2012 Department of Informatics and Media Instructor: Professor Else Nygren Done by: Safa Naser Husain (HCI Master Student) Online communication between home and school Case study: Improving the usability of the Unikum e-service in the primary schools of Tierp municipality [ONLINE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL. CASE STUDY: IMPROVE THE USABILITY OF THE UNIKUM COMMUNICATION PLATFORM IN THE 2012 PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF TIERP MUNICIPALITY] Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENT .......................................................................................................................................................5 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................................................6 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................7 1.1. THE PROBLEM ................................................................................................................................................7 1.2. WHY UNIKUM? .............................................................................................................................................9 2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 10 3. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. INTERNET & NEW MEDIA EFFECTS ON CAREGIVERS-PUPIL-SCHOOL COOPERATION/ COMMUNICATION...... 11 3.2. THE SITUATION BEFORE THE IT-SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED ..................................................................... 11 3.2.1. TALKING ABOUT SCHOOL .................................................................................................................. 11 3.2.2. USING PAPERS................................................................................................................................... 11 3.2.3. DIRECT TALKING ............................................................................................................................... 11 3.2.4. USING LAND LINE TELEPHONE CALLS ................................................................................................ 12 3.3. THE SITUATION AFTER IT-SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED; DOES IT-SYSTEM REALLY CHANGE THE COMMUNICATION WAYS? ...................................................................................................................................... 12 3.3.1. THE BENEFITS OF USING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOME-SCHOOL COMMUNICATION ............... 12 3.3.2. DOES IT-SYSTEM REALLY IMPROVE THE COOPERATION/ COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION? .......... 13 3.3.3. PROBLEMS OF USING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................... 14 3.4. CAN IT-SYSTEM BE CHANGED TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE COOPERATION & COMMUNICATION?................. 14 4. UNIKUM E-SERVICE ............................................................................................................................................. 16 4.1. ABOUT UNIKUM (UNIKUM POINT VIEW) ....................................................................................................... 16 4.2. UNIKUM VISION ........................................................................................................................................ 16 4.3. UNIKUM FOCUS ......................................................................................................................................... 16 4.4. UNIKUM FUNCTIONALITY, WHAT THE SYSTEM DOES? ................................................................................ 16 5. TIERP MUNICIPALITY ....................................................................................................................................... 26 5.1. THE AIM OF USING UNIKUM FOR TIERP MUNICIPALITY.............................................................................. 26 5.2. UNIKUM’S USERS IN TIERP ........................................................................................................................ 26 6. THEORIES ........................................................................................................................................................... 27 6.1. HCI .......................................................................................................................................................... 27 1 [ONLINE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL. CASE STUDY: IMPROVE THE USABILITY OF THE UNIKUM COMMUNICATION PLATFORM IN THE 2012 PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF TIERP MUNICIPALITY] 6.2. HEURISTIC EVALUATION ........................................................................................................................... 27 6.3. USER CENTRED DESIGN (USD) ................................................................................................................. 27 6.4. CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY (CI) ...................................................................................................................... 27 6.5. STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 27 7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 28 7.1. PHASE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE E-SERVICE .................................................................................................... 28 7.1.1. INSPECT THE WEBSITE OF THE UNIKUM PROVIDER COMPANY ........................................................... 28 7.1.2. USABILITY INSPECTION OF THE UNIKUM E-SERVICE .......................................................................... 28 7.2. PHASE 2: CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY (INTERVIEWS PHASE) ............................................................................ 28 7.2.1. INTERVIEW WITH THE SYSTEM EXPERTS, FROM THE BUYER SIDE (TIERP MUNICIPALITY) ................. 28 7.2.2. INTERVIEW WITH THE SYSTEM EXPERTS, FROM THE PROVIDER SIDE (UNIKUM)................................ 29 7.2.3. INTERVIEW WITH THE EXPERIENCED UNIKUM USERS ........................................................................ 29 7.3. PHASE 3: TESTING THE USABILITY OF UNIKUM ......................................................................................... 29 7.4. PHASE 4: THE SUGGESTED DESIGN ............................................................................................................ 29 8. EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION (METHODS AND RESULTS) ............................................................................................. 31 8.1. PHASE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE E-SERVICE .............................................................................................. 31 8.1.1. INVESTIGATE THE WEBSITE OF THE UNIKUM PROVIDER COMPANY .................................................... 31 8.1.2. USABILITY INSPECTION OF THE UNIKUM E-SERVICE .......................................................................... 32 8.2. PHASE 2: CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY (INTERVIEWS PHASE) ............................................................................ 33 8.2.1. INTERVIEW THE SYSTEM EXPERTS, FROM THE BUYER SIDE (TIERP MUNICIPALITY) .......................... 34 8.2.2. INTERVIEW WITH THE PROVIDER (UNIKUM) ..................................................................................... 34 8.2.3. INTERVIEW THE EXPERIENCED UNIKUM USERS ................................................................................. 36 8.3 PHASE 3: TESTING THE USABILITY OF UNIKUM ......................................................................................... 48 8.3.1. SURVEY FOR PARTICIPANT SELECTION CRITERIA IN THE USABILITY TEST .......................................... 48 8.3.2. SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY RESULTS .................................................................................................. 48 8.3.3. PARTICIPANTS SELECTION CRITERIA ................................................................................................. 49 8.3.4. THE USABILITY TEST LOCATION ........................................................................................................ 49 8.3.5. PARTICIPANT’S CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SAMPLING OF THE TARGET GROUPS ................................... 49 8.3.6. METHOD ........................................................................................................................................... 49 8.3.7. CONSENT FORM AND THE PRESENT CARD FORM ................................................................................ 50 2 [ONLINE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL. CASE STUDY: IMPROVE THE USABILITY OF THE UNIKUM COMMUNICATION PLATFORM IN THE 2012 PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF TIERP MUNICIPALITY] 8.3.8. THE USABILITY TEST PLAN ................................................................................................................ 50 8.3.9. RESULTS OF THE USABILITY TEST ..................................................................................................... 51 8.4 PHASE 4: DESIGN...................................................................................................................................... 62 8.4.1. SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS ............................................................................................................