Collaboration with Google Drive Group 2 INF 231 10/19/2015

Primary Research Questions What problems do small groups of college students (4-5 users) have while using Google Docs for collaborative writing? How can we improve the functions and design associated with these problems? Why is this research question relevant? Collaborative writing is a core feature of Google Docs, so discovering which functions and design elements cause our target population problems is essential for its success among college users mention something about why looking at small groups is important for us -- feasible, allows for closer look at behaviors/social interactions, etc.

Proposed User Research Methods Open-Ended Survey Focus Group Usability Test

Survey Determine what collaborative writing scenarios (academic/non-academic) Google docs is used for in the target population List three most common scenarios (open ended) How long and with how many people do they collaborate Determine which functions and design elements these users like and do not like “What are the top 3 functions you like best about Google Docs?” “What are the top 3 functions you least about Google Docs?” Additional comments box for “Anything we missed?” Recruit interested users for secondary methods (focus groups, usability test) Goal is at least 20+ online survey responses We conducted a pilot survey using Qualtrics to inform the design of this survey (n = 11)

Focus Groups Conduct semi-structured in-person interviews with samples of the target population learn more about group workflow in Google Docs Skype can be used if groups cannot meet face-to-face Identify collaborative writing scenarios that are problematic for these groups issues of group dynamics (sharing, editing control, change tracking) “Do you find it easy or difficult to share your document with others?” formatting functions and design “How do you feel about the design of the editing interface?” Goal is 2-3 ~30min focus groups of 3-5 students Team includes two interviewers and one notetaker (with audio recording)

Usability Test Real time measures of the functions and design elements that were discovered to be problematic Tests will include scenarios identified by the survey data and focus groups Test groups of 3-4 people Subjects will collaborate on an example document with scripted scenarios for ~15min followed by a quick exit interview about their experience Setting up a shared document, controlling privacy settings, accepting and rejecting comments, revision navigation, using text formatting functions, multi-user editing at the same time We will conduct the usability tests in person using laptop computers running Morae Allowing subjects to sit with each-other or be separated will be decided after we analyze our scenario data from the surveys and focus groups Moderator to ensure group remains on task

Expected Results Open-Ended Survey Focus Groups Usability Test Most groups in our target population use Google Docs for academic writing, such as group projects for a class Based on pilot data, we expect problems with control of doc sharing/privacy and doc formatting during group editing Open-Ended Survey More information regarding the issues discovered from our survey Specifics about group-level interactions occurring in the most frequent collaborative writing scenarios from the survey Expanded details about the functions users like and do not like Focus Groups Step by step problems with the functions that are causing the problems discussed in the focus groups Quantitative metrics: time spent on each task, number of times users expressed confusion, post-task difficulty questionnaire (SUS questionnaire is an option) Qualitative metrics: subject feedback about their experience Usability Test

Plans for the Redesign of Google Docs The redesign will take into account our three sources of data (survey, focus groups, usability study) to ensure our proposed changes are consistent with what users want We plan to do a mockup of each redesigned function or design element we discover needs to be changed (frame by frame pictures) Keep in mind the current Google Docs aesthetics and interface

Procedures used for evaluation of the redesign Additional groups from the target population would need to be brought in to do the same usability test but with the redesigned Google Docs We could then compare directly difficulty metrics (quantitative) between the old and redesigned software and user feedback (qualitative) via follow-up questionnaire or interview

Expected Improvements to Google Docs We anticipate that through the survey, focus groups, and usability tests we will be able to create a redesign that successfully addresses all problematic functions of a specific, common scenario This project will provide multiple sources of data for a specific user group which may prove useful for comparison to other target populations Google may have interest in at a later time

Estimated Timeline Team 1: Veronica, Mark, Sierra, Abhijith Team 2: Saurebh, Urjit, Kasey, Zhe Time: Deliverables: Team Week 2 Initial planning meeting and survey pilot launch Team 1 & 2 Week 3 Survey Design - Refinement based on pilot data, presentation draft Week 4 Milestone Presentation (Monday) Collect and analyze survey data Schedule participants immediately after surveys start to come back Pilot test focus group questions and equipment Milestone Powerpoint - Team1 (Mark) Online survey setup - Team 1 (Veronica) Survey distribution - Team 1 & 2 Focus Group Scheduling - Team 1 Survey Data Analysis - Team 2 Week 5 Run focus groups Pilot usability test and recruit subjects for usability test Run Focus Groups - Team 1 Usability Test Pilot - Team 2 Week 6 Run usability tests, organize and transcribe data, analyze data Week 7 Week 8 Create mockup Presentation and Final Report preparation Mockup - Team 2 Presentation and Report -Team 1 & 2 Week 9 Finalize report, presentation and mockup (buffer week) Week 10 Final presentation