analysis of photo-sharing networks

ÍNDEX

1. Introduction………………………………………………….

2. Objectives..………………………………………………….

2.1 Heuristics………………………………………………

2.2 Task Analysis………………………………………….

2.3 Virtual Ethnography………………………………......

3. Description of the textual corpus………………………….

4. Theoretical and methodological framework……………..

4.1 Heuristics………………………………………………

4.2 Task Analysis………………………………………….


5. Analysis and results………………………………………..

5.1 Heuristics………………………………………………

5.1.1 Pinterest………………………………………...

5.1.2 Tumblr...………………………………………...

5.1.3 Instagram…..…………………………………...

5.1.4 Flickr…..………………………………………...

5.1.5 Photobucket…………………………………….

5.2 Task Analysis………………………………………….

5.2.1 Pinterest………………………………………...

5.2.2 Tumblr...………………………………………...

5.2.3 Instagram…..…………………………………...

5.2.4 Flickr…..………………………………………...

5.2.5 Photobucket…………………………………….


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5.3.1 Pinterest………………………………………...

5.3.2 Tumblr...………………………………………...

5.3.3 Instagram…..…………………………………...

5.3.4 Flickr…..………………………………………...

5.3.5 Photobucket…………………………………….

6. Conclusions…………………………………………………

Bibliography……………………………………………………

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1. INTRODUCTION During the course we have studied the main methods for analysing interactive media

messages from an interdisciplinary perspective. With this set of tools we have been

able to develop new forms of interactive digital communication. Now, we give way to

the realization of a research project that synthesises all we have learnt.

The research project is based on the application of the methods, analytic categories

and concepts worked over the course. In this case, we have analysed, from a

comparative perspective, five websites of photo-sharing networks. Regarding the

methods, the research focuses on a combination of them: usability, in which we

analyse heuristics and task analysis, and the qualitative method of virtual ethnography.

The reason why we chose this topic is that some members of the group are so

interested in photography and we wanted to discover the advantages and

disadvantages that provide the most important websites of photo-sharing networks. We

have chosen the first photo-sharing networks that appear in Alexa’s ranking: 1)

Pinterest 2) Tumblr 3) Instagram 4) Flickr and 5) Photobucket. Moreover, we observed

that the website of Instagram doesn’t have so many functions compared with the

mobile phone application so we thought it could be interesting to compare this to other

photo-sharing networks that have an app too. Is for this reason that this research

project aims to analyse the usability and the users’ satisfaction of the photo-sharing

networking websites.

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2. OBJECTIVES 2.1 Heuristics: Do the websites of the first most popular photo-sharing networks follow the 15 heuristic principles of Jakob Nielsen? Through the approach of this objective, the research aims to verify whether the five

photo-sharing network websites accomplish 15 principles that serve as general rules to

identify usability problems on the website. To perform the analysis it will be taken: 1)

the 10 principles proposed by Jakob Nielsen, which are the keys to develop a good

design not only on websites but also in any information system and 2) 5 more

principles based on the observation and analysis of photo-sharing networks, that sum

up what they should accomplish to achieve an optimal functioning.

2.2 Task Analysis: Are the websites of photography platforms effective and efficient?

This objective wants to check the effectiveness and efficiency of the 5 web platforms of

the photo-sharing networks through a performance measurement tested on 20 people

who have never interacted with these pages. The accomplishment of this objective will

make possible to determine difficulties and understanding problems of the users when

using this kind of websites, and also to know about usability, efficiency and comfort on

the pages.

2.3 Virtual Ethnography: Are the users satisfied with the webs of photo-sharing networks? With this objective the study aims to assess the degree of user satisfaction with the

websites of photo-sharing networks. To conduct this evaluation it has been used the

poll technique and a 50 people sample that has been asked about their opinion on the

pages through open questions, numerical rates and satisfaction scales. Conclusions

has been extracted by comparison and through statistical parameters and SUS scales;

and with these results the investigation wants to determine the amount of users that

are satisfied with these websites and how the sites could improve their designs to

satisfy the demands and needs of its visitors.

3

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE TEXTUAL CORPUS

Pinterest it’s a social network that allows users to create and manage image collections

on a personal board. The contents of this web page are distributed in pinboards, which

are like bulletin boards. The user can also share pictures and follow pinboards of other

people who have the same interests. Moreover, it’s important to know that Pinterest

have the option to share pictures with another social network (only Facebook). It has

his own app.

Tumblr it’s a microblogging platform that allows users to post texts, images, videos,

links, quotes and audio. The most important tool of this network is the “dashboard”,

which is the place where all the posts of the people who are followed by the user are.

Through this, on the one hand the user can share, comment, reblog and click “like”.

And, on the other hand, can also upload text messages, images, links and quotes

through the control panel located on the top of the website. It is considered a photo-

sharing network because the main content are pictures. It has also his own app.

