Our last class before the final project brought class full circle going back to our original brainstorming on web 2.0 technology. The first time Dr. Foreman asked us to come up with an image of web 2.0, I had no idea what it was (at all!) About five weeks into the class, I started to get an idea of the power or web 2.0 and had a complete "paradigm shift". The web could bring us together, rather than leave us feeling isolated. To me that this really the difference between web 2.0 and web 1.0. Since starting the class, I have become more engaged in social networking and blogging, and I have rallied the other trainers at my work to get more involved in possible using Ning or another tool to continue our networking between meetings. Our social networking subcomittee will be meeting soon. I am also working on lesson plans for both 830 and 800 classes that involve web 2.0 tool. This last class work was great. I was really struck by the difference between our two charts.

PB Wiki wins the Amy's Free Wiki Design Awards!

A Design Critique of PB Wiki

In the following summary, I am evaluating the free version of the PB wiki website, including the front page and as well as the free personal wiki page. The users of PB wiki may include the general public, business or education users who want to build their own wiki.
On Information Design

In comparing free wiki websites, I found PB wiki to be the most visually pleasing when compared to Wetpaint and Wikispaces. The layout of PB wiki is clear and concise. Spacing, paragraphs and subheadings are consistent and information displayed in the central column is displayed in small chunks of approximately equal size. Each chunk is accompanied by a screenshot of the concept being described. Subheadings remain consistent through the column in size and font. While the front page of PB wiki offers quite a bit of information, especially compared to the more graphic Wetpaint wiki, it is easy to read and sort out, due to the sharp and consistent layout.

Another visually pleasing aspect of the PB wiki front page is the actual PB wiki logo, which is a simple line drawing of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The logo is oddly appealing in that the peanut butter and jelly sandwich tends to have a good association with childhood memories. While I don’t know why PB wiki settled on this logo and name for their company, I do think that it is clever, using this as a logo seems to be saying something about how simple the website is to use, as using this wiki is: “As easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

From just glancing at the front page of the PB wiki site, it is quite clear where you can go next. The right hand column contains three distinct buttons, which can take you to the next step. These buttons are: “Create a Wiki”, “View a Demo” or “Buy Now”. Because of the large buttons, it is very easy to find the correct path.

Once you get signed up for your own wiki, the functionality is still quite easy, but there are a few flaws. Adding and editing a page is easy to figure out since the functionality is apparent by just glancing at the page. Adding a link to a page could also be done fairly easy through a logical path. However, I found setting up a sidebar with labels to match the page titles to be slightly less obvious, although I was able to set up sidebar labels with some trial and error. The most disappointing aspect of the functionality, however, was that I was unable to find a help menu or search. When I was initially setting up folders in which to sort pages, I had some questions, but I was unable to find a help menu. In the end, I had to e-mail the technical support team. After receiving a response I was easily able to set up folders (it may have been user error), but I was disappointed that I could not find the help menu anywhere.

Editing features on the main wiki pages mirrored closely editing features in Microsoft office programs, so they were fairly simple to use. However, I did have some issues in figuring out how to adjust both font size and line spacing. Font size seemed to be only adjustable by a percentage rather than font size, and line spacing seemed virtually impossible to change, particularly when I was cutting and pasting text that was created outside of the wiki.

As mentioned above, the first impression of the PB wiki front page and the personal wiki that I created within PB wiki was that it was the most tasteful of the three wikis that I looked at. Wet Paint wiki’s front page for example, contains more graphics, most of which have very little to do with providing the specific information a user would need to set up a wiki. Much of the front page of the Wetpaint wiki is a display of popular wiki communities, for example “High School Musical”, etc. The purpose of the Wet Paint wiki seems more about joining communities rather than creating their own site. While the Wetpaint design appears flashier and less functional than PB wikis page, the Wikispaces front pages felt less professional in its design elements than both PB wiki and Wetpaint. The use of four or more fonts, poor line spacing between sections and poor line spacing between text and subheadings gives an scattered amateurish first impression. In addition, links to various paths are not presented in a consistent manner as they were on PB wiki.

