Dog Dating App

Project 7: Heuristic Evaluation & Prototype Revision #1

Aekta Shah, Yulia Zileeva, Sean Holahan, Mallory Loomis, Jeremy Stern

Problems that were found & Some comments by us

Black = from reports; Blue = us; Bold Blue = changes

Map-Mode Related
1.

T
hemapiscompletelystatic.WhilemostappsimplementtheGoogleMapsAPIwhichallowsforan
interactivemapexperience,ourprototypeusedastaticimagethatcouldnotbedraggedorprovide
directions.Thisisamajorissue.
However,wechosenottoaddressitinourrevisionsincetheamount

oftimerequiredtoactuallyimplementtheMapsAPIwoulddetractfromimprovingotheraspectsof
ourapp,andisnotreasonablywithinthescopeofthisproject.
2.

Nothingpopsupwhentheparkiconisclickedinmapmode,whileothericons(suchasthepawprints
thatrepresentotherDDAuser)provideadditionalinformationwhenclickedon.Thisisaminorissue.

Wecreatedamodelforeachparkiconthatisavailablewhenclicked.
3.

Themaplegendissomewhatconfusingforsomeusers.Theblackpawprintisdifficulttoseeonthe
grayappbackground,anddependingonthesizingofthewindowthelegenddoesntlookascleanasit
could.Thisisacosmeticissue.

4.

WheninMapMode,thenavigationbarhighlightsFeedMode(denotingthatitisthecurrent/activepage)
whichisincorrectandcouldbeconfusingforauser.Thisisamajorissue.

5.

Thereisntanoptionfortheusertooptintohavingtheirlocationsharedwithintheapp,whichisa
criticalfeaturetohaveforprivacypurposes.Thisisamajorissue.

6.

Digitalmapstendtocenterontheuserslocationbydefault,whereasthisapphasyourlocationsetoff
somewhereonthebottomedgeofthescreen.Thisisaminorissue.

7. WheninMapMode,clickingWelcomeDaninthetopleftsendstheusertoaversionoftheFeedMode
thatisformattedincorrectly.Thisisamajorissue.
8.

WhensendinganinvitetoanotherDDAuserfromMapMode,thewhitetextissomewhatdifficulttoread
onthecyanbackground.Thisisacosmeticissue.
Weaddressedthisbymakingthetextblacksoitis

morevisibleandconsistentwithothertextcolor.
Cosmetic
Changes:
3

Addressedbymakingadecisiontochangebackgroundoftheapptowhite,thatwayall

iconsandlabelsarevisibleonthescreen.

4
Addressedbymakingmapmodeinthenavigationbaractivewhentheuserclicksonit.

7
Thiswasabug,itshouldntbealinksoIjustmadeitasimplelabelanditdoesntredirect
anywhere

Feed-Mode Related
1.

Itispossibletocreateevents,posts,andadvicequestionsthatdonothavetextinthem.Thisisaminor
issue.
Weaddressedthisbymakingallfieldsrequiredwhenfillingoutforms.

2.

Addingacomment
takesyoutoadifferentpagethatisconfusingformanyusers.Thisisamajorissue.

Wedecidedtoremovethisfeaturesinceforthepurposesofaprototype,itdoesntaddatonof
functionality.Comments/shares/likescanbeaddedlaterasasocialengagementfeature.
3.

ThefactthatWhen,Where,andPostedbyareunderlinedmakemeexpectthemtobe
hyperlinks.Ialsoexpectthisbecauseinotherappsthatkindofinformationisclickableandleadsmeto
acalendar,map,orausersprofile.

4.

Suggestiontopinapostsoitdoesntdisappear.Thisisaminorissue.
Wechosenottoaddressit,

sinceitwouldrequireeitheradatabaseorcookieswhichisbeyondthescopeofthisproject.
5.

Suggestiontocreateaninboxfeatureformessagingfriends.Thisisaminorissue.
Wedecidednotto

implementitsinceitisanadvancedfeaturethatcanbeconsideredforthefinalversion.
6.

Inabilitytodeleteorediteventsaftercreation.Thisisamajorissue.
Weaddedfunctionalityfordeletion,

andwillconsideraddingtheabilitytoeditinthefinalversion.

Minor
Commentthesewouldrequiretousedatabaseorcookieswhichisoverthescopeofthis
project.

