Word’s Interactive Leveled Design
: (WILD Word)
Amy Yip: acyip@wam.umd.edu
Michael Schanberger: mpschan@wam.umd.edu
Farrah Fojas: FFojas@aol.com
Andy Mu: amu@wam.umd.edu
Haroon Baqai: hbaqai@hotmail.com
Abstract
The main idea behind creating a leveled MS Word structure was to facilitate users of different levels use the software according to their computer skills. We observed that the typical MS Word interface tends to intimidate many of the novice users, who have no idea about the various formatting and editing options that are available in the form of menus and different icons. On the other hand, advanced users are interested to see more options readily available instead of having to waste their time going through the various nested menus.
Our leveled structure of MS Word gives the option to the users to work at their own level and be able to switch to another level simply by clicking the mouse twice. The three distinct levels have different numbers of editing, formatting and drawing options available that best suit users possessing different levels of computer skills. Additionally, the presentation and placement of icons in these levels is also most appropriate for novice, intermediate and advanced users.
We are sure that our new design will attract a wider
community of users and will remove the anxiety that many of the novice users
have towards computer-usage.
Credits
Amy Yip
- Overall coordination of project
- Posting of final paper
- Organization of final paper
- Final project: credits, acknowledgements, references
- Usability test-high prototype
- Usability test design (task list, questionnaires)
- Low prototype design
- References
- User needs
Michael
Schanberger
- Coordination of project
- Final project: presentation of design
- Images of high prototype
- High prototype design/development
- Usability test-high prototype
- Low prototype design
- References
- User needs
- Proposal
Farrah Fojas
- Final project: development process
- Usability test-high prototype
- Usability test design (task list, questionnaires)
- References
- User needs
Andy Mu
- Final project: introduction, presentation of design
- Usability test-high prototype
- Usability test-low prototype
- References
- User needs
Haroon Baqai
- Final project: abstract, conclusion
- Usability test-high prototype
- Low prototype problems/successes
- Reference
- User needs
Introduction
As more and more users enter the golden age of computing, it is increasingly necessary to facilitate the learning aspect of computers and applications. With word processing having gained tremendous popularity behind its speed and variety of options for writing papers and sending documents over email, users with absolutely no computing experience now find themselves interested in learning such applications as Microsoft Word. However, the current user-interface designs that utilize learning manuals and/or help texts stand to confuse and scare users further rather than encourage and provide support. Therefore, a solution needs to be formed in which users can start at a basic level and slowly build their way to more complicated issues, all according to their own learning speeds.
One article titled Reducing the Gap Between What Users Know and What They Need to Know. Knowledge Media Design Institute discusses the virtues of Microsoft Word and analyzes the effectiveness of all the options the application provides (Baecker). Their research discovered that, on average, users of Micrsoft Word only knows about half of the functionalities presented. In addition, the users only use about half of them on a regular basis. This indicates that many of the complex infrequent functions are not necessary on a regular basis and even more unnecessary for beginning users.
Considerable research has also been done on the more general topic of user-interface design. Major computer software companies recognize the issue of user design and user interface satisfaction. Corporations such as Microsoft have looked into the issue and have presented several interesting findings and conclusions. One of the main tenets of interface design is that simplicity can be powerful: “Simplicity does not mean lack of functionality, it means a fast initial learning curve and consideration for the number of concepts the user needs to understand” (Microsoft). With less concepts the users need to deal with, confusion is reduced and users can concentrate on learning the core tasks presented to them. Adding to this principle, Microsoft also recognizes that the user is a limited resource. A user can only handle so much information at one time, and exceeding this limit may actually be counter-productive, making the user forget information they have already learned.
IBM, an international computer giant, expounds upon the virtues of having a well thought-out user interface design. In an article online about user-centered design, IBM discusses the major steps that need to be taken in order to develop a successful interface (IBM). One of the main issues is evaluating the target audience. In the present situation, word processing should be targeted to almost every age group and education level. An eight year old in third grade may need it for a book report, while a sixty-year old grandmother might want to use it to compose a family newsletter. Therefore, in designing Microsoft Word, developers need to be aware of a much broader audience that requires a much greater latitude of needs.
Bruce Tognazzini, an expert in the field of human-computer interaction, also has much to say about the issue of machine and human performance. One of the three user-tasks Tognazzini suggests simplifying is the amount of machine manipulation (Tognazzini). A major step in manipulation reduction would be to significantly limit the amount of options or buttons the user can choose. Another principle Tognazzini discusses is decreasing data-entry: Minimize or eliminate data to be entered. Tognazzini asks the questions: Can the information be inferred? Is the information strictly necessary to perform the task? If not, is any secondary use valuable enough to offset the cost of entry? For beginning users and even regular users, the answer is yes to many of the options Microsoft Word provides. One item that could be eliminated is the font and font size bars for users who are just beginning to use Word or for those users who just want to write a simple note. The font and font size can be inferred to be a normal, often used font and the size could be a standard size (such as 12 pt Times New Roman).
