1. LifeGuide: Experiences of a new user
Leanne Morrison
07 July 2010

2. What is it like to use LifeGuide?
Creating the pages…
Just like MS word and powerpoint
Writing the logic…
Is like writing a story
Tells the website or intervention exactly what you want it to do at each stage

3. What can you create using LifeGuide?
Tell users if they’ve made a mistake
Ask users questions
Insert links

4. What can you create using LifeGuide?
Insert images
Set page backgrounds

5. What can you create using LifeGuide?
Setting variables – present user with their selections from a previous page
Insert Buttons

6. Logic: A simple example
begin dietsection
show p5adietintro
show p5dbalanceddiet
show p5eavoidfood
show p5fdietroutine
end
Simple commands – “show” is like telling the website to turn a page
Create sections – just like chapter headings in a book or piece of writing
Emphasise that all writing in black text is created by you – logic may look complicated to someone who is unfamiliar to the intervention, but if you have created the intervention and named all the pages and items on a page yourself – this will make perfect sense. All coloured text represent pre-set functions that tell the intervention or website what you want it to do – much like the statistic/numeric functions in programs like excel
The start of every logic command begins with a page name

7. Logic: A more complex example
show p1habits
if (p1habits.q1 = “yes”) set habit1 to 2
if (p1habits.q1 = “maybe”) set habit1 to 1
if (p1habits.q1 = “no”) set habit1 to 0 …
set habitscore to (sum(habit1, habit2, habit3, habit4))
show p2habitfeedback1 if (habitscore >= 5)
show p2habitfeedback2 if (habitscore >=10)
Possible answers to the questions on a page
“set” function allows you to allocate your user a score based on their answers to a quiz
Tailoring and setting scores
Items on a page e.g. quizzes or questions for the user to answer
“if” functions are like directions – think about “choose your own adventure” story books
Numeric functions – just like Microsoft Office Excel

8. What’s it really like to use LifeGuide
Frustrating, at times
Time consuming
BUT…
Excellent support available
LifeGuide team, LifeGuide Community Website ( Researcher help manual
LifeGuide gives you greater control over your intervention

9. Top Tips for using LifeGuide
Plan ahead (e.g. order of pages, location of images etc…)
Keep records (e.g. page names, solved errors…)
Develop consistent labels (makes the logic a little easier)
Write logic as you go (this will keep it fresh in your mind)
Break the logic down into small steps
User testing