Create Event Related

1.

WhenfillingintextfieldsintheCreateNewEventpopupwindow,youcouldenableautocomplete,and
allowtheusertopressentertofillinthetextfieldwithapreviouslyenteredvalue.
Minor

Change

Disabledautocomplete
2.

ThecalendariconoverlayswiththetitleoftheeventpostcreatedinTask#1.Cosmetic

Messaging Other Dog Owners

1.

WhenfillingintextfieldsintheCreateNewEventpopupwindow,youcouldenableautocomplete,and
allowtheusertopressentertofillinthetextfieldwithapreviouslyenteredvalue.

2.

Comment:Findingfriendsisonlyavailableinmapmode.
Userscannotgetintouchwithother

usersbyothermeans.Afriendslistwouldbenicetohave.
Heuristic:Flexibilityandefficiencyof
use.Severity:High
Commentfromusfriendslistwasntinthescopeofthisapp.Thereisno

privacyfeatureasofrightnow,thoughitisanimportanttofeaturetohaveifthisappwas
live.
3.

Comment:Onceamessageissent,thereisnowaytokeeptrackofit.Itwillbenicetohavesomething
likeaninboxfunctiontohelpuserkeeptrackwiththesentmessage.Heuristic:Visibilityofsystem
status,Flexibilityandefficiencyofuse.Severity:High

4.

WhenmeetingupwithsomeforadogplaydateIwanttoknowwhoIsentittoincaseI
forgetwhoiammeetingandwhere.Currentlythereisnoinformationaboutthat.
Major
Still
decidingifthiswillbeinourscopeforthefinalversion.

Other - Misc.

1. Ausermaybeuncomfortablewithmeetinganotheruserfromtheappwithonlyknowing
oneortwosentencesabouttheotheruser.
Clickingonauser'spicturecouldbring
upacoupleofotherquickstats(age,gender,dogname,typeofdog,userand
doghobbies,favoriteparks,etc).
Severity:Minor
2. NavBarColorSchemeS
everity:MinorHeuristics:Design/Visibility.T
he
navbar
selectedpageisabithardtosee
sincetheselectedcolorisblack,andthenavbar
backgroundisanearblack.Inaddition,theappbackgroundisalsonearblack,soit
makesitalittlehardtodistinguishimportantthingsinthenavbar.
CosmeticChange
sincewechangeappbackgroundcolortowhiteitmadeiteasiertoreadand
distinguishimportantthings.
3. SearchingtheFeed
Severity:MinorHeuristics:Efficiency
Beingableto
search
throughthefeed
foraparticularpostwouldgreatlyimproveefficiencysincealotoffeed
postsmayhavebeenaftertheonetheusermaywanttosee.
Commentsearchfeature
maybeconsideredasanadditionalfeatureforthefinalrevision.
4. AftersendinganinvitationtoSteveninTask#3,Ibrieflysawanotificationthatconfirmed
thatIsenttheinvitationbutalmostdidnotfinishreadingit.Thiscouldbechangedintoa
popupwindow,andtheusershouldpressanXbuttonorOKbuttontoclosethe
windowoncehe/shehasfinishedreadingthenotification.M
inorChangeIncreased
timeforthemessagetostayonthescreen.Wedecidedthathavinganotherpopup
modalisunnecessarystepfortheuser.
5. ThefirsttasksaystomaketheeventpublicforallmyDDAfriends.Ifoundnoway
todothis
andnoindicationofwhowouldbeabletoseetheevent.Thisisa
catastrophicproblemthatgoesagainstthevisibilityofsystemstatusheuristic
Major
Changethisistheissueinourtasksweremovedprivacyfunctionalityfromthe
app,butdidntremoveitfromthetask.
6.
Iconstantlytriedtoclickontheeventsandpostsonthefeedinordertoseemore
aboutit,
sinceImusedtodoingthisinotherapps.
minor

Commentmightbeanew
feature?butnotreallynecessarysincethereisnotmuchinformationinorderforittobe
displayedinadifferentpopup/modal/window

OurProcess
Toconclude,whatwedidwascompileallofthenegativecommentsonthisdocumentandgo
througheachonetodecidewhattodoaboutit.Manyofthechangesrequestedwereoutofour
scopetoimplement,howevermanyofthecosmeticandminorchangedwerehelpful.