Many of these design principles have been utilized in designing advanced applications. For example, Microsoft Word does provide an easy way to type up a note using Notepad. Notepad does not offer the user any options, except save, print, open and close. However, this effort falls short mainly because it is a separate program and does not allow a gradual learning environment that moves on to more complicated options if the user chooses to learn more. Basically there are only two levels: Notepad (Figure 1) with little to no options and Microsoft Word (Figure 2) with 10 times as many options as Notepad. The gap in this situation is extremely large and does not successfully provide users with a mode of learning suited to varying learning curves. Arguments could be made that the option to hide and show different toolbars in Microsoft Word is a level-structured design. However, Word does not provide set levels with a set group of options. Users must manually set the options themselves which defeats the purpose in learning the application. Many of Microsoft’s efforts to simplify options fall short because of this issue of learning gaps. Another example is a search window which initially has very few options but upon clicking an advanced button gives you all the options available to advanced users. A middle ground that is provided in the Microsoft suite is Wordpad. The main difficulty with Wordpad as a middle step is the fact you must switch programs entirely and the transition from the Wordpad application to the Word application may not be easy or efficient. Having the levels in one application and adding features would increase familiarity and decrease anxiety.
Figure 2. Notepad.
Figure 2. Microsoft Word Application.
Yet another solution that is geared toward reducing complexity and simplifying the user interface is the addition of tabs to large menus. In Figure 3, a user is shown one menu of several and he/she must click on the different tabs to access different options. While this does simply the interface to only show a few options, significant complexity still exists in the fact that the user must determine which tab to choose and often will go through several just to find the appropriate option.
Figure 3. Options Menu in Microsoft Word
The suggested solution is a multi-level structured word processing program. A multi-level structured word processing program would allow users to choose a level of complexity. This means that users who choose, for example, level 1, would only be presented with a few options such as font size and margin adjustments. As they slowly move up the learning curve and in level, they will be given more and more options (i.e. adding tables, advanced formatting, inserting footnotes) with which to work. The multi-level structure would merely hide unnecessary or irrelevant options at the appropriate levels and bring them out again once the user feels a certain mastery of current word processing concepts. Furthermore, users are able to stay at the current level for an indefinite amount of time, giving them full control over learning and need. The level-structure would provide levels that have set options associated with them. Users will be allowed to go back and forth between levels as they please.
This solution accomplishes many of the ideals the previously mentioned designs did not. First and foremost, there are the crucial middle steps to provide a gradual transition. There are a total of three levels and each one contains a couple more options than the last, limiting the amount of stress put on the user. Second, users will not need to skip around menu tabs to find appropriate options. The user can either go directly to level three to access the option they want or they can follow the level structure to limit the amount of options. The multi-level structured word processing application can be an extremely powerful tool for almost anyone who wants to use word processing. It has been designed following well-researched guidelines published by some of the leading experts in the field.
Presentation of Design
Overview of Approach and Solutions
Once we had decided to do a multi-level Word design, how to do it and what it would look like became our first questions. We wanted it to work with Word as opposed to a Visual Basic project just imitating it. This would make usability testing easier because the subjects would be working with an interface that can accomplish the tasks given to the user, as opposed to pretending or doing a mock-walkthrough. But getting level switching interface and the different features of each level right were still a mystery. After creating a couple low-fidelity prototypes and showing them to possible test subjects, we refined what we wanted our interface to look like into what it currently is. But we still had to create the interface.
The only way we knew of being able to do some sort of programming with Microsoft Word was through macros. No other language or technique that we know of can perform any tasks in Word. Since none of our group members had any experience with macros and didn’t know how to write one, we researched to see if macros even would even be able to do the trick. We resorted to searching on the internet and buying a book, VBA for Dummies.
VBA for Dummies gave a good starting point for how to create a macro, how it is run, and general information about the language that is used for creating macros. That only gave us a starting point though. Most of the information on how to create toolbars was obtained through examples on the internet. After viewing code on how to create a toolbar, add buttons and menus to it, a first draft toolbar was created. How to switch levels became a tricky part though. We wanted to allow the user to know which level they were on, so simply clicking on buttons stating “Level 1,2,3” wouldn’t work.
At this point, Microsoft’s Online Development center was searched. Almost everything that we wanted to do was on Microsoft’s site. We were quickly able to make toolbars appear and disappear (crucial for switching levels), and we were able to add a combo box to the toolbar. Further information on how to turn on/off the docking capabilities of a toolbar was also obtained.
VBA’s capabilities in macros did
leave us a little empty though. There is
no way of making the menu bar disappear.
It is possible to edit the menu bar, but you can never fully remove it
from the screen. Therefore, instead of
writing a macro which we weren’t sure what kind of damage it might do to a
person’s Word, decided not to write a macro that would remove the menus. Instead we left it to the usability tester to
remove the items for our test subjects (all usability testers new how to return
Word to its normal state). However, once
removed, we were able to fully run our program and encountered no other problems.
Transition Diagram
Since our project is not really a transition interface, all screen shots and explanations are contained in the Design Presentation.
Design Presentation
Each level is described below with screenshots to show the differences between the normal Microsoft Word, and our WILD Word.