Instagram it’s a photography website based on the mobile application also called

“Instagram”, which allows you to share and view images of the people you are

following. However, it’s important to say that the particular web page only gives the

possibility to see pictures of the followed people, click “like” and comment. So, this

website doesn’t offer the chance to upload photos and/or share them with other social

networks like Facebook or Twitter (but the application allows it).

4

Flickr it’s a social network that allows you to store, organize, search, sell and share

photos and videos online. Flickr is famous for its skill to manage images using tools

that allow the author to label his photos to explore and comment the images of other

users. In addition, this community is governed by rules of conduct and terms of use

that promote good management of content. Finally, Flickr has its own mobile app too.

Photobucket it’s a website basically used to create personal photo albums, store

avatars displayed on Internet and also store videos. The users have the possibility to

keep their albums private, allow password access or leave the album open to the

public. Moreover, it’s important to know that this photography webpage has many

limitations in terms of space (i.e.: if you don’t pay for a premium account, the pictures

can not be larger than 1MB and the videos should last a maximum of 5 minutes).

5

4. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 4.1. Usability Usability is a measure of the quality of user experience when interacting with a

website, a software or a mechanical device, and it assesses how easy interfaces are to

use. According to ISO, usability is “the extent to which a product can be used by

specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and

satisfaction in a specified context of use”.

Usability integrates two fields: 1) Usability as an analytical methodology, which consists

in studying interfaces and HCI process through three main methods: inspection, inquiry

and testing and 2) usability as a design methodology, which consists in developing

design principles for websites.

4.1.1. Heuristics

This research is going to focus on the analytical methodology as the goal is to analyse

the websites, not to redesign them. As it has been mentioned, one of the objectives of

this research is to analyse if our objects of study follow 15 heuristic principles. Heuristic

evaluation is an inspection method that involves evaluators examining the interface

and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles.

Jakob Nielsen was the first one to talk about web usability and he studied around 249

problems of website usability that allowed him to wrote the 10 principles that any

website should apply to satisfy users needs:

1. Visibility of system status

The system always should keep informed users about what

is going on, looking for appropriate feedback within a

reasonable time following each user interaction.

2. Match between system and the real

world

The system should use words, phrases and concepts

familiar to the user, in other words, speaking user language.

Follow real-word conventions, and make sure the

information appears in a natural and logical order.

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3. User control and

freedom

Users often choose system functions by mistake, and they

will need an “emergency exit” to leave the page without

having to go through an extended dialogue. Analysts should

support undo and redo functions.

4. Consistency and standards

Users should not confuse the meaning of words, phrases or

actions. It’s better to follow the platform conventions of

which they are accustomed.

5. Error prevention

Using a careful design that prevents a problem for the user

and avoid the possible errors.

6. Recognition rather

than recall

The objects, actions and options must be visible, and in this

way user don’t need to remember information between

different parts of your dialogue with your site. Instructions of

the system must be visible and easy for the users.

7. Flexibility and efficiency of use

Accelerators might speed up the interaction for the expert

user, and allow the system to cater to both inexperienced

and experienced users. So you allow users to adapt to the

system for their frequent actions.

8. Aesthetic and minimalist design

Dialogues should not have irrelevant information because it

is a distraction and slow-down.

9. Help users recognize, diagnose

and recover from errors

Error messages should be expressed in plain language with

no codes, indicating the problem and suggesting a

constructive solution.

10. Help and documentation

Even the user don’t need documentation to use the system,

it’s always better provide help and documentation.

Information should be easy to search, focuses on user’s

task, list the concrete steps users need to be carried out and

not be too large.

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4.1.2. Task Analysis Performance measurement is the other method that has been used to analyse the

usability in the photo-sharing network websites. This technique is a testing method,

which consists in a representative group of users that develop basic tasks while

evaluators analyse the outputs to understand how the interface facilitates (or not) the

interaction. Evaluators measure interaction times, number of clicks, paths, etc.

In this research we asked the subjects to accomplish this three actions:

1. Sign up: First, the subject has to enter to the website with their account, if he has

one. If he can’t enter because he hasn’t created an account yet, he should sign up

using a username and a password.

2. Upload a picture: In the second task what the subject must do is to upload a picture

to the website, searching the different options or functions of the web that allows him to

achieve this objective.

3. Share a picture to any other social network: The last task consists in sharing the

picture that the user has just published, to another social network.

4.2. Virtual Ethnography Ethnography is a qualitative field that study everyday life events of cultural group,

through the participation and engagement. Virtual ethnography is the same but applied

to Internet world; observe how people interact online in order to write the story of their

situated context, informed by social interaction. Virtual ethnography allows a detailed

study of online relationships, so it’s not only a media of communication but also a daily

fixture in the lives of people and a meeting place that allows the creation of

communities, and ultimately, the emergence of a new form of sociability.

The cyberspace includes new methods and new data gathering, also it is needed new

analysis and interpretation techniques. The type of interaction involves a researcher

and participant engaging in conversation and meaning making through repeated,

revisited and jointly interpreted conversations that support reflection and revision.

