Problem Analysis & Requirements

Targeted Users:

• Introduction of Problem based on symptoms (i.e. observations, conversations, performance outcomes, etc.)

In its current state the Legislative Update isn’t optimized for its targeted user groups. A few of the problems that have come up include too much textual information, unclear left side navigation links causing confusion regarding their purpose, and no way for the user to explore additional context surrounding the stories should he desire. One additional problem that has been introduced via our questionnaire is the purpose of the comment box at the bottom of the page. Users are unclear about it’s purpose and what happens to their comments once they are submitted. In total, nine different potential issues have been identified that would make the Update less confusing to navigate and more obvious as to how to interact with the information the user is receiving.

• Describe the current tasks and goals
Goals:
1. To find out what is happening in the Missouri legislature as it pertains to the UM system in a timely fashion.
2. To distribute information about the legislature and its impact on the University of Missouri.
Tasks:
1. Search for articles that have been archived
2. Leave comments using the commenting system
3. Locate additional information about specific articles
• Describe the context for when tasks are performed
1. If the user is looking for past house bills or events.
2. When the user strongly feels they need to leave a thought about an topic on the newsletter.
3. If the user want more information relating to a article on the newsletter.
• Describe the context for when tasks are performed

Anecdotical comments made by certain faculty and University Administrators about the too much information presented at one time. One comment given was “the newsletter is not broken up into bit size chunks to skim through”.