Final Evaluation 

The aim of my brief was to create an online community for people wanting to buy or sell bikes. This was created in the form of a CMS web site where users can log in to post their ads. It also has additional sections where the user can view tutorial on how to fix their bike and discuss topics on the forum page.

From this project I feel I have gained a better understanding of UX design. At the beginning I felt like I was struggling to get the right layout for the site. Finally after looking at other websites and reading up on user experience I realised what was needed on the site. The main purpose of the site is to buy or sell a bike so this section has been made as easy as possible to get to.

I found learning how to use Joomla a big learning curve. I had never designed a CMS site before making this a real challenge. I feel like I have achieved everything I set out with this project. There are just a few things which I would like to improve for the future. I wanted the bike search menu to have the option to search by post code and distance. Because of my limitations to code php I could not get this to work. To improve the site it would be really good to work along site with a coder who could make the site function how I would like.

When I watched other examples of tutorial videos on the Internet, I found a lot of them to be poor quality. I decided I was going to film my tutorials in HD with a tripod to give it a better quality feel. I filmed multiple angles to make sure it was clear what I was doing in the video. If done again I would like to have someone else film me because it was a slow process having to film myself. I have used royalty free music but the only problem with this is it could get repetitive. In the future I would like to allow users to submit their own music to me which I could then edit into my tutorials.

I have divided the forum into categories to help make it as easy as possible for users to use. I found from looking at others forums they tend to look messy with to much text every where. I have used images along side with each category to make it as clear as possible.

Overall I have found learning UX design and creating a Joomla CMS site to be the most useful. This is a skill which will look good on my portfolio and help me with a future career in design. I will continue to develop the website with the aim that the public will start using it. My one concern is if people go on the site with no content then they will quickly click off it again. I need to find a way to populate the site with enough content to get it started.

User testing

My dad

Site looks great.  Have tried all facilities and found the following:-

1 - On e-mail form 
you are missing a field for name. Its says last name, first name with just one box. (looks odd)
2 - 
When I send the contact form there is no response to say thank you or we will get back to you etc. 
(needs it for the feel good factor that the form has gone somewhere).

3 - When I registered on the 
site I got the e-mail back OK. But the e-mail says the following but only gives the username, and 
not the password. Good idea not to give the password as well but you need to take that bit of the 
script off the e-mail response:- (using the following username and the password you)

After 
activation you may login to http://pubbike.co.uk/using the following username and the password you 
entered during registration:

Username: jp

4 - Repair your bike section - Add AS before clear

We 
try to keep the tutorials AS clear as possible and are always adding more footage for you to watch.


Also, 'Our Forum Page' needs moving to be under other writing:-

If you have any requests for 
additional tutorials, feel free to post a topic on .........


5 - How to tighten your bottom 
bracket video title reads 'bot-tom' Take out the extra line in 'bottom'

6  - About page:- we deal 
with all types of bike. (add an S to bike).

7 - About page:- Sell your bike (Funny looking 
questioon mark after the word used?) Same for next 2 sections as well.


8 - About page:- Forum 
text is different to the rest.

Carly 

had issues with creating an account and logging in to the site. I had to change a few settings so that her account could become active. after she varified the email the activation code was keeping her as a guest rather than a registered user. the issue is now sorted.

I gave carly tasks to find things on the site. she managed pretty well with finding most things.

There was difficulty when it came to selecting a aviator for her profile picture. there is a radio button next to the image. the first response would be to press the radio button but it is actually there to show the image is selected. the user has to click on the image to select it. I should change this so the images has a highlighted edge to it when selected. 

Progress of my design from start to end

I have had to change the search box because of my limitations with code. i have created the search navigation to the best of my ability using the joomla plugins. The one thing it is missing is the ability to search on distance. this is something I will look into for the future to improve the sites usability. 

Clear Left UsabilityTalk

Speaker- Ben

·        Don’t make people click on stuff

·        Don’t make people think

·        Inventing all principle, you never know what might be the next big thing

·        Treat users fairly

·        Clear left focus on good design (front end only), they leave the heavy backend stuff to other companies to finish off.

·        Empathy map – see, think & feel, hear, say & do

·        Spend time on paper prototypes. This saves time and money in the long run

·        Silver back software very handy to film user tests as evidence for usability issues (windows equivalent is BB Flashback)

·        Responsive website – works on all devices so no need to create different versions for different size screens

·        Clients often think of features – boil it down to simplify to user experience

·        Information architecture

·        Find out what the best story apps are

·        Make everything your best work

·        Don’t be afraid to spend money

·        http://alpha.gov.uk/

·        Fitt’s law was used to help improve usability on a MacBook

User testing

·        8 people user test can solve a problem – try and mix up the age groups

·        Always do user tests, approach people in cafes, post adverts for volunteers or just ask friends and family.

·        Flow charts

·        Wire frames

·        Usability testing

·        Doesn’t like focus groups bigger than 1 on 1

·        Plan the user test - make a list of tasks for the user to try and find on the website (try not no hint words that might give away the navigation process)

·        Give them a leading question

·        Observe each other doing user tests

Recommended People

·        Christopher Nolan – Inception (architecture design)

·        Jared spool

·        Jacob nelson

Recommended Books

·        Steve Krug – Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

·        Patterns of Software: Tales from the Software Community

·        101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

·        design with intent

·        the design of everyday things

·        undercover user experience design

·        universal principles of design

Ice Breaker Game

·        Chat Pack

                                                                                                    

Original Wire frames

Fonts

Univers std 

I tried using this type face to begin with but it didn't look strong enough, especially on the logo. I needed to get a bolder font.

Futura

I like the feel of the futura type face. I has a bolder look to it making it perfect for my logo to make the words stand out

Royalty free music

I have used the site incompetech to get royalty free music from to use in my tutorial videos.

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Soundtrack&page=1

I would like to eventually have users from the site submit their own music to me so they can get it heard by others whilst watching my tutorials. 

List of uk cities

I needed to find a list of the uk cities for filling out my websites database. I found this list on the website - http://www.gbet.com/AtoZ_cities/ .

I have kept the list as it is apart from London. Because London is so big, I have decided to divide it up into areas. I have chosen to use London central, north, east, south and west.

Writing the script for the bike tutorial

Looking at bike tutorials 

these 2 tutorials from evans are very clear. Rather than fimling the person fixing the bike they show what is being done to the bike. this makes it very clear of whats going on








The quality of this video is poor. he does a good job of explaining though




This video is not very clear. He rushed through it far to quick making it hard for a beginer to follow. the qulity of the filming is also poor. it could use some close up shots.





This tutorial is very clear explaing the process. they could do with some wider shots of the whole bike so the viewer can see the tools they are using more clearly

Terms and conditions

I have used a terms and conditions generator to get me started. I can then adjust the once I have fully worked out how the site will be used.

http://www.madsubmitter.com/terms-conditions-generator/

Looking at privacy policys

I have used a privacy policy generator to get me started. I can then adjust the once I have fully worked out how the site will be used.

http://www.seotoaster.com/e-commerce-privacy-terms-conditions-policy-free-template-generator.html

Looking at other logos to help perfect mine

after developing my logo, I found it still need some work doing to it. after looking at some other designs I realised I the text needed to go inside the logo. this would make it look like one whole logo rather than having 2 bits to it.