3 August 2008 – The final day

Since my survey results and feedback, i have tried to accommodate some of the users requests, mainly that of the help screens and such.

I have now made the help more context sensitive since implementing a button on both the calendar and contacts screen that will directly take them to that specific help screen.

in the image what you will notice next to the title(in this case “Calendar”) is a question mark which is a button that will lead them to that screens help, labelling all the relevant information for that screen.

Also, on both the help screens at the bottom i have placed a “How to…” button which is essentially just the User Manual Online. Clicking this button will lead them to the general User Menu form that outlines the steps of how to use certain functions of a program

Clicking any of the buttons on the left will give a short tutorial on how to use the program.

2 August 2008

So recently i began to do some user testing, and i recieved about 10 completed surveys + general feedback from other users who just quickly used it. I decided that i would compile these results and try to accommodates as many of these responses either through changing the program or a personal response from me. This program was tested through a variety of ages, from about 15-50, so as to gain a better understanding of how fluent and how easy the program is to use.

VIEWS ON INSTALLATION GUIDE

Some responses from the testers:

- easy to use and simple

- the video helped me to install the program

- I preferred the video over the document

- Simple yet detailed instructions that were easy to understand

- What you said in the audio didn’t exactly match what was written. It was still good

My response to these results:

I tried my best to make these instructions simple and easy to use by the basic principles of a guide i.e only one operation a step and beginning with a verb. Overall, I think that the users generally found it usable and with the provided help of the recording of me installing it, I think it definitely allowed them to properly install it without making any incorrect/ambiguous statements and decisions.

VIEWS ON OVERALL GRAPHICS

Some responses from the testers:

- Clear and meaningful

- It was ok, nothing wrong

- Very basic graphics

- You could have made it more user friendly by implementing more graphics

- Looked very boring

- ‘NO’ was a good idea

My response to these results:

At the very beginning of the project I had stated that I was horrible at graphics and I would do my best to make the graphics somewhat bearable as well as put enough to make the program useable. Knowing this, I also understand that I have not included too many graphics, but through this I have made it very simple, and I think that keeping it simple allows for a better flow in the use of the program. When I was considering implementing the Fisher Price advertisements into the program, it didn’t fit in and it didn’t feel necessary to implement these images without making the program more complex, even if the user need not interact with them apart from the random spots of the image. Overall, I completely understand the users viewpoints on my graphics.

VIEWS ON GUI/LAYOUT

Some responses from the testers:

- easy to navigate and GUI was easy to follow

- the layout allowed for easy navigation through the program

- everything was easy to identify

- I had no problems knowing what each button did even without images

- Very easy to use since there was quite a bit of consistency within each screen

My Response to these results:

A generally middle to high range response. This is probably the core part of my whole assignment and am somewhat disappointed that the response wasn’t better, regardless of the fact that none gave me a mark below 6. What this means is that a number of users would prefer a better GUI, or would like me to change it a little bit to suit their needs. On one hand, I cant adapt the program to suit everyones desires, however I will look in to changing up the GUI of the program and may have another brief survey to see if there are any changes in opinions.

VIEWS ON HELP SCREEN

Some responses from the testers:

- help screen solved some minor issues of using the program

- showed all details needed to navigate through the program

- no problems occurred, but the brief look over the program seemed to be comprehensive

My response to these results:

The general response was that there weren’t any errors found. There were however instances where they didn’t understand what to do to create the program and in this case, the help screens helped them. I am still unsure of whether or not I can improve on my help screens, or is aesthetics i.e how it looks and if its visually appealing. At the moment, it is just text with arrows to the screen, but I may look into developing a timer to display all help over a certain period of time. This may improve the overall views on my help screen.

VIEWS ON TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

Some responses from the testers:

- error with date, but guide solved issue

- I forgot to copy and paste the database and folders, and the guide solved this issue

- I completely missed the installation guide and so I didn’t properly install the program. The guide helped

My response to these results:

The overall response to my trouble shooting guide wasn’t really informed because of the fact that there were generally no errors on the part of the program. However, the only main error that I have found with the program, and one that can be resolved through the troubleshooting guide is the help for copying the database and folders. The most alarming comments from this section was that a few users completely missed the step to copy and paste the required files into C drive. At the time, I only gave a readme.txt file and this may have stopped the user from reading through it, so I have taken a recording of myself installing the program while orally explaining the steps. In some respects, I am happy with the results, however it also means that if there are any more errors in the program I have no idea about them.

