Programmes – Feedback on and questions about the wireframes
As we now have a set of wire frames and access to interact with them I am sure that we all have feedback. This raises the need of somewhere to capture them so that the decisions on which feedback to act on is not reliant on any one person speaking with Jo, but can be socialised (or at least made transparent). The following links should help provide context and background:
Content changes proposal
Changeset proposal (~ based on prototype v1.0)
Individual's feedback (direct or via meetings)
I suggest that each person (who want to give feedback) adds their own (named) section, with their comments listed. This way we can read each others views and be informed for a discussion.
From Paul
General
- I like much of it and see that, for UG degrees and domestic students, this will work well.
About programme
- Bring action bar to front (on all tabs), so content scrolls up behind it, not in front.
- Breadcrumbs: Are we going to use UG degrees or UG programmes?
- Would image behind BAS be the same as for a topic (if it was in fact the same thing)? Is this type of familiarity good? Could certainly work for "subject-major" pairs. If you want?
- Are we suggesting Enrol (of Apply as a better word) too early. Please look at the suggested process and lets decide whether we or it needs to change.
- Intro/About: Maybe try not to state all the majors in the first sentence, as they listed in a "table" soon after in the Degree overview
- Where is the Programme options section/content? Seems to be missing
- Degree overview: Could the video block be swapped out and a profile/testimony/story come in? They already exist in pour publications so could be re-purposed?
- International disclaimer: I like the concept but the wording will need work (probably no 3 year UG degree that is not suitable for international students, suggesting another programme could be challenging (on what basis/data?), etc. I have a specific section below for international feedback, and we will of course speak to Charles.
- Show domestic fee or, if international is set, international, not both.
- Tell me how the next related events block works (and note that I think this is a valuable feature)? Date sensitive? Location sensitive? Related to the level of degree I am viewing?
- Could we also have one on the topic/subject page?
- Where do the major links take you? And what do they do?
- Similar programmes: A good idea (and might be how we can suggest something else similar) but do we need a content/data source for this? Is it only at degree level? Faculties might baulk at giving another programme if outside of their faculty, so we need to proceed with care here. Probably more sensible at the PG level, where there are far more options and some/many "nest" with each other.
- Great to know: Content needs improvement, but block is useful.
- Should this page/tab be where we give the textual description of the majors, rather than on the planning as you have it now? Seems that this type of information might sit better on an about page than a planning. User might even be able to select one here, if not done by which subject page they arrived from.
- What you will study: Why are there two titles the same? I have changed the second to "Further study". The content for the first one seems a bit lame.
- Need more information: Maybe swap out Student allowances (and use it for a how to fund your study section on the fees and scholarships tab) and replace it with a link to the Faculty (as they "mange" the degree)
Planning programme (excluding the degree/major rules and planner, which have their own sections below)
- Introduction might seem to similar to what should be on the apply tab
- How will we denote default major (based on subject value)?
- Second major is extremely rare in BAS so maybe leave it unset for this example
- My understanding is that the drop downs allow me to select 1 or 2 of the listed majors for the BAS and that the link will (essentially) select all.
- Following on from point 4:
- How do we handle 10 or 20 or 40 majors?
- Is the purpose to let somebody learn about the rules of each major he/she is interested in (to compare few or even more, even if impossible to study them all) or to select a manageable number that one could study and see how they "play together"?
- Where do we handle listed minors/other subjects (see other BA subjects example)
- Do we need to allow users to see a listing of all other external majors (meaning those from other degrees) that are (usually) permitted for inclusion for the degree in question? Working with these would need Advisor input or assistance.
- Should the whole select major block be a little further down the page? I know that this will throw out the "table of content" but it seems out of place being this high up. But then it is really required early on, so maybe we are just missing a little of the context at the top of the page, eg "Students are required to select one of the following four majors in which they focus their courses and learning. Please select one from the following list."
- We probably also need another pattern for the "select major block, one for when a second major (listed or external) is extremely unlikely and discouraged. This pattern would apply to BAS and maybe also the BE
- Why is (Major #1) in brackets in the table?
- Not quite sure where the Major #1, Major #2 and Other major anchor links would take me? Shouldn't the block have major rules (see point 7 below)
- Admission is the first hurdle and requires meeting university entrance requirements: Domestic differs from international, who have a whole different process.
- Is it a little over-stated to have uni admission stated so clearly on this tab? Would it be better handled on the Apply tab?
