Get Help --Case study

When I first read about Get Help, I thought that it was really a great idea, to get people from every where with different capabilities to help each other to do different things.

The app seems quite nicely designed, but there are some design mistakes that I have spotted, and I would like to give my humble opinion about it.


1.)user interface suggestion

the first issue I thought that did some damage in the design was























as we can see, in every page of the app, there was this link where you can go to other applications easily, but why would we want to have our users to go other other apps?
perhaps all the other apps were done by the same group? then it would make some sense.


The other thing I thought that is harming to the app is that the navigation is too near facebook's navigation bar.




this may also cause some confusion for some users, because sometimes people may accidentally click on the wrong button and jumps out of your app.
I think that the developers might have eventually move their navigation bar to another place.




I also thought that the estimated time textbox is quite ambiguous, because what do users mean by estimated time? is it the estimated time of completion? or estimated time need to help you? perhaps more elaboration would be good...









For the Over View page


I thought it was good to have a reject button on every person's request,
so that if you have a request that you cannot help , and don't know anyone to refer to,
you can just reject it, so that it does not clogs your user interface, by having users to always scroll down , if they have a lot of request for helps.




2.)Application design issues

a.) dilemma on putting content on the canvas page.

"The team wanted to make it super easy and fast for a user to post a project and hence they put it on the very first page the user sees itself"

some apps may put content on their canvas page, because they would like the user be able to experience all the functionality of the app as soon as the user logs in. But sometimes this may cause a back fire, because without introductions about the app , the users are first bombarded with so many commands and functions the first time they log in. This may cause the user to feel lost.

I will suggest that the developers make some transitions gradually, and slowly bring the users into the app, the form filling also can be done gradually, through some transitions , so that the user would not feel lost or feel being bombarded with information.





b.) Setting the home page as the new project page.


not all users would like to create new request for help. for this app, the majority of users would be looking to help people, so by making overview page as the home page would be a better idea,
but perhaps the developers made project page as the home page to encourage people to create projects so that more people will use their app. Although this rationale may sound convincing, but irritating users by directing them to the new project page everytime they log in, just isn't worthwhile...



c.) "Fire breather" is it necessary?


while i agree with the developers that people should be affirm when they have helped a lot of people by giving different badges but....

would you like to be affirm when you create a lot of request for help? would you be seen as someone who is too dependent on help from others?
i think that it maybe a double edged sword , some people whom likes attention maybe encouraged to post more request for help, but to some who are shy, it maybe a deterrence to get them post request.






d.)The Reward system



do you really need badges when helping people? or should there be another kind of rewarding system?

for me i propose that :

for example the person whom receives help can draw a very nice thank you card in graffiti and paste it on the helper's page for recognition instead of badges, why because I feel that each person that has helped me, I would want to let them feel that they are appreciated, so instead of a badge which is common to everyone, I would like to give him or her something special.


let's give an example, for example when you want to give to charity, would you want to give it anonymously or have your name written on the recognition board?

different people will have different answers, recognition is good, but sometimes overdoing it may , do more harm than good....












some thoughts about the existence of this app


the existence of this app is for 2 reasons i think , the first one is for people whom genuinely need help with something that they don't know,

and the other fun part of it is to show people how funky are you in coming up with ideas,

and with this funky idea it may spark people to interact and hence achieve the purpose of having social interaction among people in your app.

and both of the 2 themes doesn't go together well....one is more of genuine help and the other is to show off your creativity to gain fame....




the system that is currently implemented will work well if the app is to cater for people whom are going for social interaction but for people who are genuinely seeking help, they may find this app design not so suitable.



firstly, people whom really need help are often really serious about it,

but the apps on Facebook seems like a casual one, where people can discuss , make jokes , chit-chat, earn badges, play with statistics.....

imagine you are asking help with WPF assignment which is due tomorrow, then still got people chit-chat , pushing you around to other people....and try to earn badges.....

secondly the rewards system is by earning badges,

for people who really put in their effort to help someone , wouldn't a badge just be too simple?
I would think that if the developers were really out for people whom really need help, a special kind of reward for every help should be implemented.







I would propose that the developers :


graffiti thank you cards

can actually team up with graffiti and let the users draw thank you cards in graffiti and post it on the helper's wall...

this will let the helper feel more appreciated.


the second think I would propose to the developers is

testimonials


do you remember Friendster?

there was this thing called testimonials...where you can write a testimonial about your friend...
i thought that the testimonials would also be a good reward for your friends. you can write notes about how have they help you....





problems faced by the group

I would think that the problems faced were that the app was design for such casual use, they would find it hard to really attract people whom genuinely need help.

that is why i have proposed some solutions above...







conclusion


this first version of the app is already very well done, just that the 2 themes weren't very compatible. I feel that the app will be very successful continued being developed.