Chapter 1 Cases

Chapter 13, Additional Case 1: Reviewing and Testing Documents

Background

Word Weaver is a product being created by Education Word Games, Inc., which specializes in making games for use in the classroom. Complementing the company's already successful word-search game maker, Word Weaver enables users to create custom crossword puzzles easily, using their own words. Word Weaver will be primarily marketed to educators, newsletter editors, and businesses. The company is looking for some help reviewing and testing its documentation. It posted a help-wanted announcement in your school's student union, and you responded. You are now meeting with Lisa Carlson, Chief Operating Officer of the company.

"Word Weaver 1.0 launches in less than two months, and we need to finish the getting-started documentation," Lisa explains. "We also need to get some feedback on the effectiveness of some of the last-minute additions to the user interface of the software.

"How would teachers use Word Weaver in the classroom?" you ask.

"Teachers use crosswords as fun learning tools. For example, during a unit on Greek mythology, an English teacher might create a custom crossword puzzle using the names of gods, demigods, and heroes from the Greek pantheon. Students could then use the puzzle as an interactive way to check their knowledge of Greek lore.

"How else would people use the crossword builder?

"Editors include crossword puzzles in newsletters as a way to add some pizzazz to their publications and to get people to read them. Businesses use custom crosswords to reinforce training and as marketing gimmicks. Puzzle lovers might use the software to create themed puzzles to put in holiday letters and cards.

"What do you need me to do?

"We would like to give the beta version of Word Weaver to a few people and get their impressions of the product before the finished version is ready for wide release.

"What's the beta version?

"That's our prerelease version of the software. The company would like to know the usefulness of the getting-started instructions." (See Document 13.1).

Lisa explains that the software developers also added to the user interface a new Publish Puzzle dialog box with several buttons and that she would like to know if the icons used on the buttons are intuitive to users. She hands you a sheet of paper listing the new buttons and explaining what each button does (Document 13.2).

"I'd like your advice on how to revise the getting-started instructions and how we should find out if the documentation is helpful to users," Lisa says. "I'd also be interested in how you recommend we find out if people will understand the new buttons based just on the icons we're using. These icons represent actions users might want to take when using the software.

Your Assignment

Before you get any feedback on the instructions and icons, Lisa asks that you serve as another reviewer of the getting-started documentation. Based on what you have learned about reviewing documents, revise, edit, and proofread the instructions.
Whom should Lisa contact to get feedback regarding the effectiveness of the getting-started instructions, and what is the best way to elicit such feedback? Write Lisa an email in which you identify the type(s) of people she should contact, and then write a set of questions you think would help her gather the feedback she is seeking.
Think about the steps needed to test the effectiveness of the new interface buttons. Write Lisa an email in which you briefly outline how she could test the buttons.