These instruction sets are for using Steam. For a novice user, someone is someone that may have never played a computer game, or is unfamiliar with computers in general, it provides a step by step instruction of how to install the software and installing and playing your first game.*
For the expert user, which is someone that has experience with Steam and is already familiar with its basic functions, the instructions expand on some of the more advanced options to improve the users experience while using Steam and customize it to fit his or her needs.
The usability test included has a separate test for each instruction set. Please leave your feedback in a comment attached to this blog post.
*For users testing the novice instructions they may skip the last steps that involve actually purchasing and installing a game. They may stop after installing steam, and setting up their user account if they wish.
Steam Usability
I'll test it.
-Chris
Steam Usability
I like how you used a simple one step for each slide. It made it easy to know when the step was over and when the new one began. Some of your slides appear to use a larger font than other slides. That’s a simple fix though. I think it would look better if you made sure that the “Step 1” and “Step 2” ect. appears at the same place on each slide. They seem to hop around as you click through your slides.
For your expert user you should include slide numbers. You have an index at the beginning to make finding common things easier but I couldn’t tell what slide I was on. With those simple fixes I think you have an easy to use instruction set.
-Chris
Steam Novice Usability Testing - Complete
In step 3, I think the idea of using an asterisk for the connection speed is appropriate. However, I would type the bubble like this:
DSL > 768 k
CABLE/T1 > 2M
The way you have it now seems to wordy for simple instructions.
Another idea for the instructions, which I used in mine is to bold the words in the instructions that are action words like Click, Select, Type, etc. This way they can know that they are supposed to be performing an action.
I would also recommend putting quotes around what they should be clicking like in step 5, for example, Click “Create New Account”.
The text size change in step 7, which makes the instructions seem less professional, which was pointed out in the reading.
Your screenshots are very appropriate for each step but they came out kind of blurry. Not sure how to tell you to fix this, since mine did the exact same thing. But, on a better note, the circling of the items you are talking about seems really effective and something I will be taking into consideration when finalizing my rough draft.
All in all, these instructions seem very straight forward and easy to understand. You picked a good color contrast with the light green background, forest green heading font, and black regular font. The slides aren’t too busy and don’t contain too much information.
I think some re-wording of some of the steps I mentioned above will make them that much more effective.
Good Job!