As far as setting up a free personal wiki page, PB wiki and Wetpaint wiki are somewhat comparable in the page layout. Both offer a variety of page designs. Wetpaint wikis design choices are more extensive and slightly more complicated. In comparing the edit button and some of the other function buttons, I find PB wiki’s easier to locate at a glance, but the difference between Wetpaint and PB is negligible. Wikispace’s layout does not compare in design quality, due to both the resolution and size of the fonts used on the page. As a matter of personal taste, I find that the PB wiki design template and page layout is tends to be sharper and more concise due to the white space on the page, simpler design options and the simple logo. While all sites offer advertisement on their free pages, PB wiki advertisements tend to be less obvious and intrusive on the page compared to Wetpaint and Wikispaces. I did not see any advertisement while editing my PB wiki page, while I saw a column of advertisements on both my Wikispaces and Wetpaint wiki pages, which cluttered the page.

Every Day Design: The Vacuum Cleaner

Early in my marriage, my husband and I had a disagreement. He wanted to buy a $500 vacuum cleaner, and I didn’t. Specifically he wanted a Dyson. At the time, even I was taken in my persuasive Dyson marketing campaign, in which the designer of the vacuum cleaner, discussed his desire to design a vacuum cleaner, that unlike all other vacuum cleaners DID NOT LOSE SUCTION, EVER! As it happened my husband checked with his mum and brother back in England, who both owned the vacuum cleaner, and they both verified that the vacuum cleaner did not lose suction. EVER! So he promptly went out at bought the vacuum cleaner, without my knowledge.

To say the least, I had mixed feelings about this expensive purchase, but secretly, I was kind of happy that he had made the decision on his own. After all he Dyson was anything if not clever looking, with its colorful toy-like design and if it didn’t work out, I had no one to blame but him. In addition, my husband gleefully vacuumed for several weeks, sometimes, and I am not kidding you…taking it out to demonstrate to guests. During those honeymoon days, I never even had occasion to use it.

One day, my husband was out running errands, and I was in charge of the cleaning since we had guest coming round. For the first time ever I had to take the Dyson out and use it myself. For 45 minutes, I struggled to find, get this: THE ON SWITCH. I made repeated accusing and frantic phone calls to my husband’s cell phone: “Where are you? I can’t figure out how to turn this thing on! SEE, I told you. I knew we never should have spent $500 on a vacuum cleaner!”

After getting instructions on where to find ON button, I vacuumed the floors and carpets, and then wanted to hook up the hose with the furniture vacuuming attachments. I stared it and started at it. I could not figure out how it worked. Again, I called my husband, cursing the Dyson. "Why did we buy this thing? I can’t even use it." Then I knocked it over in anger and cleaned the bathroom instead.

Why the trouble with the high concept product that touted itself on its design value?

The Dyson conceptual model did not match my own conceptual model for a vacuum. Every vacuum I had ever owned turned on with a foot petal, but the Dyson’s switch was on the handle. Before I received instruction on how to turn on the Dyson, I repeatedly tapped different parts of the base with my foot looking for the on-off paddle that I was used to. In addition, when I did find the switch in the handle, the button was flush with the handle. (See picture 3) While it was clever and sleek, I was confused by another button that was near this button, which I repeatedly mistook for the switch.

In order to use the attachment and hose, the handle which is attached to a long metal hose, must be pulled out of a plastic collapsible sleeve and reinsert it backwards. If this sound complicated, that is because it is. This all in one design is clever, and compact, but not self-evident. The “mapping” or relationship between the hoses made no sense to me, since I had only had either upright vacuums or hose-like vacuums, never a vacuum that combined a hose and upright. Who would think to detach the hose and plug it in backwards to make it work? To get all this down, I had to have about three different lessons from my husband who: ACTUALLY read the manual.

To this day, I feel happy about the Dyson purchase. The suction is good, but every time I use the hose, I have to admit that I have to give a brief pause and think about it before I do it. I also have a little fit of anger about having to unwrap the entire cord from the handle, in order use or put away the hose attachment. This is why the Dyson hoses and cords can sometimes be seen sprawled across the floor for hours before I can get motivated to put it away. (See picture 1)