PREFERENCE OF PROGRAMS

Some responses from the testers:

- a simple program for a simple purpose

- program has the basic features needed

- very basic concept, unlike outlook which has more features

- very easy to use and would prefer it over other programs because it isn’t too full of components like Outlook which is too confusing.

My response to these results:

Its not surprising that many of the users would rather other programs of mine, and I suppose that’s because it is very simple and basic, but it is also free unlike the other ones that require you to purchase it or through other illegal means. Some of the better feedback from this was that they would at some points use this over other programs simply because it is much simpler and more basic. I never intended for the program to be complex, but rather just a simple program that has the ability to create new events as well as create new records. Keeping this in mind, I never expected for the majority of the users to use my program over others, however I am happy to know that my program does solve the problems provided in a more simplistic fashion.

Documentation of flags and stubs

· At the beginning of the development of the program, I created a basic outlay of the program. I created the navigation through my storyboards and then created stubs (empty forms) and linked the forms together through buttons. This meant that the main menu contained 4 buttons that could be clicked to redirect the user to each form. In this way, I was able to simulate that these processes would occur. (buttons to hide the main menu and show the selected screen)

· I also made some picture boxes in my help screen and linked them to additional screens. This was done to make sure that on both a single and double click of the image, the user would be redirected to the help screens.(on click and doubleclick the form show and hide operations)

· There is a flag in the program which acts when the user is opening the contacts form. It determines whether a connection has been made to the database, and depending on the situation a message box will inform the user regarding the situation. (CONNECTION)

· There is a flag to determine whether an event exists for a number of days and when it becomes true then the date becomes highlighted. The flag also determines whether or not it needs to create a new text file for that date if it doesn’t exist or if it has to amend the existing file.(System.IO.File.Exists(searcher) = True)

· I have used a flag in the contacts list when a user is created a new person. The module basically checks whether that first name and surname both exist together, and if both exist together than the item will be flagged as already existing and will stop processing the user information, otherwise if it doesn’t exist then the information will be stored. (EXISTS)

· I have used a flag in the contacts list to determine whether or not the information they put in the textboxes are valid or not i.e phone number only contains numbers and such. If the flag is made false then the information will be processed, else it will. (IsNumeric(txtPhone1.Text) = True)

· I have used a flag when the program reads the existing events to determine whether it is a special event or not. if the item is flagged, then the firstly, the images are loaded appropriately, and the 3rd set of information is read by the program, otherwise no image is loaded and the program doesnt crash because it doesnt try looking for something that doesnt exist(SPECIALDAY)

· I have used a set of flags in the delete module to determine whether or not the file exists, so that if it does exist it will be deleted, else it wont attempt at deleting something that doesnt exist and possibly cause a run time error

30 July 2008

Recently, i begin to create a lot of my help documentation, including the installation guide, user manual and troubleshooting guide. to make it look more professional, i intend on providing not only a hard copy of the user helps, but also a voice recording.

i used Camtasia to record the screen as i demonstrate how to use the program or do whatever it was that will help the user.  i then recorded my voice for each of these tutorials and basically rendered them in Camtasia.

i have also followed up on a lot of my testing through both user and developer testing. before i allowed user testing, i recorded myself going through the program providing an analysis of the screen elements. i found a number of changes that i could make aesthetically to make the program better and this is all recorded in the testing.

ive generally been consistently looking back at the marking criteria, and the only thing left are:

(iii) User Testing Evaluation (15 Marks)

Outcome	Criteria	Mark
H4.3	Student presents a comprehensive evaluation of user testing by compiling results using tools such as surveys and questionnaires. Then presenting detailed results appropriately.	13 – 15
	Student presents a thorough evaluation of user testing by compiling results using a tool such as surveys and questionnaires. Then presenting satisfactory results appropriately.	9 – 12
	Student presents a satisfactory evaluation of user testing by compiling results, then presenting basic results.	4 – 8
	Student presents a poor evaluation of user testing.	1 – 3

Besides these everything else is done and as such, i would like to get all my other work checked so that i can get the higher bands for each section.

