After the development and creation of my software, one final meeting took place with the client to ensure that everything was in order and working fine before given to the client. The manager stated that they didn’t want to waste any more time by manipulating my product. I had already met and exceeded some of the requirements before the meeting took place. This meeting ensured that everything was up to scratch as each page of my software was completed to its full extent. In doing so we addressed any uncompleted problems accompanied by last minute issues.
Overall I feel that I met the user’s needs by arranging meetings often to monitor progress as well as to fully ensure I develop the best solution for the user. I believe that a few safety checks throughout the process of creation are essential. I am sure the client gained reassurance that I was working my best to complete the karaoke software on time and to the standard expected. There was the odd few times as the client disagreed with some parts of my software. However they readily accepted my proposed ideas by sticking to my design taking into account the positives and negatives. I closely monitored the brief to keep a track in case I forget something which needed to be inserted to keep problems to a minimum. Therefore I believe that my solution meets the user’s needs very well and ensures a user friendly product.
Are there any improvements that could be made?
Like any finished product there is always scope for improvement no matter how stringent measures were adopted. This evaluation helps to identify improvements that could be made to my final karaoke software. Firstly, I believe that I could have included more help features to ensure the user knows how to operate the product. Currently my software explains briefly what the buttons and pages actually do. However I would improve help aids and include a button on every page which links the user to a description to aid their use. This improvement is evidenced by my feedback questionnaire carried out by users which will we mentioned later. The only other major improvement which was stated in the questionnaire was that my software could have a menu button for each page in case the user wants to go back to the menu from wherever they are within the system. This was one user’s personal opinion which I would take on board to improve. Another few minor improvements stated where the quality of images and animation could be slightly improved and maintain its current standard fully.
What worked well and what did not?
Throughout the development process I believe there are things which went well. Firstly, I believe the tool used to produce the software was very good. Matchware Mediator 9 was a very well ease to use program. To add to this my hand drawn design plans were drawn in detail and I had accurately planned out my ideas and design for every page. The techniques used worked well. This included getting images from the internet and simply editing them to suit my page and place them on. Also I split the development of my solution into three stages. This process included collecting end editing images, creating and collecting my karaoke videos and finally the main system. This worked well and made the process feel well organised and efficient. Also after the completion of each page I kept contacting the client to make sure the page has met the requirements. This I felt went and worked well as I was on track most of the time.
However, there was an odd problem which didn’t go well. Despite the regular contact and meetings with the client there was an issue which was encountered. This was something both me and the client didn’t remember to discuss. When I created my software I forgot to ask the client what screen size it should be created for. Such as, full screen, full screen with frame or window. Therefore I firstly started creating in full screen only to realise the page appeared distorted and the images stretched. I resolved this issue after discussing with the client later on that window size would be more suited. The solution adopted was to optimize my software to suit a smaller screen size. However this resulted in me having to optimize all the necessary images, buttons etc. Bearing in mind this issue I feel that I have met the brief to the standards required and to my best skills and effort.
In order to answer the rest of the questions my feedback questionnaire will aid my analysis of the conclusion.
- What did meet the user’s needs?
- What did not meet the user’s needs?
- What did the user say about your solution?
I have created a feedback questionnaire with 10 key questions to help me understand how good or bad my software is and vitally the improvements and suggestions. I have asked 10 people who I believe fit my target audience and intended purpose. My software is called ‘Mic-aroke’. It is officially designed to continue Michael Jackson’s legacy. Therefore I have asked 10 people who like the artist, if they are his fans and have a passion for his style of music.
Below I will be showing my questionnaire with all 10 questions. I will then be analysing each question using graphical format in order to answer the remaining questions. The questionnaire will be shown exactly as presented to each of the 10 users.
Feedback Questionnaire:
The purpose of this questionnaire is to assess my Karaoke Software from the point of view of the user. Thus enabling me to evaluate my software and improve some aspects of it to suit the user’s preferences. Also it will allow me to see how beneficial and simple the features included are and what the overall good and bad points are.
1. How easy is it to navigate around the software and move from one page to another?
Very easy Easy Difficult Very difficult
2. Is the use of buttons between pages clear?
Yes No
3. Is the use of text and headings easy to understand?
Yes No
4. How would you rate the overall layout of the software?
Good Average Poor
5. How would you rate the quality of the content and the videos?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
6. How would you rate the quality of the graphics and images?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
7. What do you think about animations on the song pages?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
Explain
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8. How accurate was the software to portray Michael Jackson’s legacy?
Very accurate Kind of Accurate Not Accurate
9. What did you think of the search page feature?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
10. What features would you add to the software?
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Thank you for taking part in this questionnaire. The information collected from this questionnaire will help me make improvements and consider revising parts of my Karaoke Software.
