WikiHow Instructions Feedback

English 3050 WSU

To

Vytautas Malesh

From

Frederick Haggins

Date

June 14, 2015

Subject

WikiHow instructions user test demo

Introduction
The initial purpose of the WikiHow documents was for me as a student to take on an
assignment where the objective was to write a well thought out and visually appeasing
document. My target audience are the concurrent users that comb WikiHow looking for
informative instructions to aid them in any endeavor, More specifically, beginners level
programmers, or people who have not programmed at all. I aimed to write clear and concise
documents that would be highly visual and descriptive work through each step with meticulous
detail. So, for testing purposes I polled three users, two Information Technology professional
that have been working in the field over five years, and someone who has never programmed a
piece of software so far in their lifetime. Overall, the results from these test were evenly
balanced and very informative.

Objectives

To see how effective the directions were.

To see how effective the visual aids were.
To see how effective the descriptions were.
To see if document exhibited clarity.
To see if language/jargon was understood.
To see if the document has a well balanced cadence
To see what improvement can be made

Method
So, in order to effectively test the WikiHow instructions I chose to use a complete novice to the
programming realm, lets call him/her BS, and two five-year IT professional that have some
background in programming whether work-based, or school-based, lets call them ITK, and ITJ. I
initially wanted to test with two novices and one professional, yet I felt that wouldn't have been
giving the more in-depth feedback that I was seeking. Next, I sent the three tester my two links
for my instructions I stated to them that I would like for them to go through my directions follow

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them step-by-step a see if they obtain the stated results in the descriptions. The two testers ITK,
and ITJ already had previous programming experience so one of the tools need to complete this
task was already within their possession, this said tool is and integrated development
environment, for our novice user they used my laptop to do their testing. As instructed I let the
users cycle through the instructions but I wasn't present I asked to user to tell me when they
were finished and I will asked for feedback. Upon, receiving their feedback I asked them a
series of questions that would help me to better understand did I reach my objectives.

Results
On average, all three tester responded with feedback that was overwhelming positive. Testers
stated that the instructions were pretty straightforward, they also stated that the images help as
well. The novice user BS stated that the language was clear yet they wish that they had a better
understanding of said language, yet they did feel that the use of the language flowed very well.
All users stated that the descriptions were very detailed and granular to the point where they felt
confident in doing the steps in the process. The user ITK stated that they wish I would have
been a tad bit more detailed in my description of which tools (IDE) I used in performing the
process, user ITJ also stated the same. User ITJ felt that I could have been more descriptive in
my last step on the JavaScript Array Length instructions that outputs the results of the arrays
length, his statement was that the description didn't fully tell him how he would arrive at the
result, concisely. The novice user BS was my most positive testers, maybe because this was all
new to them, yet as results it could have been because the instruction did not leave the small
intricate details out of the steps, which would have been intimidating to a novice like ,BS. My
questionnaire after the test will let me know if my hypothesis is correct. Here is a example of the
questions that were posed to the tester after they had the chance to give their feedback.

Table 1-1
Questions
How easy was it to complete these instructions?

Very Easy
Easy

Hard

Did the instructions give you confidence in performing these

steps?

Yes

Undecided

No

Were the visuals clear and understandable?

Yes

Undecided

No

Did the language of the instructions aid or hinder your ability to Yes
complete the steps?

Undecided

No

Would you read future documents from the author?

Yes

Undecided

No

Did the author make many mistakes (in your opinion)?

Yes

Somewhat

Undecided

No

Was the author descriptive in the instructions?

Yes

Somewhat

Undecided

No

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For the first question concerning the ease of using the document all three users all chose very
easy for a 100% rate for that question. For the second question the concern was is confidence
being instilled by reading the instructions, the results were a 100% yes. For the third question
concerning the visuals and their clarity, the results were a 100% yes. For the fourth question
concerning the language and jargon, the results were a 100% yes. For the fifth question
surrounding in the the future would the testers be compelled to read more documents from the
author, the results were a 100% yes. For the sixth question users were ask if they found any
mistake in the text, the results were a 100% No. For the fifth and final question the users were
asked if the author was descriptive enough through out the instruction, the results were a 66%
for yes and 33% for somewhat.

Conclusion
As a result, of the data that was received through the questionnaire and the immediate feedback
from user after successfully completing the steps in the instructions I know what were my strong
points and where there needs to be some refinement. As the author of the instructions I can give
more details on what I chose to complete the processes and be more descriptive in why certain
results are expected and how to exactly mimic those results. All and all, this was a very
informative assignment that let me know that skills and fundamentals that Im learning through
out my career as a student are very much improving.

Appendix

Table 1-2
Questions User: BS
How easy was it to complete these instructions?

Very
Easy

Easy

Hard

Did the instructions give you confidence in performing these

Yes steps?Undecid
ed

No

Were the visuals clear and understandable?

No

Yes

Undecid
ed

Did the language of the instructions aid or hinder your ability

Yes to complete
Undecid
the steps?
No
ed
Would you read future documents from the author?

Yes

Undecid
ed

No

Did the author make many mistakes (in your opinion)?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

Was the author descriptive in the instructions?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

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Table 1-3
Questions User: ITJ
How easy was it to complete these instructions?

Very
Easy

Easy

Hard

Did the instructions give you confidence in performing these

Yes steps?Undecid
ed

No

Were the visuals clear and understandable?

No

Yes

Undecid
ed

Did the language of the instructions aid or hinder your ability

Yes to complete
Undecid
the steps?
No
ed
Would you read future documents from the author?

Yes

Undecid
ed

No

Did the author make many mistakes (in your opinion)?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

Was the author descriptive in the instructions?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

Very
Easy

Easy

Table 1-4
Questions User: ITK
How easy was it to complete these instructions?

Hard

Did the instructions give you confidence in performing these

Yes steps?Undecid
ed

No

Were the visuals clear and understandable?

No

Yes

Undecid
ed

Did the language of the instructions aid or hinder your ability

Yes to complete
Undecid
the steps?
No
ed
Would you read future documents from the author?

Yes

Undecid
ed

No

Did the author make many mistakes (in your opinion)?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

Was the author descriptive in the instructions?

Yes

Somewh Undecid
at
ed

No

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