23 July 2008

- as an improvement to the solution, i have made it so that the program displays the current month and date through the logo. this was done by using the vb.net now.date function which allowed me to retrieve the month and day which i then used to display the image on that date. it also loads up the file for that day.

18 July 2008

today, i made another publish of my program which later became 5 because of minor aesthetic changes all over the program that i myself found. however, i also had it tested on a computer outside my own but it wasnt recorded. from this test, Hamish came across 2 errors that were actually his fault (and which i intend on putting in my troubleshooting guide.)

What was happening was that when he clicked on the event title text box, the event details box would turn transparent and vice versa. this was something i had never seen in my program.

This error occurs because the program was unable to access the database

Both errors had the same solution i.e he didnt copy over the required files into C:\ as stated in a readme/installation file. As such, both forms were trying to access information that didnt exist and once he did copy them everything was fine.

Apart from the errors, there has also been a few changes that ive made to better the program.

this includes the program registering what the days date is, marking it with my logo, aswell as loading up the relevant file if it exists. this was all done through the now.date and now.month function of vb2008

another major change ive made is for the contacts query to search for the first name and surname so that the user does not make a duplicate entry. this was done by checking both the first and second row of the database(first and surname) and the use of a flag to indicate whether it already existed or not.

17 July 2008

- i think i have finished my contacts form

- ive really tried to mimic the layout of the calendar form to be consistent i.e group boxes, logo, title buttons in exact positions. however, i would like this to also be tested out not only for errors, but also for the layout and useability.

- ive also added some “Back to main menu” buttons which will allow the user to move through screens without having them all open at once.

- the helps screens are done(or atleast i think they are)

- this is the main help screen. clicking on either of these 2 images(actually buttons with a background) will lead you to a help screen for that particular form(below)

- when i get my program tested out im interested as to whether this help is sufficient and if it allows the user to completely use the program.

MY FIRST PUBLISH

- seeing as i finished my program, i decided to test it out on my computer and a number of different computers. by doing this ive found a number of things that i need to fix up/require.

1. requires the .net framework 3.5 which i think auto-installs with the program

2. my relative path for the calendar dates does not work because its unable to access it from itself. because of this, i intend on changing it to a absolute path, which means that it will be located in C drive, which my database is also located in and which did actually work. The error below.

16 July 2008

- i have designed a logo for my project. it took me about 30 minutes in CorelDRAW and Paint to create it.

- i think ive basically finished all my programming and designed for my calendar. now i only need it to be tested to correct any errors big and small.

- the calendar now also includes a “special day” option which tags an event with a special image such as a birthday, wedding, holiday etc. ive also changed all the buttons to be flat and when you mouse over them the button turns a light red, and when clicked a darker red.

- today i intend on working through my contacts screen and hopefully have it finished by tomorrow

15 July 2008

- have created a main menu and subsequent stubs for the calendar, contacts, help, and settings

- all my screen designs are still very basic, but have made small changes to it. will change it more through the week

- also added a background, and will be trying out a number of different colour schemes to better suite the program.

- completed creating all the months of the year 2008. Also have created buttons to move through each groupbox i.e each 2 months.

-also made it so that if an event exists, the date will appear red and will return to black once deleted or if it didnt exist. these arent final colours but just for me to see the change.

10 July 2008

ive been working quite furiously on my contacts list and i think ive pretty much finished it.

it includes buttons that create, update and delete aswell as search through previous contacts by a next and previous button. designs will come later but this was just so i could see everything easier.

ive come up with a lot of errors within this module, especially to do with the database. for some reason by database was unable to refresh the database after making changes to it which led to some major LOGIC errors which werent actually that logical. after searching for it on google, i found this piece of code

‘  Clear(DataSet)
ds.Tables(“UserData”).Clear()

‘Create and fill my dataset

da.Fill(ds, “UserData”)

Another issue i have come up with is actually now moving the database to a relative path. by changing it from c drive to the relative path, i am actually wrecking all the connections that i have made throughout the program code as well as the properties and wizards in VB2008. ive had quite a number of attempts at trying to reconfigure the settings however it is still not working. at the moment, this is the last major error that i can see in my program and once i fix this i should have most of the programming done.