Hey guys, this video is a bit large so give it a few so it can load (especially if you're on slower connections). Also, this video requires Flash 9 to play. Some people have been able to play it with a lower version, but it seems problematic. Upgrade here
The use of video for this is very informative! Using (pre-defined) course templates sounds very very good.
Thanks so much for the good work and for the sharing of it. But.... somewhere from 25 seconds until 1.10 minute in the video the sound is very very garbled and I really can't hear what you are saying (and I tried several times, Firefox 2 on WinXP, with Flash 9). I am on broadband here, in The Netherlands.
Thanks Wytze. I'm not sure what the issue is with the file. It works fine for me and I've tested on several browsers, systems, etc. I just uploaded another build of the file, so I hope that helps.
If not, I'll have to go back to using an older format that doesn't have the control bar at the bottom of the video.
1) at 0:58 - I think the "Use an Existing template" and "Copy one of your Sites" options could be merged into one. A user might want to copy an entire site, or use the layout of one of is sites, without the content.
2) at 1:29 - The idea of creating a course site is neat, but non-course sites could be projects or OSP portfolios. I think we need a bit of clarification here, maybe just add an option.
3) at 3:19 - I really like the idea of a checklist. It acts as a wizard, and Sakai definitely needs one!
4) at 6:29 - The way you have set up the Profile page is fine by me. The user is warned that any change here will reflect everywhere else. Maybe there could be a field where a user could enter a course-specific profile inf, which would only be relevant to that specific course (a motivation to follow that course, or previous relevant experience, for instance).
5) at 7:46 - When adding a user to the site, you should be able to opt-out of sending an email invitation, but I really like to have the option there. So maybe there could be a Continue without sending invitation button or something.
6) at 8:39 - User tracking is a feature that should definitely be explored in Sakai. Information on login, page view, tool usage, etc. should be made available. And SCORM compliance might be another piece of that puzzle.
7) at 12:26 - Yes, site templates would be a great addition to Sakai. We were thinking of doing that at U of Delaware. For instance, offer a Content-Driven, Communication-Driven, Classroom Extension, Syllabus-Only, Distance Learning, Departmental, College template, etc.
#1 - I was thinking about that too. Only wrinkle I saw with that is the idea of templates are a bit complex to many novice users – where as "copy" is fairly obvious. So keeping them separate, while less efficient maybe, is a bit easier for some less advanced users to wrap their minds around.
#2. What makes a project site different from let's say a team site, or a group site, or any non-SIS integrated site for that matter – other than its context of use. But really, why limit the type of site, why not let users define their site by the widgets they choose?
#3. Yep. And what's nice about this approach is that it doesn't lock the user into a traditional wizard mode – so it's more of a guide.
#4. Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Not sure why a user's site profile would be any different from their regular dashboard profile. I mean, it's almost pointless to have a dashboard profile if it's not used in sites. Though, that's not to say we can't lose the dashboard profile in favor of site specific profiles – but that forces a user to create a new profile for each site. Seems tiresome.
Another option would be a warehouse of profiles.. kind of like having more than one credit card on file in a shopping site. Each time you checkout, you can pick the one you want to use.
But this seems like it gets rather complex given the estimated value/use of the feature.
#5. Yeah, the invite message is optional. But I see your point – that maybe an instructor is not inviting users so the name of the button doesn't make sense. I guess I was thinking a non-course site in that case. I suppose for course sites, that screen might not be relevant anyway since most of the members will probably already be added with a script integration via the SIS? How do instructors on your campus handle it?
#6. Agreed!
#7. Yeah, I think the template idea + being able to share templates you create with others really pushes Sakai into new community/social ware directions!
1) I think you are right on this one. And it's not like the user will be presented with more than 7 options here, which would not make sense regarding the working memory theories. 4 buttons is fine by me.
