VB Prototype 4

Screenshots | Explanation

Screenshots

MetroViz: Start Screen

 

MetroViz: Multiple Data, Types Selected, Line Graph

 

MetroViz: Multiple Divisions Selected, Bar Graph

 

MetroViz: Multiple Metrics Selected, Line Graph

 

Explanation

MetroViz Updates

Some of the main problems found from our heuristic evaluation dealt with the "Graph Elements" function, time axis controls and general graphing behavior. Based on our results, we made some changes to the labels on our interface. We changed "Graph elements" to read "Compare by: ". We hoped that by adding a label that reflects what the function actually does, users will think to look there for years and division comparison. We also added error messages to reduce confusion when users are met with blank screens for illegal graphs (see Screenshot). This informs users why there are no visuals on the screen and instructs them on how to fix the situation.

With these new updates in place, we conducted another "man on the street" user test. We added a quick training component, showing users how to multi-select using the ctrl key.

High-Level Findings

We found that although we showed our users how to multi-select, they often had forgotten it when it came time to select more than one metric in the tree. A prompt to remember the training caused all users to quickly remember the right motion however. We decided to rearrange the metric on the tree to reflect functional grouping to help our users navigate our tree better. We found that renaming the "graph elements" to "Compare by:" helped tremendously, as users had no problems comparing by years or divisions. The tree browser seems to be very intuitive as the search was still not used often. Overall, this round of users seemed to understand the interface better.

See User Test III for more details on our testing results.

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