At-Poke of Evolution

["Brette Luck" <bluck novell com>]

Hi.

As I said in my last email to this list, I am currently working on
usability testing of adaptive technologies.  For my first project, I
used At-Poke to try to accomplish three tasks in Evolution.  At-poke
is a tool developed at Novell by Michael Meeks. It can be used to
simulate AT use, so that developers can examine their application from
the perspective of a person using ATs.

The three tasks that I choose to test were:

1. Reply to an email
2. Create a new email
3. Create an Appointment, Meeting, or Reminder

Below are the reports that I created for each task.  Are the problems
I found the problems that most people are having with Evolution?  Are
these tasks representative of tasks that you use Evolution to
accomplish?  Could you help me to understand what your other common
Evolution tasks are?

Thanks for your feedback,
Brette

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Task 1: Reply to an email

The task of replying to an email can be broken into the following steps:

1. Find the email to which one wishes to reply
2. Open the email
3. Write a reply
4. Send the reply

Of these steps, there were major difficulties with 'Find the email to
which one wishes to reply' and 'Write a reply'.

One way a person can find an email is to search for it.
Unfortunately, At-poke cannot get to the search bar.  At-poke can get
to Advanced Search under Search in the drop-down menu.  However, after
a user types in a search and clicks Ok, the Advanced search window
closes with-out doing a search.

Another way to find an email is to visually see it in the email list
and click on it.  Using At-poke, the only way to scroll though
messages until one reaches the email to which she wants to reply is to
use the next and previous buttons.  This becomes cumbersome when the
email is low on the list because using the next and previous buttons
take several steps within At-poke.

Once the email is open, the user would, obviously, want to respond.
However, At-poke cannot get to the body of the message.  It can paste
into the email.  So, a user could write a reply in a different program
and copy it into the email.

Summary of Problems:
1. Cannot get to search bar
2. Advanced Search windows closes before showing search results
3. The only way to scroll through emails is using the next and
previous buttons, which is cumbersome.
4. Cannot type in the body of the email

Recommendations:
1. Make it possible for users to get to the search bar
2. Show the search results and allow the user to close the Advanced
Search Window
3. Create a to just use arrows to see the next and previous messages
would be helpful
4. Make it possible for users to type into the email message

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Task 2: Create a new email

The task of creating a new email can be broken into the following steps:

1. Open a new email composer
2. Add a recipient or recipients
3. Write an email
4. Send the email

Of these steps, there were difficulties with 'Open a new email
composer' and 'Write a email'.

The first way one may try to open an email composer is to use the New
button.  At-poke cannot access this button, possibly because it uses a
pull down menu. However, At-poke can create a new message using the
File menu.

The report 'Reply to an email' covers the problem with writing an email.

Summary of Problems:
1. Cannot get to the pull down menu under the New button

Recommendations:
1. Make it possible for users to get to the pull down menu under the New button

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Task 3: Create an Appointment, Meeting, or Reminder

Two methods exist for creating an Appointment, Meeting, or Reminder.
The first is using the New button.  Unfortunately, At-poke cannot
access this button, possibly because it uses a pull down menu.

The second method for creating an Appointment, Meeting, or Reminder is
clicking directly onto the calender.  At-Poke is unable to access the
calendar at all.

Finally, since At-poke cannot get to the Appointment, Meeting, or
Reminder windows, there is no way of know if these windows are
accessible.

Summary of Problems:
1. Cannot get to the pull down menu under the New button
2. Cannot interact with the graphical calendar
3. Have no way of know if the Appointment, Meeting, or Reminder
windows are accessible

Recommendations:
1. Make it possible for users to get to the pull down menu under the New button
2. Either create a way for individuals to interact with the graphical
calendar or have a non-graphical method of organizing the same
information.
3. Make sure the Appointment, Meeting, and Reminder windows are accessible

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