- Mention of continuing under the BBSc is too strong. Lets leave that for more personalised advice.
- In major areas do we want to link them back to Careers on the subject section of the topic page?
- Challenge of two majors: While I appreciate how hard it is to present information for two majors on a small screen it is probably nonsensical to show degree planning examples sequentially, when the majors are studied concurrently.
- About undergraduate degrees might also be a valuable link for the "Need more information? block at the bottom of the page.
Degree and Major Rules
- I like the concept of each rule having its own block. However, where have you presented the courses required for a major? For example, Landscape Architecture requires LAND 211, 212, 221, 222, 251, 261, 311, 312 and 321, as well as SARC 351, 352 and 362.
- Might have to use wording that more closely follows the statute, as in the publications. I think we will be forced to, so maybe lets at least start off with something closer/more accurate.
- What is an optional requirement? An oxymoron? Try "additional requirements" or "more information" if they are not actually requirements.
- Do we intend the text under the major section to be the same as under the subject (on the topic page)? Always?
- Do we have to mention replacement courses? Exceptions?
- Rule block for hurdle to enter second year: Is there other information we should link to or provide? Would this really be an "additional requirement", as it is not narrowly a programme point/course rule?
- Should the additional requirement in the major section be different to the requirements in the degree section?
- If Scribe (the business rules engine that powers MyQual/Degree Works) has an API (or other suitable interface) we might have a good source of truth to help the "show courses" buttons (and for planner (see next section)
- We might have inadequate data to return degree courses (as listed in the Schedule A and sometime B), even using discipline. Will try to learn more, either from Kristina and Melissa in FHSS or Teresa in SAS. As in point 6 of the previous section, we can do this more easily when the degree is highly prescribed and with only one major than we can with the flexible degrees.
- If we leave buttons here (before a major is selected) we accept that the purpose is to show a range of courses that might be suitable, with few rules enforced as to what would be make a legitimate programme.
Planning your programme of study
I think this whole planner has become a little unwieldy and needs tightening up. To help with this I think we need to discus and answer a few questions:
- Do we want a minimum viable product (MVP)? This means a version of this element that is much simpler than what is currently designed so we can release/go live with something and then refine it as resource allows.
- My view is yes, as it is better to to this well and release it, while exploring how we can access the business rules in Scribe to power a smarter, more interactive solution.
- Do we display the "image" (in lieu of an interactive planner) before a major is selected?
- My view is yes for flexible degrees (as we probably can't resource an image for each major (let along combinations of double majors) but after for prescribed degrees (e.g. Bachelor of Architectural Studies)
- Do we display the planner (any version that has some interactive nature) at the degree level or only after a major is specified? It is easier to return course level results once the query is tighter (the same would apply to the button on the degree rules in the section above)
- My view is only once a major is selected/known, as I don't believe there is enough value in interacting when the main drivers are not yet known/set.
From simple to fully fledged here are some options:
- A static image of the degree without any specified major for the programme section, with a more informative version of the image for where there is a major specified. We would say that this is an example only and display a generic degree example (one per degree) where majors are not referred to by name. We would just say "200 level major course" or "Core BCom course" or "Elective"
- Slightly more complicated is to, with images only, cater for double major (with or without a minor?).
- And more complicated again is a larger range of static examples so we have one that is relevant to any major the user specifies.This is the first appearance of a slider where we would have the slider to show actual courses and is also the first interactive version, albeit basic.
- The next step would be to allow individual course blocks, when not specified to a single course, to return the range of possible values when clicked on. This is where we would first offer the feature to email it to yourself (and SRAO) or "save"it (using fees calculator machinery).
- The next step is to populate the course block with the one selected, potentially reducing the list of subsequent displays by this earlier selection.
- And so on
- We need course colouring for the five course types shown for the BCom (pg 69 of GUS): Core, 1st major, 2nd major, minor, and elective. Not all degrees need all five, but at least one does.
- Lets not use schedule, as it means something in the calendar. Maybe Degree example, as in the GUS
- Explain to me the reason for the General courses / Example courses switch.
- I would prefer it if core, specialisation and elective were visibly different due to style, not use of the words. Lets make it more like the GUS, unless we can do better and then ask them to change to be like the web
- Please try to balance the trimesters out a little better.
- How would the text about each year differ from that on the About tab?
Fees programme
- Where is all the fees information? I expected a breakdown or some more information about the summary fact. Easier for international, as they have a whole budgeting block/module. For domestic, can we surface any of this information.
