Links to both my instructions manuals can be found by following the link, here.
The novice guide approaches Excel spreadsheets as a new concept, for users who understand math and computers but are not experienced with Excel. The guide builds basic Excel skills by showing the user how to create three basic spreadsheets. The advanced guide, meanwhile, approaches Excel spreadsheets as a tool that the user is familiar with and uses often. This guide describes a handful of advanced formulas that offer functionality that can take a spreadsheet to the next level. Ideally, this guide would contain many, many more formulas, but time is an obvious constraint (more on that later).
My design has worked out pretty well so far. Using HTML has allowed me to create links and control how the user views my spreadsheet. Unfortunately, upon inspection this afternoon I discovered my manual doesn't work well at all in Internet Explorer. I will be troubleshooting this, but in the meantime if you are reviewing them, the instructions work great in Firefox. Resolution might also be an issue, though hopefully not a big one.
I have chosen to do a document mark-up usability test for the novice guide and a test that is similar to the read-and-locate style for the advanced test. If you decide to review my instructions, please post your responses and answers in comment form in this blog post.
One more comment: This project has turned out to be a lot more complex than I anticipated. Working with the HTML code has taken as much time as actually writing the instructions, if not more. On top of that, working with several spreadsheets has been challenging. Unfortunately, as you will see if you follow the link to my instructions, my guides are still under constructions. Don't worry; they are substantially complete and should be up by the start of next week. I'll write a note on the launch page saying the guides are complete when I finish getting them up. I hope you enjoy the instructions.
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Looking forward to it
Mike Sheridan
I'm all over this
I thought your instructions were good! I can tell it must of taking a long time to putting this in HTML. Great job! Can't wait to see the final product.
Note:only the budget part worked while i did the test
Novice Instructions
1.I would classified my skills in Excel as somewhere inbetween novice and expert . I have taking two classes that used Excel 2003 in classroom studies in addition to my individual experience. CS 110 dealt with more of the basic intro into Excel while STAT301T used more complex Excel skills to calculate statics problems.
2.In all honesty, I couldn't find exactly where you were too “basic” for the novice instruction. I thought everything was sound for your targeted audience.
3.I didn't think you left the user hanging at any steps of the instruction. The pictures where great support to the text provided.
4&5. I thought the guide flowed good for the most part I think the design of the green box threw me off a little in the process. I think you have the great idea of the green boxes to separate the steps of each task. I think maybe if you lower the opacity of the green it wouldn't be so bold to the user to take away from the text but still serving it's function.
Another suggestion would be maybe to change the font from Sans-Serif to Serif. While reading longer text the extra tail added to the Serif font helps the reader's eyes flow from one word to another.
Advanced Instructions
I thought the questions were difficult to answer. Although with my experience with Excel I have not used these some of these functions, except the SumIf.
1. SumIF Function
2. LookUP Function
3. Choose Function
Usability Test
TAN,
I am very impressed with your skill at creating HTML files. I can imagine you have worked extremely hard to create these documents and I hope my comments will help you make them just a little bit better.
My Excell Experience
After reading your instructions, I feel much worse about my Excell knowledge than before. I have used excell in several classes, but just for basic graphing and charting, so your expert instructions were over my head. I think I am somewhere in between your two audiences you are trying to target with your instructions.
Internet Explorer
I use internet explorer as my browser and was not able to read much of your novice file. I tried to get through enough to get an idea of what you did, but I really feel that this needs to be addressed. most people you are giving instructions to are PC users who only have internet explorer, and I'm sure you realize this makes things difficult. The expert directions are much closer to working within my browser, but the default window still makes you scroll right and left and you can't get to the bottom of the window to do that.
Novice Instructions
1. above
2. I read through half of the first section of your instructions and I thought they were very detailed but didn't make me feel like an idiot.
3. Unfortunetly I didn't make it all the way throught the page, but please shoot me an e-mail this week and I would love to look over it again.
4. I think I got a good idea of what you intended the document to look like and it should flow very nicely, but I couldn't see the final product all together.
5. The first link does not have a link back to the main page in your novice instructions
I also noticed that there is a type-o on the opening page (upper right hand corner, starts with a P)
Advanced Instructions
I actually found it quite difficult to look for the answers to your questions, I looked through the examples of ifblank and your second hyperlink but couldn't find definite answers.
Sorry I wasn't more helpful, but please send them to me again if they are formated for Explorer, or maybe your instructions should include a brief description on how to download Firefox.
Mike Sheridan