This is a project of mine that aimed to evaluate the four most common tasks that a user performs on slideshare.net. It is also a study that served as a final project for the Usability and Design class in Instituto de Empresa's Master in Digital Marketing I have recently completed.

1. SlideShare’s User ExperienceFour processes that make it work or not… Usability & Design Final Project March 30, 2010 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin 1

2. What is SlideShare? SlideShare is a user generated document-sharing platform catering the business and education spheres. It accepts uploads of various formats (Word, PDF, PPT etc.) and as well adding audio files to the presentations (Slidecasts). A reputable information source on different opinions on topics that enables research. March 30, 2010 2 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

3. Evaluation Approach & Methodology March 30, 2010 3 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

4. Key Findings Navigation modules are all over the place. Categorization is limited. Language option are implemented in a very confusing way. Important instructions and notes are not easily noticeable. Options for uploading contact and audio formats are very limited. Search algorithm offer limited options and ways to narrow the results based on entries. Copy and buttons are sometimes ambiguous and do not deliver the desired understanding right away. Document conversion takes way too long. Accessibility seems not to be priority for Slideshare. Residual info and consistency in repeating actions is a problem. March 30, 2010 4 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

5. Nine Steps You Need to Take… Streamline the position of navigational modules and make them easily noticeable! Implement languages accross the website (navigation, copy, search etc.)! Broaden format support for contacts and audio imports! Don’t ask the user to think! Keep thing simple! Don’t restrict the user to what you think is right in terms of labels, categories etc.! Remember that Notes and Instructions are there to be seen! Make the document converting process faster! Change coding to make the site more accessible for the impaired! Design a more user-friendly 404 error page and an upload process that does not get stuck with residual info! March 30, 2010 5 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

6. SlideShare Signup Process March 30, 2010 6 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

7. SlideShare’s Home Page Easy to spot and act upon sign in or sign up features introduced in two spots at the homepage March 30, 2010 7 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

9. What does “default” mean?March 30, 2010 8 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

10. Sign Up – Step 2 Pretty straightforward dropdowns. However those might be a problem for the people with shaking hands, especially when choosing the country Such verifications are decreasing the accessibility of the website. Impaired individuals struggle or find themselves not able to move forward with the signup process. In Step 1 “Join Now” is used and in Step 2 it has been replaced with “Sign Up”. These two need to be the same. The State is unnecessary here. This for can be optimized by introducing it if the user selects USA as a country of origin. March 30, 2010 9 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

11. Sign Up – Step 3 Already identifies the user that has just signed up. The Welcome message’s font is too small. What if the user has problems with eyesight? What kind of IDs? – SlideShare’s, Emails’, Skype’s… What if the user does not want to disclose login details to his/her email addresses? March 30, 2010 10 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

12. Signs Up issues? The user needs a hassle free sign up process SlideShare offers that with minor issues: She/he is confused when choosing the account type. Accessibility is an issue with the dropdowns and the text verification applet. Proceeding buttons are not named coherently. Sing Up confirmation page offers limited choice of contact uploading and presents an obstacle for usability. Welcome message is too small and the activation action required can be overlooked. March 30, 2010 11 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

13. Signup Process Recommendations Introduce short text explaining the meaning of the different account types. Instead of dropdowns use text boxes with intuitive filling that the user can chose from (based on 3-4 characters input) Make the proceeding buttons the same! Offer choice to upload contacts from file (vCards, CVS etc.) Make Welcome message bigger! Please state your business orientation… March 30, 2010 12 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

14. Uploading a Document March 30, 2010 13 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

16. Upload Successful - Confirmation What does this mean? Is it the computer it was uploaded from or the user? Nonetheless what is the point of this information there? Useful feature. However the process takes so long that people usually are shifting attention off the website. March 30, 2010 16 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin “Dynamic” and “Prioritization” is not related to the presentation. These tags are related to another document I uploaded. Why are they here then?

18. Uploading Document Issues SlideShare offers a good experience and easy to use file uploading feature. However, there are few fields that need improvement: Some of the the texts in the uploading page are ambiguous. No option to add categories to the already preset ones. There is no choice of adding languages to the ones already in preset. Privacy options or file display is set in a limited way. Converting files takes more than 20-30 minutes. Consistency in repeating functions is a problem. There is residual info still present from the previous action/visit. 404 error page is cute, but not really up helping the user. March 30, 2010 18 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

19. Uploading Document Recommendations Reword the ambiguous text and turn it into a clear, simple and foolproof message Introduce more privacy/display options Enlarge the category base in order to bring more choice for the user. Allow more languages to be selected for the documents to be uploaded. Streamline the converting process to deliver faster performance and immediate availability. Work on eliminating the residual info stuck between repeating actions. Simplify the actions posted on the 404 error page and offer “back to profile” and “back to my presentations” links. March 30, 2010 19 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

20. Creating a Slidecast March 30, 2010 20 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

21. Slidecast – Step 1 & 2 March 30, 2010 21 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin Pretty straightforward. However the color and the font are the same as the one in the name of the file. Creating a button like feel here might help avoiding the confusion. The key message here should be “Please wait…” . The note is only distracting the user. In order not to have any conclusion, the Note sentence shall be put below the “Upload mp3 file” button. This is a necessary and very helpful tool that increases the usability. But a different background distinguishing it and more attracting attention will suit better. Imagine the user does not have a mp3 recording program or does not know where to get one for free. Do you want your users to go and buy software so they can use your platform? Real-time upload progress enhances the user satisfaction.

