ARTEFACT 5

EVALUATION
For artefact 5 I created an instruction manual on how to install a wireless router.
My aim was to observe whether the appearance of instruction affect the users understanding of the task.
I designed a flash based instructional manual, which showed users how to install a wireless router. I chose to do this task, as it is a multimedia-based task, however it is a physical task unlike the previous tasks.
I redesigned a current wireless router installation guide. I used the factors I found from my previous tests to produce an improved instruction manual. To improve the appearance of the instruction manual I used-
• Larger images
• Only meaningful text (Less than 150 words per step)
• Fewer colours (to make the instructions looks simpler)
• A navigation bar (to work at a desired pace, and skip or repeat steps dependant on the individual)
• Illustrations. To gain users attention
I asked 10 people to complete this task. 5 using manual1 (original manual), and 5 using manual2 (redesigned manual). All the participants had no previous experience of installing this particular product; I asked this group of people so I got a fair result.
I compared the results from both manuals, the first comparison was the time taken to complete the tutorials. I found that-
• Manual1 took 6minutes (on average)
• Manual2 took 5minutes (on average)
The second comparison was the how well the users understood the tutorials. I found that-
• 80% of the participants found Artefact 3 easy to follow
• 88% of the participants found Artefact 4 easy to follow
From I results I discovered that the appearance of instruction does improve how the task is completed, in terms of efficiency and understanding of the task.