1. How easy is it to navigate around the software and move from one page to another?
Very easy Easy Difficult Very difficult
Out of the users asked 8 out of 10 people said they thought the software was very easy to navigate around and liked the use of the back buttons. The remaining 2 stated they found it easy but not as much as the majority. Overall this question went well and the navigation is of a high standard.
2. Is the use of buttons between pages clear?
Yes No
Out of the users asked 9 out of 10 people said they thought the use of buttons between pages was clear. The remaining person stated they didn’t find they didn’t find buttons clear. I believe this could be due to confusion as some pages had a range of buttons. Overall this question went well and the clarity of buttons is good.
3. Is the use of text and headings easy to understand?
Yes No
Here 7 out of 10 people thought the use of text and headings was easy to understand. However 30% disagreed and said no. The cause for this could be that I have used funky fonts in my software and maybe the users that didn’t agree found it difficult to read the text and headings or they thought it was hard on the eye.
4. How would you rate the overall layout of the software?
Good Average Poor
This question was answered very diversely and all three options where ticked. 6 out of 10 people said they thought the layout of the software was good. 3 people thought average maybe due to the structure as they preferred to choose the song first instead of a difficulty setting. 1 person answered poor – this could be their personal opinion as I believed the layout was very simple. However my opinion is not considered in this process.
5. How would you rate the quality of the content and the videos?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
Half of the people answered they thought the content and videos where very good. 4 people answered good and the odd person as poor. The majority here like the content however the reason for not getting full marks on this question could be due the quality of the images in the with words video as I also believe some of these images could be higher quality. It may also be because the animation might not be 100% to people’s expectations etc.
6. How would you rate the quality of the graphics and images?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
4 out of 10 answered very good which is slightly disappointing which could be due to my previous point in question 5 about the with words video being a bit better quality. In terms of the overall images and graphics maybe there was the odd image which wasn’t up to the quality expected. All in all 7 people answered in the top categories thus achieving a satisfactory result.
7. What do you think about animations on the song pages?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
Explain
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This question was answered well with 9 people answering very good or good. People seemed to like the animation however the odd person maybe thought I should have animated the images a bit more. In the written answers I have picked out the best comment received. “It met the theme of the karaoke product. It was very eye catching and did not make the page seem dull”. This was the best explanation or comment left for the question.
8. How accurate was the software to portray Michael Jackson’s legacy?
Very accurate Kind of Accurate Not Accurate
This question was also answered well with 8 out of 10 saying my software actually was fit to portray Michael Jackson’s legacy. This may be due to the images I used, or the song choices. I believe I chose the 3 most iconic songs and thus symbolising effectively.
9. What did you think of the search page feature?
Very good Good Poor Very Poor
Most people found the search feature good. This is satisfactory however only 2 people said it’s very good compared to 6 for good. This maybe as the user would like to select songs from a list or drop down menu instead of having to think of the songs. 2 people said poor and maybe the user would like what I just mentioned or have their ideas. This question overall proves an average result.
10. What features would you add to the software?
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This question I cannot present in graphical format however I received a variety of comments. I believe that the most common theme from their feedback was around improvising on and adopting more navigation tools. One feedback said “It could have a menu button for each of the page in case the user wants to go back to the menu from wherever they are”. This was the best comment I received and have mentioned in the improvements part of this report. Other suggestions simply were to improve the quality of the images and animation. One person’s opinion was to have a bit of information about Michael Jackson to introduce the software.
These are all 10 questions. As you can see overall my software is meeting the users requirements however there are a few improvements that could be made through various suggestions.
These remaining questions have now been answered:
What did and did not meet the user’s needs?
Out of the questions above it can be said that most of my software’s features did meet the user needs. However the search page feature did not fully meet the user’s needs and people suggested better image quality. Other than these my karaoke software fully meets the user’s needs and requirements to a very high standard. Overall 80% of the people thought my software does portray Michael Jackson’s legacy. Navigation and the use of buttons also met the user’s needs.
What did the user say about your solution?
This question is answered through my questionnaire and the above graphical and written analysis.
Conclusion:
I am confident with the solution overall. This has helped to endorse successful evaluation of problems identified during the process of implementation. Because solutions thought off and put in place to address issues have proved satisfactory. Some solutions where recommendations based on feedback sought from the target audience e.g. Michael Jackson fans. These recommendations where further enhanced by being creative in finding the right solution for the right problem during implementation. For example, each process followed from the point of starting up, navigating throughout the software from one screen to another, in selecting the song choices and gaining satisfaction of the skills acquired through this software.
Based on the above my solutions helped to maximise best use of graphics, contrasting colours, words used and fonts applied, images and animation adopted throughout. As a consequence the end product is now marketable having explored and covered every eventuality to the satisfaction of Klassy Karaoke Limited. This also takes into account professional opinion of the critics of Klassy Karaoke Limited. This has proved the effectiveness of the solution adopted and implemented.