- Can we carry a subject/major value through to the scholarship database so they can display a pre filtered list of matching scholarships based on the subject value?
- Enrol now and contact advisors buttons seem a little prominent for this page?
- Student Finance and fees people have good material. Lets reuse some of it (see VBS comments below for contact person)
Apply programme
- I like the early intercept and divert for international students. They do not belong here so lets clear this up early on.
International programme requirements
- Switch to swap/change between international and domestic (so that whatever version a user has he/she can change this if they want to see the other version
- Different contact block (Jo, if you think the domestic block need one international mention, then do the same in the international one but still have switching blocks
- Different application process, so any mention (on earlier tabs) and the whole Apply tab will need to pull different content for international
- International have a database/content source for country specific entry criteria. How can we access and surface this? Do we want /need to?
- Show only international fees in the summary/icon, with a whole different fees tab for international. Might be able to do it all in our app, but might have to link out to VI for the richer information they are required (by law) to provide.
- A disclaimer will be required for some programmes (or major choices), with one or more or a small number of pre-defined reasons. Need to unpack this further and write a user story to describe it.
From Anne
Great job Joe! It's nicely designed
I'll review the content (including button labels and link text) properly after the next round of improvements - will that work for you? Sam and I will do that together.
Here I've included content tweaks only where they really jump out.
About page
Heading: Remove (BAS) from the heading (throughout) - put it in the intro text instead.
Video - KYM? If there is no video, we might use a [standalone] student quote instead?
International students' block
Good to see it here. However, let's change the wording so we don't say something isn't available (that's negative - we need a positive twist on it). How about:
International students
Architecture is available for domestic (NZ) students only. However, international students can study Building Science at Victoria University. (link)
Fees icon and text - we have to cover ourselves by telling them that it's an estimate only. Eg:
Fees for domestic student (est)
OR
Fees for doomestic student
$16,000/year
(estimate)
Next related event - great to see this here! Suggest you reword this to: Next event (the context is obvious).
'Similar programme' - reword to 'similar degrees'
Acronym for Bachelor of Building Science is BBSc
Useful high-school subjects
Rename: Useful secondary school subjects
Not sure this would be easy to do for degrees like BA?
Great to know
I like this a lot! Is it a summary of key points from below?
Transferring students' block:
I see this more on the degree planning page. (Transferring students will read the About page along with everyone else, but need help on the next page.)
Enrol in Architecture - reword to: Enrol in BAS
Contact block
0800 Victoria - the grey text will be hard for some people to see, and won't meet accessibility standards.
Degree planning page
The main heading (Bachelor of Arch Studies) is at the top of each tab page - it looks a bit odd. We used a different approach on topic pages.
Box for choosing majors:
This was a little confusing.
I think the purpose of the major box is unclear. I assume that it sets the info that displays below? It needs a relationship with the info below so that is clear - eg, through design, or through text (not ideal).
The view is a little confusing. It would work well if it opened with: What major would you like to study? At the moment it opens with: 'Show info only for'.
Show info only for: I found that heading a little confusing - I wasn't sure what it related to.
Second major in: I think they will all choose a second major, just because the option is there and they don't really know how university works.
I think we should (MUST) tell them that choosing a major from a different programme is an option. How about this text: Some students choose to study two majors ('double major'). Here you can choose another major from within the discipline, to see what courses ('papers') you'll study. However, at Victoria you can choose a second major from almost any area of study.
However, I'd prefer the page to just have a single major. You could say:
Here you can see what courses you'll study for a [landscape design] major. Sometimes students choose two majors ('double major').
Entry requirements
I'd put these after the degree requirements. I think it's best to tell them about the programme, then tell them how to get into it. But happy to discuss - I'm flexible on that.
I'm not sure about putting admission requirements under 'Entry requirements' - they are different things and should be kept separate. This is actually where I'd say that entry to the BAS is open, but to year 2 is restricted (including option choices).
Degree requirements
Suggest remove the sentence 'To finish this degree...' at the top - we don't need it.
Suggest nesting the 'minimum' text as below:
Get at least 360 points in total.
This must include:
- Minimum of xxx
- Minimum of xxx
- Minimum of xxx
Gain entry ... I wouldn't include that here - this is very much about getting into year 1.
xxx (first major)
We don't have useful school subjects by major - only by degree. We'd have to ask each academic involved for these, for every major. I'm not sure the content is high value enough to justify this - but let's discuss.
