Many aspects of a user’s experience with software can be examined for usability. User interface (UI), accommodation for those with physical challenges or differing abilities, suitability of a technology to the audience…all of these are usability issues. However, they are not the focus here.

The purpose of this project is to explore a variety of virtual world spaces in Second Life®, to experience the effectiveness or utility of each design; and then, to identify the characteristics that shaped that result.

Anyone is welcome to participate; invitations are being made via the SLED listserv, a RezEd forum thread, and numerous emails to individuals. I have begun to organize some information at the SimTeach wiki; but, am also weighing the options of building at Wikispaces, or even by starting a Google Group. I would be interested to learn of your perspective regarding these sites, or others.

Usability gauges the degree to which an object is

• More efficient to use—it takes less time to accomplish a particular task
• Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing the object
• More satisfying to use

(from Wikipedia )

Particular aspects of the user’s experience interest me. I aim to identify those characteristics of virtual world design that make for effective communication; or, find examples where the message gets fuzzy…then try to imagine alternatives.

I do not plan to evaluate entire builds.

I am not in this to throw stones. Rather, I will be observing discrete elements like instructional text displays, navigation elements, and media interfaces; any object a user engages to consume the content. I will be looking at the color of a sign, the shape of a prim, and the placement of objects in relation to one another. But, where my view of features is narrowed, my reference to the history of web design will be generalized. When reviewing the history of web design I will seek out the underlying principle of effective communication by looking past the device of any particular element (see references to Nielson, first post).

On review, my use of the term “standards” may be ambitious. Will any single principle apply in every case? Can a group of educators and designers agree on a set of criteria, enough to benefit a significant number of users? What can come from discussion about usability?

What I am imagining is a list of design criteria; a content creation checklist. But, since my ideas just scratch the surface, I will continue to contact folks who might have 2¢ to add.

You are already reading this…who have I left out?

Remember these diagrams?

Have you ever teleported to a Second Life® location just to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where to go next, what you are supposed to do, or where you should point the camera? Suppose you arrive at a location and know you are in the right place. How long are you willing to look, to find what you were after? Five minutes? Ten?

How often have you teleported away before finding it, or left thinking you probably missed something you were supposed to see? Such experiences indicate a challenge for instructional design.

And, we’ve seen these problems before. Just “open in browser” to jump back into the proving ground.

“The only certain trend on the Internet and WWW is that there are no trends on the Internet.”
Jakob Nielson, in 1995

Sound familiar? The first decade of the Internet saw many lessons emerge from web page design:

• Hyperlinks should be grouped, but not at the bottom of the page
• one style of text does not work everywhere, but some font/style choices are even worse than a page full of monospace
• and, a variety of visual content is appealing, but clutter does not communicate

If unfamiliar with the study of web design, one look through Nielson’s Alertbox posts and it becomes clear that there was much to consider when designing for the Internet. On the growing web, lesser designs were tolerated as new sites employed fresh options; and we selected the best designs, mouse-click by mouse-click.

Now we have Web 3-D.

Cafe 101 (SLURL) – An inviting space with resources for educators

How do we evaluate usable spaces?

What are the design trends in the metaverse? If a pattern exists in labeling content like streaming media, I cannot think of it. If a trend has emerged for the design of navigation cues, I have not seen it. What types of content require rapid recognition or consumption? What examples demonstrate the most effective designs?

Is it new to consider virtual world design as quite similar to designing for the web? (It is to me.) To see the parallel, just work your way up from the earliest posts by Nielson. One article, Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design (1996), was later reprised in ‘99, ‘02, ‘03, and ‘05. Open any one and you might find yourself recalling a particularly wonky experience in world. Can VW design be informed by the study of usability in early web page design? In the next few posts, I plan to investigate further.

You are welcome to join the fray.

Having modified two design templates (that just might be implemented!), revised two design documents, submitted a new preliminary proposal, added several small features to a design in progress (Parcel Media Selector), performed minor edits on a video in progress, corresponded with people in four other nations, and completed heavy edits for about a dozen pages across at least four different wikis…I am, once again, wrung out.

I look forward to the demo video showing this game in action:

Household Chores: Broom Breeze By: Wesley Wiebe
The object of the game is to sweep the floor clean of debris.

But, until then, will be happy to come across bits like this (~2min):