2) Project sites are all the same, I agree. You mentioned the Chess Club site as an example of a different kind of site than a project site, so I got confused. But would portfolios become a widget in a site? Portfolios go beyond one course, they might be associated with MyWorkspace instead. But what about group portfolios, where more than one person would contribute?
4) I was thinking of ONE field that could be specific to a site, not the whole profile. But that was mostly a half-baked idea... There are probably other places where that kind of info could be displayed, like the forum for instance.
5) The SIS info will be pushed to every course. The process you are describing would be used to adjust the student list if there is some kind of delay with the SIS, or to invite external contributors and guests. But sometimes, you might be sitting next to someone when you are adding it to your site, or you know that the person expects to have access to your site, so you don't need to have an email sent automatically from the system.
These video previews certainly stir the imagination – very nice.
A small comment on merging the boxes for e-mail addresses and user names in the Add members view:
this might not work in cases where a domain needs to be appended to a user name, e. g. wisin@su.se, in scenarios where federated authentication such as Shibboleth is used.
These videos are a great way to communicate design ideas. Thanks!
One comment on the wizard: I think graying the light bulb and crossing out the item may be confusing. What about using a checkmark to indicate that an item has received some attention? Crossing out the text seems to imply that this item is somehow no longer valid. I don't think the shopping list metaphor transfers well to a task list. Crossing it out also makes the text harder to read ("What did I just do?"). You might just gray it. But if I can go back to the step, then graying doesn't make sense either. Possibly having it look like a visited link would be most consistent with a browser-based application.
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. I figured a check mark implies more of a required task, where as a light bulb connotes a reminder. But I think maybe I'm being a bit too literal with the metaphor and using the check mark might be a better way to go.
Maybe the thing to do with the strike through issue is to have some other fairly obvious but small UI doohickey that lets the user revert from a checked state.
Nice conceptual work. Several (hopefully constructive) comments:
General thoughts:
The first video is unusable due to audio artifacts; suggest rerecording if you want feedback
Please remove background audio from your presentation. While pleasant, it is distracting and introduces artifacts when compressed.
Specific items:
consider the use case where an instructor is creating a test site for a course. Currently we suggest they insert something like Demo 101 001 but it would be nice to handle this more gracefully. Need a mechanism to test drive a course site without having to create a "real" one.
Why am I going to My Profile from Site Settings?; is this My Profile on this Site? I think this functionality belongs somewhere else.
How to indicate users from Provider in your User List? In our case (U-M) instructors cannot delete users which come from the Provider (SIS). Need to indicate/address in UI.
Will need to parse user addition screen for email addresses vs. user ID from another source (e.g. Enterprise Directory of IDs). In the case of U-M we have Friend Accounts (myfriend@yahoo.com) and uniqnames (demonner) which typically resolve externally to demonner@umich.edu. Two boxes exist today to distinguish account types. May want to better distinguish accounts types here as opposed to having one text box to handle all cases. Maybe use table format instead of text box? Typical use case is to paste in long list of uniqnames into Add User box.
With regard to perms, for the love of God, we need a reset-to-system-defaults (as defined by sysadmin) button somewhere
Why "Plus" on Import/Export label?
Suggest separating Import and Export functions; too much info on one screen for our users; use separate tabs.
Format of import data: consider "External File" and "Existing Site" or somesuch instead of "XML" or similar technical jargon which means little to typical faculty.
Arrange import/export options by likelihood: default to copy previous site since it is most common; import from external file is least common (ever?)
There are multiple site types: GradTools, Portfoliio, Course, Project...
+1 on Mark Notes' notion of using a check instead of crossing an item out
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The use of video for this is very informative! Using (pre-defined) course templates sounds very very good.
Thanks so much for the good work and for the sharing of it. But.... somewhere from 25 seconds until 1.10 minute in the video the sound is very very garbled and I really can't hear what you are saying (and I tried several times, Firefox 2 on WinXP, with Flash 9). I am on broadband here, in The Netherlands.