Case Study 1: GetHelp!

Usability vs Aesthetics

The UI allows the user to access all the features the developer wants the user to access. However, I would not say it is the most aesthetically pleasing UI. Bang on the homepage a lot of different things jump out at you. The icons on the navigation bar are large and awkwardly placed at an angle at the top of the application. They jut out from the overall design and distract the user. The form and the “Who do you want to ask?” area are extremely large and make it look like these are also essential to take a look at before you “call for help!”. The form layout seems a little disorganized and I would have preferred a sleeker look. Also, SQL on the frontpage??? What is that doing there anyway? Ok for testing I guess but strictly no for production as it reveals unnecessary details, possibly even pose security problems.

My main problems are the large, unorganized icons and the variety of colors that jump off the page. Smaller icons and a sleeker look would be more preferred. This is one of the reasons to use a theming framework such as JQuery UI so as to have a uniform icon set. The “I need help with..” could be modeled more like Google’s homepage, plain and simple. Overall, the UI seems to be functional enough and can get things done, but it could get them done in a nicer way i.e a more aesthetically appealing UI.

Number of options / freedom given to user when posting a need

Ok, so I need to point out the oxymoron of the header bearing "need quick help?" while the user in expected to enter a lot more details. The name could probably be tell more on what you need or something along those lines. Otherwise, I guess all the necessary options are there. I feel that taking out the form for filling additional details and putting it under a different tabor atleast hiding it in a collapsible container would be a good idea to bring more focus to the first page

Cycle of interaction & incentives

The idea of awarding badges is really great. Eventhough users might tend to only visit this app when they need help, the gamification of this app done using the badges would lure in the crowd back to some extent. To further extend this, users could be given badges based on subject matters or categories so people would know you are a computer whiz or a physics god or so on... kind of like in yahoo answers.

Other comments

I think the major problem with such apps is to establish an initial userbase and user retention. Though the developers tried to tackle this with badges, the problem could be that facebook is more a leisure space and hence, users might not be too interested in such productivity apps. Lastly, UI can be done better. Minor stuff such as changing the icons and the layout of the form could do a lot for the app.