a
friend. They felt that perhaps the e-mail alerts button was better understood in the filter box
rather than the details page, where they would want to simply e-mail the details of that property
to a particular e-mail address.
Summary of Discussion
Based on the analysis (walk through and the heuristic evaluation), There are several changes that
will need to be made to the design before moving on to the medium fidelity prototype. First, it is
evident that a key change that will need to be made is to the top menu. The menu remained
unchanged from the original website, but this has created confusion in the menu labeled Property
Search as the entire site now has a property search function. There are two options that we have:
1) we can remove this menu item called Property Search entirely or 2) we can rename it
Advanced Search. The latter option of renaming the item to Advanced Search may be the
preferred option as we can then allow the user to be able to filter even further with options such
as additional property features such as amenities, flooring type, parking availability etc. This is
consistent with our finding from our initial user inquiry, which showed that users want the ability
to filter based on diverse criteria.
There are also some changes that need to be made the favorites functionality, the property type
key legend and filtering by neighborhood. We also need to provide the ability to add to favorites
in the list view, as currently this is only available in the map view, which creates some
inconsistency. The property type legend with the coloured pins needs to be updated, so that it is
clear that they are also filters. This can be done by making them look like buttons that are
depressed when selected; it can also be done with a check box beside the coloured pin; or, as
suggested in the heuristic evaluation, the pin labels can be made to resemble links by underlining
~ 33 ~
and having them in blue text, and changing the colour to purple if they are selected. Additionally,
we may also want to consider allowing users to select more than one neighborhood, and viewing
the selected neighborhood boundaries on the map to add to the feedback and understanding of
how neighborhoods are defined.
There are also some cosmetic changes that need to be made. The blue colour that is used for text
that provides feedback on the price range, max distance to UBC and age of posting needs to be
changed to a colour that is easier to read. We should consider adding instructions on the map to
encourage users to click on the pins on the map to obtain additional information.
The user evaluation also revealed many changes that need to be made. The map can include
important information such as bus stop routes and stops, and location of grocery stores. We need
to have a button that will e-mail listing button on the details page rather than an e-mail alert
button to increase the ability to understand what this means. We can also consider showing the
selected neighborhood(s) on the map by graying out the neighborhoods that do not apply, or
highlighting the neighborhoods that do apply. This will provide clear distinction of the
neighborhood boundaries. We should also consider changing the filter options: 1) remove the
pets checkbox; 2) add parking availability; 3) add proximity to public transportation slider; and 4)
add furnished checkbox.
~ 34 ~
SECTION 4
Resource Management
The resources and associated cost for the the development of proposal, the low-fidelity prototype
and the analysis/evaluation of the prototype is shown in the table below:
TASK
Resource
Cost/Expenditure
Comments
Proposal Problem
Definition
Noreen Kamal
10 hours*$50 = $500
Includes time for consolidation
and team meetings
Proposal Analysis
Tatsuya Sageishi
10 hours*$50 = $500
Includes time for consolidation
and team meetings
10 hours*$50 = $500
Includes time for consolidation
and team meetings
15 hours*$50 = $750
Includes time for development of
questionnaire, interview questions
and consolidation of consent
forms
Pass 1: User
completion of
All
questionnaires
and interview
15hours*$50 = $750
Entire team had people complete
the questionnaire and interview
and entered the data into the
spreadsheet
Pass 1:
Development Noreen Kamal
of tasks
5 hours*$50 = $250
Pass 1:
Samuel Reh
Requirements
10 hours*50 = $500
Proposal Suggested
Samuel Reh
Improvements
Pass 1: Initial
Noreen Kamal
User Inquiry
Pass 1:
Design
Alternatives
All
10 hours*$50 = $500
As part of working team sessions
alternative design sketches were
developed
Pass 1: Low
Fi Prototype
Samuel Reh
5 hours*$50 = $250
The prototype was developed by
Sam with input from the rest of
the team
Pass 1:
Cognitive
walkthrough
Noreen Kamal
2 hours*$50 = $100
Pass 1:
Heuristic
evaluation
All
10 hours*$50 = $500
~ 35 ~
This includes the time for team
meetings attended by all team
members
Pass 1: User
evaluation
Noreen Kamal
2 hours*$50 = $100
Pass 1:
Quality
Tatsuya Sageishi
control and
proof-reading
10 hours*$50 = $500
TOTAL
$5700
Ensuring all elements are met
according to requirements and
proof reading the document
The project budgetary numbers along with resource allocation for pass 2 are given in the table
below.
TASK
Resource
Cost/Expenditure
Comments
Pass 2:
develop mid
Samuel Reh
fi prototype
using J Query
Sam will be the lead for the
30 hours*$50 = $1500 development of the medium
fidelity prototype
Pass 2: Assist
with J Query Tatsuya Sageishi
Code
20 hours*$50 = $1000
Tats will provide assistance to
Sam as required
Pass 2: XML
Noreen Kamal &
document
Tatsuya Sageishi
preparation
20 hours*$50 = $1000
Entry of data into semi-structure
XML files for use in J-Query
Pass 2:
Design User
evaluation
study
10 hours*$50 = $500
Noreen Kamal
Pass 2: Carryout user
ALL
evaluation
12 hours*$50 = $600
Pass 2:
Evaluate
outcome of
evaluation
study
Noreen Kamal
10 hours*$50 = $500
Pass 2:
Develop
Presentation
Samuel Reh &
Tatsuya
5 hours*$50 = $250
Pass 3: put
together
report
All
12 hours*$50 = $600
TOTAL
$5950
~ 36 ~
References
1. AMS Student Society of UBC Vancouver. Retrieved January 26, 2010,
from http://www2.ams.ubc.ca/index.php/ams/subpage/category/about_the_ams.
2. AJAX (programming). (2010). Retrieved January 26, 2010,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming).
3. Google Maps. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from http://maps.google.ca
~ 37 ~