iLearn Interface Design Critique

On Information Design

Who are the users? SFSU students and faculties
Information chunk (gestalt principle, amount information) Information is well-organized and chunked in proper size on iLearn web page. For example, class outlines are scheduled on a week base.
Relevance (graphics, content, reading level, text) There're rarely graphics on iLearn page, making it just clean and neat and serious as teaching and learning management website.
Labeling (visual with text) All the labels are dark brown bars with static white label names.
Consistency (visual, text) There's nice consistency in pages in iLearn (mostly because the lay out is easy). Static texts are in either white or black. Links are always in blue.
Detail (too much on one page or one screen): For the new users, it takes time to figure out every session on the page. The class outlines make the page really long and tire the users to scroll........long way.........down. Until later I find on the upper left corner, there's links to each week's class outline. There's another line of same links on the top of the class outline part. It's just not that obvious. And once you scroll down, there's no way you can jump to the top by just clicking links like Go To Top

On Interactivity

Orientation (Can you find the path, and know your way around?) Each potential path is on the home page.
Navigation (Branching) iLearn page is most closely belong to the the type of "Index Navigation". All potential selections are visible on the main page, like weekly outline, links to registered courses, assignments, forums, calendar, etc.
Functionality (Does it work?) Not very functional.. I'm expecting searching box (too much information).
Information access (Multiple entry and exit? Logical path?) Multiple ways to enter each week's class. Most useful information takes great space in the middle of the page. More important and frequently used links are organized on the left of the page. Less frequently used links on the right. It makes sense in that audiences pay first attention to the middle, and then read from left to right, up to down.
 
On Screen Design

Attractive (first impression) What's the point of being attractive as a LMS webpage for university studies? 
Color iLearn page interface is very clean and easy in color-brown, beige and white. I heard from a iLearn user council meeting that students think the color is kind of dull. The staff in Academic Technology department change the bars that centralize the weekly outline into green to light up the interface. I am thinking maybe the dark brown can be changed into purple? (typical SFSU color)
Lay out neat...neat...neat
Readability The font size is kind of small and no options for adjust the size...exhausting after some time of reading
 

The Flaw of Everyday Things

I enjoyed reading chapter one of The Psychology of Everyday Things. The examples are so real world and the embarrassing experiences of dealing with those things just happen in our lives. Take the faucets in my apartment for example. The image below shows the faucet in one of the two bathrooms.


It's very simple. I push the faucet backward and the water runs out.


However, what if I want to have hot water? I tried to push it to the left-it doesn't allow me to push. To the right-no allowance either! Just cold water running slowly... There's no handles with "H" and "C" on it like normal faucets. The visibility of the design is so bad!



I didn't figure out how to have hot water when I moved in the apartment last July. So, every time after using the toilet, I bother myself to walk away to the kitchen to wash my hand because I don't like cold water.

Just a couple of weeks ago, when I was cleaning the sink and faucet of the bathroom, it suddenly occurred to me that why not try to turn the faucet around-and it affords me to do that. What happened next is more interesting-A couple of seconds after I turned the faucet to the left, it gave me feedback with hot water! After I turned it to the right-cold water! Why didn't I think of that when I moved in last year in July?! The faucet does look like a knot, doesn't it? Though, the water flow is so small...It takes time to wet the whole hands. Therefore, I still prefer the faucet in the kitchen.

Simplicity is not always good. If the design does not have visible mapping to offer enough clue of the affordance of the article, feedback will not be given and you never know if it's the flaw of the design or the flaw of your mind.

Final Project Idea

The most impression remarks from the guest speaker last week is that "Whatever we do now is a project". That's so true！We design training project in corporation environment, we develop an instructional project for school class teaching, and we do assignments in the unit of project in whatever form: PowerPoint, Flash, Website, etc. Everything is project.

Now, it's the time to figure out the idea of my final project for ITEC 830.
I designed several multimedia projects that aim to offer advice to Chinese international students who will come to or just arrive in San Francisco how to adjust themselves to and enjoy the life in San Francisco. This semester in Flash class, I've been working on a project to give instructions on how to do house renting in San Francisco. Why not combine all the stuff onto a website? I'm a ITECian, but I haven't developed my personal website so far. I always feel shameful about that...It's the time. I will develop a portfolio style website to offer advice on how to kick off life in San Francisco and how to enjoy the wonderful life. Readers will read text and images, listen to audios, watch videos and play flash game. Students can also interact with me by emails to give feed back about the projects and ask questions. All the projects are based on my personal experiences.
This website is what I always want to do. It will be a lot of work~

The power of less

It was my first time joining a Web 2.0 Expo. Different from the software expo I joined a couple of years ago, I can understand and get inspired more in this Expo.
I like the theme of this year's Expo:"Power of less". I walked around in the expo hall and only spot several booths like those from Microsoft, Adobe, eBay, SocialText...Majority of them I have never heard about and they're marketing theriWith the booming of soft wares and applications, sometimes, I'm just overwhelmed and tired of keeping up pace with the current emergence and change. They grow faster than I can know them.
I heard great minds speaking in the keynotes talk. I was impressed by the question of "Gulf between Twitterers and Emailers"-"Those who just learned how to use the email to send and receive messages will probably find it hard to communicate with the younger generation who have adopted Twitter as the primary messaging method". This is just one of the dozens of examples that show the gap between web users.
I ask my friend to take a picture of me and the Web 2.0 Expo. Maybe next time, I'll see myself on an Web 3.0 Expo. Who knows?

The Double Blade Sword of Video Game

When video game is mentioned, the first image that shows up in my mind is the 3-D leisure web game where either kids or young adults play a role in a virtual world to attack, survive, construct, explore, etc. I am never a game person. In my whole life, I've only played video games for a couple of times, be seduced and challenged by friends. It was not until I saw those simulation flash games aiming to facilitate school teaching and learning that I realized games can also be serious rather than leisure. I was astonished by virtual games like Second Life when an instructor showed it in class prior to Pi-Day (March 14) last year. Then I was convinced that gaming can integrate instruction and fun in a good manner. Though, it's not necessarily means virtual games and simulation can take the place of real world practice such as community service. No matter how well the virtual games simulate the real-world scenario, it can not simulate the variability and adversity of the real world. I see good points in the serious video games that simulate the scenario unavailable to regular persons like the outer space or the microcosm, however I don't think it's should be encouraged to simulate a garden or a community where game players learn to cultivate or socialize.