Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

Facebook Timeline Exam 1. Persona Dean Wong, 29, professional musician on an independent record label based in Los Angeles, CA. He is often on tour with his indie band, traveling throughout the world at least seven months out of the year. His wife, also a musician in Los Angeles, does not leave the city as often. They rely on text and video chat to talk to each other at least once a day. He loves to take photos while on tour and during studio recordings. He shares the pictures with his wife, friends, and fans through social networks. Key facts: 1. Paranoid about sharing too much information with his fans. Each post has an action icon with privacy controls. 2. Interested in seeing his updates and photos organized by location. Prole features check-ins and geo-tagged photos on a map 3. Needs to promote his bands information and updates on his internet proles. Cover photo lets him post a yer for an upcoming show Key goals: 1. Sending updates and photos quickly and directly from his iPhone. Facebook creates a Mobile Uploads folder for iPhone uploads. 2. Sharing restrictions, so he can share certain updates with close family. Friends may be divided into a Family group with specic privacy controls. 3. Searching through his archived posts for specic tour photos. Time slider allows quick and easy navigation to relatively old posts.

Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

Erin Bel, 23, recent UC Santa Cruz graduate and new bartender at an upscale restaurant in Portland, OR. She has an extremely busy work schedule, often putting in 10hour shifts for ve or six days a week. She uses her iPhone heavily for internet surng because she relaxes at home and chooses to watch movies instead of using her computer. She is single and has many friends who keep her social life fun and full of surprises. Key facts: 1. Hardly ever uses desktop version of Facebook because she rarely checks the site on her home computer. Facebook interface is consistent on desktop and mobile versions. 2. Prefers real-life conversations over social networks and online sharing. No incentive to upgrade to timeline, as new features would be ignored

3. Does not want her parents (who are friends with her on Facebook) nding out many details about her personal life and friendships. Lack of time slider would make it much harder for parents or anyone else to glance at her past. Key goals: 1. Chatting online with friends during quick breaks at work Facebook chat remains unchanged in Timeline interface. 2. Minimal personal information and photos displayed online Lack of map and cover photo deemphasizes personal identity. 3. Privacy controls and blocking friend requests Privacy control icon remains consistent in both interfaces.

Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

3. Visual Design

Clarity Use of white space provides symmetry & allows eye to rest Consistency Friends, Posts, and Ads repeat vertically within 3 main columns Alignment Elements are stacked vertically, eye moves from top to bottom Text Sans serif typography is easier to read, consistent character size, frequent use of bold text Images Recognized faster and more accurately than text, demand less from human memory Color Vast white background allows images in posts and ads to pop-out for user, fast recognition

Clarity Overall and local densities are high, higher use of color Alignment Main emphasis is at top of screen (inverse pyramid) and eye moves down in zig-zag pattern Consistency All posts run down two parallel columns, below basic info Text Sans serif text is contained within narrower paragraph spacing Images Cover photo attracts immediate attention as largest image on page, learned faster and adds sense of individuality to prole Color Light blue background adds to sense of clutter, contributes to high local density

Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

One change in the personas compared to users of Facebook before timeline is overall time spent on Facebook. Users who log onto Facebook a few times per year are less likely to care about the Timeline interface. Also, the Timeline interface is unlikely to persuade infrequent users to use Facebook more frequently.

2. Wireframe Before Timeline After Timeline

Closely resembles Inverted 7 Grid

Closely resembles Open Grid

Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

4. Usability 1. Dialogue initiative: Both interfaces are user pre-emptive. The proles display static information until the user initiates a dialogue, i.e. creating a new post or changing an image. 2. Multi-threading: Both interfaces are concurrent during the creation of a new post. As soon as a user adds a photo or status update, their friends newsfeeds simultaneously present the newly added changes. 3. Task migratability: Both interfaces seem to distinctly divide tasks between the user and the system. The user has ultimate control over the prole content. 4. Substitutivity for Input and Output: Again, both interfaces inexible in terms of input and output. The Timeline changes are concerned with surface presentation and not the reorganization of task inputs and outputs. 5. Customizability: The interface before Timeline is less customizable because posts appear within an endless stream that is sorted by date posted. The Timeline interface lets the user order posts by any date, therefore showing the adaptivity of the system to change the interface based on user preference. 5. Preference Dean prefers the new Facebook Timeline interface while Erin feels better off with the pre-Timeline interface. Dean is very happy about the cover photo display as he plans to highlight his bands latest tour photos. He sees the new interface as a clearer way to emphasize his brand image and public appeal. Erin has no interest in using her Facebook prole as a way to express herself. She most frequently uses the chat and messaging features of Facebook, which function independently of the Timeline interface changes. 6. Evaluation methods Question-asking protocol and retrospective testing: Question-asking protocol generally works with a tester who asks questions directly to participants. Answers are given in terms of prior experience with the system. Retrospective testing works by video recording the users interaction with the interface. Then the tester and participants review the recorded session together while the tester asks specic questions about the session. Both methods involve a dedicated tester. Both can be used along with other methods. Both can be utilized with groups of participants. Question-asking protocol can be somewhat inaccurate based on the participants selective memory and level of attention to detail. Retrospective testing relies on costly recording equipment. Retrospective testing depends upon the participants willingness to appear on camera and automatically prevents the data from having anonymity.

Ben Cruz DANM 231, HCI

I would use the question-asking protocol to gather qualitative data from the subject. I would use retrospective testing to measure quantitative data such as the amount of time spent on a prole page. I would use both question-asking protocol and retrospective testing at the same time, since each method results in varying data. Retrospective testing should generally be used together with other methods, including question-asking protocol. By using both methods, I can compare and contrast the elements that stuck out the most for the participant with the objective data in the video and audio recording. 7. Evaluation One measure of success of the new Timeline interface would be quantifying the usage actions on a prole page. If the user scrolls back into the past using the time slider, the quantitative measurements of how far back is traveled will indicate user interest in the interface. If the user ignores the time slider, then the Timeline interface will be assumed to have had no effect. The other measure of success would be qualitative data from each participant based on a series of questions regarding the users prole preferences, level of comfort sharing personal information online, annoyances with the interface, and overall satisfaction. If a user has no preferences or opinions, they may refrain from giving verbal opinions and let the quantitative data speak for itself. The participants needed to carry about the evaluation would involve 20-30 Facebook users, varying from age 18 to 50. Gender would be split equally between males and females. Any occupations would be accepted. My exclusion criteria would lter out Facebook users who have not logged into their account within the past 30 days. Recruitment would take place as a Craigslist ad. The evaluation would take place in a private computer lab with audio and video recording equipment at a duration of one hour per participant. My experiment would not qualify for a Category II exemption from the IRB. My study would involve video and audio recordings of the subject, therefore being directly identiable. The subjects privacy would be at risk, since private information from their Facebook account would be recorded. Upon testing their interactions with friends proles, those friends privacies would be at risk, as well. The experiment would produce qualitative data in the form of a) how far back into the past the user chooses to view (number of days, months, years ago) b) how many timeline (number of steps taken by using the time slider) c) the total amount of time spent using the time slider Larger numbers for these would signify greater relative success. The qualitative data might be analyzed more closely. Since Facebook is a social networking site, personal feelings and opinions are highly valuable towards evaluating the interface. I would look for any signs of heightened nostalgia in the participants.