'Leads into:' Nice idea but might be out of context (ie, what leads into xxx?) Just cos we're under a heading: Landscape Architecture. You could say 'Degree leads into'
Button: Enrol into Architecture
Rename: Enrol in BAS (or Enrol in Bachelor in Architectural Studies)
Time left to apply - great to see!
Additional requirements
I'm not sure I'd highlight this here - where they are looking for info about getting in and getting started. Let's put it on the About page - maybe under Year 2 or in the 'Good to know' block?
Schedule and courses heading
Two really difficult words for school students - and difficult to explain in a heading. Why not call it:
What you'll study (as on Topic page)
or Courses
or Courses you'll study.
The intro text needs to use the word course and explain what it means, fairly early on. Try: In your first year, you'll study courses ('papers') like design, environment...
I found the course boxes a little unclear:
I wasn't sure about the difference between General courses and Example courses. In the current info, Example courses is 'Example degree' - that might be better?
I wasn't sure why some boxes have courses listed while others have 'Elective course' and 'Core course'.
I'd do away with words like 'core course' and 'elective course' and call them 'Compulsory' and 'Choice' or 'Optional'.
I wasn't sure about the link wording 'Hide recommended courses'. Why are they called 'recommended'? Perhaps just say 'Hide courses'.
Year 2
Says it's specific to the specialisation you've chosen - but we're on that now - perhaps just say: 'Covers relevant technological...'
Other majors
Nice
Fees and schols
Small content tweak - Other study costs - remove the word 'living'
We have to tell them it's an estimate only. See previous note
Not sure about /y
might have to use:
/year
OR
/pa
School leavers' scholarships
Remove (is a duplicate of what's further down).
Programme-related scholarships & awards
I like the way this is integrated, but wonder about its value for school leavers who really just want to get into uni.
If we decide to keep this:
Change the heading to: Scholarships and awards for Architecture students
Then add a sentence saying: Below are some of the scholarships and awards you can apply for while you're a student.
OR
During your study, you can apply for other scholarships and awards.
Apply and enrol
Love the visual look to this.
'Check that you meet the admission criteria' - change to 'Check that you meet the admission criteria for university.'
GES - would be better to put it in full. But no worries if it's too long.
Plan your study - can't see it, is obscured by a duplicate menu in the wireframe.
Apply to enrol where under tick box - this is a duplicate of heading in step 3. Change to: Get an offer of study
Key dates
Can this be automated? If not, let's discuss with Tash and Tania what might be involved in keeping it updated.
From Charles (CSP Reference Group)
From Martin (CSP Reference Group)
From Theresa (CSP Reference Group)
From Kristina (CSP Reference Group) and Melissa
- Not all programmes will be suitable for international students, and not even all courses (a few exceptions that are only available to domestic students)
- Transferring students should be directed to the faculty office, not Student Recruitment
- With registration of interest becoming a year-round thing would be better if called Enrol now could be called Apply now. It would then work whenever in the year somebody viewed it.
- Need a note to say that there are outside majors (and maybe mention the other flexibilities) and that you should speak to the faculty office
- Selecting a major: This would be better down lower, after the generic programme rules.
- Rules for the major: For some majors it will be hard to specify many courses (e.g. Asian Studies) meaning the list of suitable courses will be very long.
- Maybe we rename other majors to be "other BAS majors and subjects". See the BA page for an example.
Font size of fees is Too Large
From Adrienne (CSP Reference Group) and John Randal
- Mapping between programme length (in trimesters) and points is not linear so will have to be written for each specific programme.
- Similar programme should probably be "alternative" and only entered when appropriate
- Can we use location based information to show accommodation (at least as a link) to people outside of Wellington?
- Instead of degree courses say "from BAS courses"
- Maybe swap the order of the rules where there is a "+" to say "at least 180 points from the 2XX and 3XX BAS courses as part of a minimum of 210 points at from the 2XX and 3XX courses" (Paul's comments: Not any clearer, but we can try playing around with the wording and layout)
- On the point above, is the button on the wrong line? Or do we need a second button?
- Would degree planner enforce any "workload balance"?
- How do we show "important" courses? (PS: I forget what this means).
- Degree planner: Would be good to not suggest (or even block/warn) impossible timetable combinations. Not sure how you can know/tell.
- On fees and scholarships, should it be called fees and funding? Culd we link to Student Loans, maybe also Student Allowances eligibility page? Talk to Stephanie Hunter, as she owns the financing your study page.