23. Hints are offered where needed in order for the user to understand the functionality.

24. The tool is fast and no glitches are observed while using it.

25. Section labels are intuitive and foolproof, with very little exceptions

26. On the downside, this tool is placed in a frame and for that reason can present a problem for accessibility:

27. Placing markers requires precision and people with limited mobility or shaky hand might have a problem using it.

29. Slidecast - Step 3 March 30, 2010 24 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin To be able to preview saved work, one shall first save. This function is working even prior to clicking on “Save” before. This is misleading and renders the “Save” button obsolete in the mind of the user. But what happens if a change is introduced and the user clicks on “Preview saved work” without saving it first and this happens before the next cycled automatic saving? Although a great feature, this presents a major problem for accessibility. It can not be read by the audio reader. The second paragraph maybe overlooked. Putting the text in bold will render it more visible.

30. Ready to be Used Slidecast March 30, 2010 25 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin “Full“ what? A pictogram and half a phrase does not cutting for everyone. There is place to add “screen” here. So why don’t we do it? Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride… or people watching your slidecast!

31. Creating a Slidecast Issues It is difficult at some places to distinguish view buttons from editing options. Important copy is put in a place that might be overlooked by the user or missed. Some labels are ambiguous and not descriptive enough to deliver shared reference. Audio uploading works only with mp3 files. No WAV, ACC etc. My hands are shaky… What is the point of this great looking tool, if I can not place the markers easily? Scaling up/down the site renders the tool frame difficult to use. March 30, 2010 26 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

32. Creating a Slidecast Recommendations Position important notes or instruction in a different font and positioning, so they can be noticed and paid attention to. Change the action links to buttons, so there will be better distinguished. Work on the sites accessibility, so the impaired individuals can also enjoy this platform and contribute. Introduce a broader audio format acceptance. Work on the zoom in/out capabilities of the tool frame. It shall stay the same but in a smaller or bigger size. Not completely changing as it is now. March 30, 2010 27 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

33. Browsing & Searching for Documents March 30, 2010 28 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

34. Speaking Tongues … or Not, Actually. The user has opportunity the chance to choose from 11 languages … But SlideShare’s Chinese looks exactly like English…. Hold on! SlideShare’s French also looks exactly like English…. March 30, 2010 29 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

35. Actually it is Search in Tongues … So one chooses French on the homepage and his/her search preset is put in the language of Voltaire… Kind of difficult to figure out, right? The funny thing is that one gets Results with an English word in French search Sponsored Search results are in English, though! So am I searching in French or in English? March 30, 2010 30 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

36. Searching for a Presentation – single word The result status is difficult to notice due to its grey font on a grey background and nonetheless the position on the far right of the field. Level 2 Sorting: By Presentation – Relevance, Latest and Views By Users – Relevance, Date Joined, Uploads By Groups/Events – Relevance, Uploads, Members The sorting function should be the same across Level 1 and a probably a new sorting feature as “Downloads” can be introduced. To make it even more user friendly. Level 1 Sorting: There are three different sorting tabs for results – by Presentations, Users and Groups/Events. Which works both for search and discovery. March 30, 2010 31 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

37. Advanced Search SlideShare seems to work properly only with single word searches. Presetting extensive search results narrowing options, suiting different tastes. March 30, 2010 32 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin It is not clear if this is a clickable link. It will be much clearer, it introduced as a button.

38. Navigation Simple and clear top navigational bar. Very useful feature for discovery, however, some of the labeling is ambiguous and not immediately understandable. Since the categories are set number that can not be changed currently, it will probably make sense to list them all here. Very well structured navigation field. However, its position at the bottom of every page might render it difficult to find. Especially when the page is too long March 30, 2010 33 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

39. Browsing & Searching Issues The user’s better be able to read English, otherwise SlideShare is a no go. If the user sees that there is language choice, they have to be able to use it and see immediate change. Advanced search option is very good and extensive. Multiple words search is not working, especially when there is an exact phrase one performed. Slideshare’s navigation is clean and simple, but all over the place. March 30, 2010 34 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

40. Browsing & Searching Recommendations I you can speak languages than you’d better deliver Either remove the language choice form the top left corner and name it appropriately in the search function. Or do offer information structure in all these 11 languages. Change the search algorithm backend to the Google API one. This will give more options and enhance the user search experience with narrowed search. Take the bottom navigational bar and position it at a more immediately visible place. This will increase the first time visit user experience. March 30, 2010 35 Usability & Design - IE MDMK10 - Borislav Kiprin

42. All three users had a problem identifying the right type of account the need to choose for themselves and ended with “default”

43. Two users decided not to wonder which category their document belongs to and picked the one randomly.

44. One user had problems using the markers due to his shaky hands