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

2. 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.

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

4. 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)

5. 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)

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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