3. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Usability study
III. Presentation of the new MKPOSTMAN component
IV. Challenges within the implementation
V. Final reflection
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4. Introduction
further
+ + development
=
for Joomla! 1.0.x
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5. Introduction
The target was to transfer MKPOSTMAN into the new Joomla! 1.5 framework.
One focus within that was a feasibility study which included
a. the check of the necessary measures for the transfer
MVC design pattern
b. the examination whether a 1:1 transfer was useful or a conceptual
revision was needed.
usability study
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6. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Usability study
III. Presentation of the new MKPOSTMAN component
IV. Challenges within the implementation
V. Final reflection
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7. Usability study
How to identify the usability of software like MKPOSTMAN?
Ask the users about their opinion!
Which method can be used for this?
e.g. a statistical survey by the help of questionnaires
What questionnaire did I use?
the commonly accepted ISONORM questionnaire which is based on the
norm DIN EN ISO 9241-110
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8. Usability study
DIN EN ISO 9241-110 consists of 7 principles which should be considered
when creating software
Principles:
• Suitability for the task
• Self-descriptiveness
• Conformity with user expectations
• Suitability for learning
• Controllability
• Error tolerance
• Suitability for individualization
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9. Usability study
The ISONORM questionnaire asks the users about the 7 principles of DIN EN
ISO 9241-110.
Example:
The The
software … --- -- - -/+ + ++ +++ software…
is bad is good
Additionally, the test person can indicate how important each principle is for
them.
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10. Usability study
Period of the questionnaire:
• 4 weeks
Manner of the survey:
• online questionnaire (based on the ISONORM questionnaire)
Languages:
• German and English
Participants:
• subscribers of the MKPOSTMAN mailing list (140 people took part; 58
filled out the questionnaire completely)
Result:
• MKPOSTMAN was not considered as utilizable.
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12. Usability study
Suitability for the task
• easy handling of software
• software adjusts to the user and not the other way around
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• special functions, which were regularly needed, did not exist (e.g.
copying function of newsletters)
Implications (abstract):
• copying function of newsletters
• possibility to create a permanent sender address which differs from
the one of the system administrator
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13. Usability study
Self-descriptiveness
• software uses comprehensible terms and symbols
• software offers context-specific help
• software gives information about the accepted values and formats
for input fields
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• missing help function
• incomprehensible terms
Implications (abstract)
• help function and tool tips
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14. Usability study
Conformity with user expectations
• software is designed uniformly and consistently
• software is permanently structured and can be used according to a
single principle
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• nothing special
Implications (abstract)
• statistic function which informs the user if the system really sent the
newsletter to the selected addresses or not
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15. Usability study
Suitability for learning
• software can be learned without any help or manual
• only little time should be needed for being able to use software
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• nothing special
Implications (abstract)
• help function and tutorials
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16. Usability study
Controllability
• included possibility to change between different input forms and
navigation without any big barrier
• software can be operated both by mouse and keyboard
• user can organize tabular list by themselves
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• mutual hidden dependences of single component parts (traced to
the peculiarities of Joomla! 1.0.x)
Implications (abstract)
• find a way to abolish these dependences
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17. Usability study
Error tolerance
• input fields are always checked whether they are completely and
correctly filled in
• inform the user about errors in a comprehensible way and tell them
about possibilities to solve the problem
• special actions should only be carried out after the explicit
confirmation by the user
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• input fields were not always checked for errors
• error messages were partly badly formulated
• success messages were delivered although an error occurred
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18. Usability study
Error tolerance
Implications (abstract)
• error messages should be indicated if errors occurred
• error messages should be formulated in a comprehensible way
• error messages should include hints in order to undo the error
• creating a recycle bin which archives deleted entries
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19. Usability study
Suitability for individualization
• color and language can be adapted by the user
• user can decide about the arrangement of the system areas
Problems with MKPOSTMAN
• missing possibility to add data base fields in order to add more user
data
• missing personal adaption of the personalization e.g. by the
personal adaption of the display on screen (limited by Joomla!)
Implications (abstract)
• adaption of the backend language
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20. Usability study
The results of the usability study and the assessment that the transfer of
MKPOSTMAN should be effected on the basis of the MVC-principle led to the
following conclusion:
An absolute conceptual revision of MKPOSTMAN was needed.
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21. Usability study
Implications to further adaption to current legal and technical conditions:
• When subscribing to a newsletter via frontend there should be the
possibility to integrate the terms of use and to display them together with a
check box. The potential subscriber will have to cross the check box in
order to send their subscription.
• Only the email address may be displayed as an obligatory entry. All other
contents should be voluntary.
• When collecting statistics, e.g. concerning the opening rate of newsletters,
nobody who has the newsletter open is allowed to take part in logging.
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22. Usability study
Implications to further adaption to current legal and technical conditions:
• If a user unsubscribes to the newsletter service their data should
automatically be deleted from the data base.
• The subscription should be created according to the Double-Opt-In-
procedure.
• It should not be possible to send the same newsletter several times.
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23. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Usability study
III. Presentation of the new MKPOSTMAN component
IV. Challenges within the implementation
V. Final reflection
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25. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Usability study
III. Presentation of the new MKPOSTMAN component
IV. Challenges within the implementation
V. Final reflection
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26. Challenges
Tab system
• separate search and filter functions, separate sorting possibilities for
each tab
Problem
• Joomla! 1.5 offers a tab system in which the tabs do not act
independently from each other
Solution
• development of an own tab system which reloads the content of the
different tabs within every change between the tabs
• the tab system uses cookies to save the tab specific settings
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27. Challenges
Dealing with faulty data
• reload of the form if the user tried to save faulty data; the reloaded
form should already contain the input data
Problem
• Joomla! 1.5 does not offer such a functionality
Solution
• If the user tries to save faulty data all input data will be stored within
the user session.
• Then the view will load these data into the template and the data will
be removed from the user session.
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28. Challenges
Dealing with possible abandonment during mailing process
• If the mailing process stops unexpectedly the mailings which had not
still been sent should not be lost.
Solution
• If the mailing process is started, all receiver addresses will be stored
in a special database table.
• Then the basic mailing process starts.
• Thereby the system catches the next entry from the table and tries
to send the mailing.
• If this succeeds the system catches the next entry but if this fails the
entry will be written back into the table but at the last position.
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29. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Usability study
III. Presentation of the new MKPOSTMAN component
IV. Challenges within the implementation
V. Final reflection
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30. Final reflection
Possibilities for further development and improvement
• statistic function
• bounce management
• possibility for sending attachments
• help function
• template area
• …
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31. Final reflection
URL to my master thesis about the re-design of MKPOSTMAN:
http://archiv.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/2010/0025/index.html
Thank you for your attention!
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