Week 9

Submitted by admin on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 12:15

By Monday, March 9, at midnight

  • Read Chapter 12—Revising and Editing for Usability in TCT (pages 336-37 omitted)
  • Read: Instructor Blog #6: Usability
  • Post (by midnight tonight): Reading Response (300 word) on Chapter 12 and Instructor Blog #6. Using the readings as your guide, describe what type of usability test you plan on employing and why it is the most appropriate one for your document. Describe in some detail the specifics of the usability test you will produce. Use this Reading Response to help you draft your usability test. Make sure to tag your blog post with the appropriate "Reading Response" week tag by selecting it from the "Reading Response" drop-down box when you submit your post.

    • By Wednesday, March 11, at midnight

    • Submit your five blog post comments.

    By Friday, March 13, at midnight

    • Post (by midnight tonight): Step Three: Rough Drafts and Usability Testing. To submit your instruction set drafts attach each as a separate .pdf file to a single blog post tagged with the appropriate "Rough Draft" tag. To receive full credit, you must attach your drafts as .pdf files and not .doc files. You should also attach your usability test (in whatever file format you deem appropriate), which should contain, in addition to the test itself, detailed instructions for taking the test. Also, in the body of the blog post itself, describe the instruction sets, the key (and concrete) distinctions between an expert and novice user, and how each set differs to account for each audience. Describe, as well, the basics of your usability test and how you wish to receive feedback (a completed survey email, a summary posted as a comment, etc.) Make sure to tag your blog post with the appropriate "Rough Draft" tag by selecting it from the "Instructions Project" drop-down box when you submit your post.
    • Usability testing should be completed by midnight Monday, March 23. (This means that you have Spring Break to complete it.) To ensure that everyone's instruction sets are reviewed at least twice, please post (on Friday) a placeholder comment indicating that you are doing usability testing on a student's instructions. Return and edit this post once you have completed the usability test.