Capstone Project Milestone Final Report Human-Computer Interaction Developing a Jewish Professionals Internet Application

Valerie Fenster and Jason Friedlander Project Name: Channect (pronounced Kanekt)

Table of Contents
Project Goals .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Results .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Project Goals
The goals of the project were to find out if there was a need in the marketplace for a demographically targeted Jewish Professional Network, and if so, what the requirements would be. Once the requirements were defined, we created lo-fi prototypes for evaluation by a group of experts. We then adjusted the wireframes based on this feedback to create a final Hi-fi wireframe. To achieve these goals, we completed the following work:
Competitive Review: Our competitive review explored features, products and technical

implementations of two of the leading professional networks on the Internet today. Jason focused on reviewing LinkedIn and Val worked on Ryze. Both reviews were compiled into a report accompanying this document called 00.1_Channect_CompReview_Jan2012.
Finalized Quantitative Research: The report attached to this document entitled

01_Channect_QuantSur_Jan2012 details results of the quantitative online survey we completed. In this survey we asked participants to comment on where they look to find work and what types of social media sites the view. We also asked them to tell us about the computers and cellphone / smartphones they use, and if theyd like to see professional sites that offered services other than just job-seeking services.
Qualitative Research: We selected six Jewish professional from the quantitative survey

to participate in follow up interviews and to clarify information found in the survey. Interviews were conducted over the phone. From these interviews, we created personas. A copy of the phone interview script is attached to this report and entitled 02_Channect_Phone questions.docx.
Low Fidelity Prototyping: From our survey and interviews results, as well as our

prioritized features list from initial research, we created low fidelity prototypes in the form of non-interactive wireframes created in Axure to storyboard out functionality and content placement and navigational elements. The following pages contain examples of our work:

Qualitative Analysis: A spectrum analysis was used to assess interview transcripts and

to create personas to use for further research and development.

Personas: Based on our spectrums, we created two following two personas to help

guide future development and research.

Rita
Rita is in her mid 50s and has an easy-going and creative flair she expresses in her home, clothing and business life. Her passions include painting, cooking and taking care of her beautiful beach home. Rita supplements the household income by running a small, but professional catering service. When not catering an event, Rita sidelines as a food stylist for magazine and television shoots. She reads Architectural Digest and Cooking with Paul Deen for pleasure, and a lover of the arts, she enjoys craft fairs, travel, walking the beach, and of course, good food. She is married to Harry for 27 years, and they have two grown children and 3 rambunctious grandchildren, ages 3, 6 and 9. Rita has her B.A. in Home Economics, and as Harry says of her, a good head for business. In fact, Harry is Ritas business manager. A stickler for details, he meticulously helps her oversee her 15-employee catering company. Harry just completed a project to bring all company computers online to monitor Ritas inventory, bill clients and book events. Not very comfortable with computers, Rita does admit she can see the new network has already saved her industrious little company time and money. At least three times a week, Rita uses her office computer to restock cleaning supplies and to track foodstuff orders from farmers and local suppliers. Shell even experiment with inexpensive or unique cooking tools shes found online. Comfortable with the price and quality of these smaller items, Rita is happy she can use the Internet to order and to pay. This not only helps keep her in the kitchen, but speeds deliveries, makes it easier to replenish supplies, and cuts her shipping fees. When at home, Rita uses her own laptop to browse the web. Internet Explorer helps her research new cooking techniques, find new recipes and monitor trends in restaurant cuisine and dcor. Rita is a do-ityourselfer, and loves to tinker around the home. She wont generally use outside help unless its a big job like plumbing or construction. Because most of her life is spent entertaining and socializing with customers and good friends, Rita is protective about her quite time and privacy. She never uses Facebook or Twitter, and professes she doesnt even know how. Even though she has an iPhone, shell use it just for phone calls. Shell wait to use her laptop to go online, stating its bigger screen is easier to watch the YouTube cooking demonstrations, and the keyboard is easier to type on. Since her Kindle is larger than her phone, shell order and read her cookbooks there because the Amazon App already has her credit card and preferences that just leads her through the buying process. In rare cases when Rita and Harry find free time to relax at home, they catch up with the family in front of their TV. Harry likes to watch his sports, local TV news and the History Channel, but when hes out of the room, Rita quickly accesses the DVR to watch her TV favorites, Food Network and the Cooking Channel. And if the grandchildren are over, Cartoon Network plays on. With such a close-knit family, Rita looks forward to gathering them together for meals and celebrations. Of late, Rita has been searching for ways to help her grown children learn more about family traditions and cultural heritage. Shes even considered going online to search for events and local affairs at community temples.

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Gerry
Gerry, in his middle 30s, has a pension for great fashion and high-tech gadgets. A recent MBA grad from Wharton, he both works hard and plays hard. Taking advantage of his unmarried status, Gerry is often seen toting a golf bag alongside his laptop case to business meetings in major U.S. city destinations. When not burning the midnight oil at work, Gerry finds it relaxing to meet friends in trendy downtown bars and low-key lounges after work. Hell often suggest new places to meet hes found on CitySearch and Zagats. His dog, Ritchie, often seen in the passenger seat of Gerrys BMW, unwinds w ith him on weekend drives along the lakeshore. Gerrys work responsibilities require he implement operational improvements for a major petroleum conglomerate. He uses his company laptop daily and fervently for conducting proprietary research, compiling spreadsheets and generating business correspondence. While a secretary books his flights and organizes client luncheons and dinners, Gerry relies heavily on his iPhone to answer emails and keep up with office correspondence when away from his desk. Outside the office, Gerry quite frequently uses his iPad to check flight times, to pay his bills electronically and to let family know his itinerary. He likes his iPad because booting up is quick, and the larger screen makes it easy to use handy apps and to browse high-tech sites in search of gadgets and the latest in technology. Due to his busy schedule and the time he spends at the office, Gerry uses a lot of contractors and help with the house. Hes particularly annoyed with his gardener, who pulled out the iris b ulbs from last winter. Laughing, he confesses the only way he can keep up friendships lately is to see whos online at Facebook and MySpace. Because he doesnt have a lot of time he researches restaurants online and relies on his friends experiences. Hes a frequent visitor to Craigs List and Yelp when out of town for work or for pleasure. He buys almost everything online, from nail clippers to mayonnaise. As a traveling consultant for most of each week, Gerry wants to enjoy his free time seeing what friends are up to on Facebook and Twitter, and hell check in more frequently when hes on the road. He also uses J-Date, and Gerry has been seriously dating a young lady that lives in his hometown. She could be marriage material, so Gerry would like to slow the pace a bit to see if shes someone with whom hed like to settle down. Hes been checking LinkedIn and some of the other professional networking sites to look for connections in his own area. When at home, Gerry spends time with his girlfriend his family. Not very religious, but definitely aware of his cultural heritage, Gerry often looks online for community events, and places to socialize where he can meet more people with similar backgrounds. When out and about, Gerry enjoys how convenient it is to use his iPhone to find sites that might offer impromptu opportunities for socializing and networking.

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Results
Mid-fi Prototypes & Revised Wires: We updated the wireframes with the comments

from the Heuristic review and created an interactive prototype that can be found at the following link (http://share.axure.com/THK2UR/Channect_Home.html). Please note that not all pages have active links.

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High Fidelity Prototyping: We created a high-fidelity design future usability research.

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