Unpack the attached zip and run the Expense Reports Scenario.htm. It is a clickable scenario. I will use this for a couple of usability tests with end users but I am also really interested in your thoughts while running it.

Normally I ask users to speak out loud while performing a task but that won´t work remotely (and your colleagues / wife / house mates will look funny at you) so it´s better to write down your thoughts while running the scenario and post them here.

Running them more than once can be interesting too, to see if there is a learning curve.

Post Edited by rgoris at 23/05/2009 23:07: I have added a second scenario (remittances). For this scenario I have taken along your input and modified the ribbon toolbar grouping. Now Process and Edit items are together (like they were a while ago) and Tools was added.

Post Edited by rgoris at 26/05/2009 09:21: Added a third scenario (Expenses II) scenario that focuses more on form interactions.

Hello.

First thing: Great work!!

I haven't finished going through the scenarios yet but here are my thoughts so far:

Suggestion: Number the steps. It will make things easier for those discussing your
 great work. Otherwise we have to say things like "After duplicating the "Other Expenses" line ..."

After duplicating the "Other Expenses" line can't I change the Product by typing
Hotel Expenses?
And as I type the combo lines will be filtered...
Or at least jump to the first product that start with "H".

=========
When opening the two selected ecords in tabs it could (I'm not sure) be a good to
make the new tabs blink for a while just to draw the user attention to those tabs.
Of course, someone that knows the system won't need this...

2.I don't know what Hans Himmelfahrt tab is! I would see "Expenses X Expenses X Expenses X".
Although if I think about it for a few seconds I can infer that the sort order is being respected...
Ideally we would be see something like "Expenses Hans..X Expenses Kath...X".
 

Jorge C.

Thanks Jorge for the suggestions and comments. I have numbered the slides now so it´s easier to refer to them. (1) I think it should be possible to type rather than using the dropdown only (2) Yes, you are right: we should show an identifier on the tabs, in this case names (Hans or Katka). (3) UI selector: Yes, double clicking makes sense, although as an extra as I am not a fan of double clicking in web based apps.

 Strange, not working for me on OS X (either Safari or FF).  When I click on "Go to the expense report grid", a small dialog comes up that says "Not Quite"  I tried to adjust Flash settings, but still not working.   Likely my issue, since others are able to use.  Any suggestions?

John, you caught me here: I have sinned and produced a terribly unusable first slide. After your remark, I realized that it is very easy to think that you actually have to click on the "Go to the expense report grid" text where in fact I expect the users to take this as a literal task (so: Now go to the expense report grid). You need to find the right spot on the page to click so you can proceed to the next slide.

I have added an introductory slide now to the proto to make things clearer. In case you can´t find the right spot to click, you can always click the Forward button in the Flash movie player control bar at the bottom.

 Rob, no prob.  Sorry I was being a bit dumb I guess at first.  Tonight I get the idea and have gone through every screen in detail, attached is my feedback.  Instead of typing the feedback in the forum, I did as a separate attachment with the screen print I am commenting on each case, since I figured that is more usable for you.  :)

John, thanks a lot - this is really great feedback. It is good to see that many of your comments are also findings from the usability tests I did in the last week, so we see some common denominators*. We need to discuss everything in more detail but for now, have a look at the second scenario (added to first post). For this scenario I have taken along your input and modified the ribbon toolbar grouping. Now Process and Edit items are together (like they were a while ago) and Tools was added.

* let me already share some preliminary findings (very draft)

• Ribbon toolbar menus are mistaken for being buttons
  
• Grid Splitter can be useful for Sales Invoices. Sometimes she wants to flick through all the orders to look for a product she vaguely remembers.
  
• Duplicate is good but why not allow multiply so you do it 50 times at once.
  
• Locking is good but I need to know who is locking the record (to call him) and someone should be able to unlock it (superuser). Also automatic unlock can be handy.
  
• In case of many tabs: Close all tabs button
  
• Alerts per record visible in the grid with an alert icon, color or so. You should be able to filter on them.
  
• Columns with numbers: use same formatting with same number of decimals and right align.
  
• The Lines tab bar at the bottom was easily overlooked.
  
• "Duplicate on tabs" button is confusing. Do we need it? If you do this from the grid, it will also duplicate on the grid, doesn´t it?
  
• Currently you can´t see when an expense is locked (e.g. with Berdin when it is already processed). It is good to see this.
  
• Where did "rebillable" in the expense lines go?
  
• Label the tabs with identifiable names (such as "Expenses - Hans")
  
• User click on header row to return to the header grid.
  
• Process button for umbrella: beware! Some (exotic) pages have different processes for headers and lines
  
• New On Tab is confusing. You can just do New In Grid and click the pen icon to edit on tab.
  
• Why do New In Grid when the grid is empty. Just click on the first empty row in the grid is much easier.
  
• Set a value as default for a field
  
• Make tabs blink when they are freshly opened
  
• Pencil button takes me to the details, edit or lines?
  
• Number of lines () on the lines tab
  
• Confusion between duplicate in grid and duplicate on tab. Why not use Copy?
  
• Would like some visibility on which rows are ready to be processed and which are not—shouldn’t this be a filtering criteria (so I can multi-select and “mass process”)?
  
• Also, as a first-time user I would like some guidance re: what it means to process a expense report (top of screen, when a “process-able” row is selected).
  
• Go back to grid not immediately obvious. In drill down metaphor this will be back or up.
  
• Confusion about the ribbon toolbar being a tab and that the document below is part of this tab. User thought that it was odd that an "unprocessed" document is on the "processed" tab.
  
• Checks need to be put separately when selecting rows in grid. Why not automatically?
  
• Switching tabs in ribbon menu from process to delete is confusing. User does not understand the fine difference between the to types of actions.
  
• When adding multiple new rows in a grid, the user would expect to be able to enter values column per column, without having to follow the horizontal tab order.
  
• Not clear when changes are committed to the database while editing in the grid
  

 Rob, I did a quick pass through the 2nd one and it was much smoother for me (I can tell the difference).  Of course some must be familiarity, and I think some might be the time of day.  Looks like you are getting a good handle on the feedback!

Added a third scenario (Expenses II) that focuses more on form interactions.