Slideshare Web Application Usability Testing
Overview:
► Slideshare is a web-based slide hosting service which allows users to easily upload and share presentations, infographics, documents, videos, PDFs, and webinars.
Objective:
→ To be able to analyze the Slideshare web aplication and find pain points as well as the strong and delightful features in terms of design and overall functionality of the site.
→ To be able to come up with issues and corresponding suggestions with regards to the identified weak and strong points of the site.
Test Tasks
0 Sign Up
0 Login
0 Upload a slide
0 View slide
0 Edit slide details
0 Share a slide
0 Search a topic
0 Add categories
0 Organize profile page
0 Follow profile
Context
It is my first time to actually use slideshare though it isn’t the first time I’ve encountered the site as it becomes readily available on most search engines whenever I casually search online for materials in class and for projects.
Analysis
To have a good headstart in analyzing, I began doing the obvious which is visiting the site and experiencing it first hand. With the basic idea I have from the site, I began to formulate a lot of expectations thinking how the site would actually look like. Above is the homepage of slideshare and gave me an impression how sleek and professional it looked from that view and so I began to sign up.
Task 1 → Signing up the site
─ As any other site I’ve encountered before, the interface seemed so familiar for me and there wasn’t anything to boast yet the simplicity created an ambiance of ease and confidence.
Task 2 → Logging in
─ The same as my encounter in the sign up process, the familiarity made it easy to navigate as well as the option to link account with other sites for login.
Task 3 → Upload a Slide
─ The main function in which I wish to try in the web site is the uploading proper so to speak. Aside from the many options which I think for a first timer is visually tiring, I find the texts a bit small because I feel that the specifications must be emphasized too.
Task 4 → View a slide
─ Allowing the user to view the slide on the same page of the web site is a very delightful experience for me. Providing us to save workspace especially when a lot of pages in a browser are open.
─ Beside are the showed options available on each slide open for viewing. The icon where it says save is a bit confusing for me. As for the general knowledge, the save icon will enable the user to get a soft copy of the slide automatically on my computer but in the end redirected me to another page where a link sent to my email with the download link is available and that is the time you’d be able to download the slide at last. As a user, it is actually very time consuming and bothersome going back and forth the slideshare site to my email account in which the download link reside.
Task 5 →Edit slide details
─ In the edit section, the fields are very undertandable but as you choose the category, I pause trying to find the many categories presented or to filter our uploaded slide. I though however that while the categories are self explanatory, an overview of them would help the users in better filtering them.
Task 6 → Share a slide
─ Again the feel is so familiar only that since I don’t actually use the Embed, WordPress Shortcode and Link options I usually just get over them instantly.
Task 7 → Search a topic
─ The search facility was very fine allowing the user to filter instinctively the search term or item to be searched. But one thing that personaly concerned me is the validity and integrity of those searched items. Questions like are all those being returned by the search are original or can be trusted? But anyhow it may have been given already to the users to find out and verify since it’s just a source material by all those who created an account.
Task 8 → Add Categories
─ Clicking the plus (+) sign would instinctively let us think that something is to be added. Sure thing the design of adding categories were very interactive and pleasing however after clicking the plus icon a normal user would think that a button or a triggering event must be fired up so that it will be added in my list. However the page will just keep on loading and loading with no notification that will at least say that “Hey this category is successfully added in your list” etc., and if you try to find the end of the page, the loading icon will just continue to load a pile of categories in which anybody would grew tired of doing eventually.
Task 9 → Organize Profile page
─ As can be seen above, the white spaces are not utilized properly leaving the right side with so much space, not capitalizing the fact that some useful tools can be put together in that area. Some of these are the profiles, slides and stories I liked, as well as tools for organizing my uploaded files.
Task 10 → Follow Profile
─ I can see that it is similar how twitter would mean and define following in their application. However the” follow” button cannot be seen and is not available up until you visit the individual page of the user. Even on the side notes of their uploaded files or slides, the “follow” or “unfollow” button is not available. It is important because as a user you want to maximize as much time you can have on a specific session to achieve a useful experience.
Design Suggestions
─ Overall I find the web site delightful and impressive as I only encountered minimal pain points and actually found more strong points in my experience of exploring the web site. Perhaps I am more inclined to appreciating things that which, as a web developer, amazes me in terms of the design and the smooth presentation of the contents wherein I myself cannot, as of now, do decently on a developers perspective. However as a casual internet user, the toleration level is a bit low soliciting a more and understandable design from any application they may encounter.
─ As I have mentioned previously, I just wanted to make sure that those posted and uploaded information are in the best knowlege true and factual leading to more dependable and credible source in the future.
─ All of the pain points I have mentioned are very minimal and will only concern design improvement so that it, for example the icons will instictively direct the user to its proper function, the text to be given more emphasis, also the maximizaition of space so that the work space will be minimized and lastly and more importantly is the content to be reliable or at least given integrity level by the ones administering the entire slideshare web site so that any user will have the feel of assurance and delight in the overall experience.