In this research, virtual ethnography is used to analyse user’s satisfaction with photo

sharing network websites. It has been developed an interview with 4 open questions, a

8

rate scale and a System Usabililty Scale. This last item is a method named SUS and it

is a simple, ten-item scale giving a global view of subjective assessments of usability.

SUS is a Likert scale, where a statement is made and the respondent then indicates

the degree of agreement or disagreement with the statement on a 5 point scale. The

technique used for selecting items is to identify examples of things, which lead to

extreme expressions of the attitude being captured.

SUS has proved to be a valuable evaluation tool, being robust and reliable and is

generally used after the respondent has had an opportunity to use the system. SUS

yields a single number from 0 to 100, representing a composite measure of the overall

usability of the system being studied. The average lies in 68, so lower scores mean

users are not satisfied with the system and that the website should improve its design.

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5. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 5.1 HEURISTICS After studying each photo-sharing network we proposed 5 more heuristics principles

that are valued for the users and improves his experience in websites.

11. Open access to the functions of the web

All the surfers should be allowed to see the content of the

network (posted by other users) without having an account

unless the content is private.

12. Different options of visualization

In the home or initial page of every web there could be

different options of visualization of the content (grid of

content, vertical, infinite scroll…)

13. Personalization of personal profile

Every profile picture should have the possibility of

customizing it according the preferences of the user.

14. Register of activity

All the websites, specially the social networks should

include a register of activity in order to make easier for the

user to search something he has liked, reblogged,

commented, etc.

15. Possibility of reblog

All kind of content should have the option to reblog,

because it is very interesting to share something you like to

your friends or followers.

5.1.1 PINTEREST


2. Match between system and the real world

3. User control and freedom


5. Error prevention

6. Recognition rather than recall

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9. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors


11. Open access to the content of the network





1. Visibility of system status The features of Pinterest include a system that always keep users informed about what

is happening in each moment. For example, while the user upload a picture in his

profile, it appears a bar that indicates how much time it takes to finish the action.

Figure 1: Progress bar in Pinterest when uploading a picture


The language of Pinterest is simple and understandable: there are words like "profile",

"boards" or "search" that provide a simple read and interpretation. Moreover, the

information appears in a logical and coherent order. However, the user must know the

meaning of "Pin" or "Pin it", which comes from the own name of the social network and

it is used to perform different tasks (upload a picture, reblog, like, or comment).

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When the users choose some functions by mistake and they need to go out of the

option, they always have the option "cancel" in order to return to the beginning of the

website. They can also click the button "Esc".

Figure 2: Cancel button in Pinterest when the user creates a board

4. Consistency and standards The platform has created a convention in order to understand the meaning of the icons,

the words and the different actions. For example, in the website of Pinterest, you can

like a post through a heart like Instagram or Tumblr; moreover, you can send a pin with

the icon of a plane.

Figure 3: “Send” and “Like” button in Pinterest 5. Error prevention

Pinterest has a careful design, which prevents the occurrence of problems. For

example, when you try to upload a photo, the button is disabled after it is clicked, so

the person cannot update the post twice by accident.

6. Recognition rather than recall Pinterest offers a tool that allows searching photos about different ambits and it

remembers you some words that you searched previously. It is useful because the

user should not have to remember information and it is easily retrievable whenever

appropriate.


Pinterest doesn’t allow users to tailor the actions proposed: it doesn’t have accelerators

that speed up the interaction for the expert user or simpler systems that can be useful

for inexpert users.


Pinterest uses a simple design and it provides relevant information combined with

icons that makes an easier read in order to get an understandable website.

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9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

In Pinterest, when there’s an error, the website indicates the problem through a

message that explains the reason; however, it doesn’t suggest a solution. For example,

if you want to upload a picture and you upload another file by mistake, it will appear a

message to notify you the error.

Figure 5: Error message due to a too large image 10. Help and documentation When you become a user of Pinterest, the photo-sharing network presents a user

guide that explains all the functions of the website. In addition, when the site

incorporates a new feature it appears a link at the top of the page in order to learn

more about how it works and see some examples. Finally, there is a section in the

platform called "Help Center" that provides FAQ’s and support.


In Pinterest, if the user doesn't have an account, he cannot visualize the content of the

photo-sharing network.

Figure 6: Pinterest’s front page

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12. Different options of visualization Pinterest doesn't offer different options of visualization. The photos are always in a grid

with infinite scroll.

13. Personalization of the user’s profile Pinterest doesn't allow customizing the profile. The users can modify their own profile

photos but the design and the options are always the same.


Pinterest shows the register of user's activity: in the top of the page, there are three

sites where you can see all the posts that you liked, all the posts that you "pined" and

the albums that you created since you created the account.

Figure 7: Pinterest’s access to the register of activity 15. Possibility of reblog

Pinterest offers the option of reblog images. It allows creating albums with inspirational

photos from different users. In Pinterest, this option is called "Pin it", which comes from

the own name of the platform. 5.1.2 TUMBLR





5. Error prevention


14










1. Visibility of system status Tumblr should improve this point of his interface because there isn’t much feedback

and information about the status of the system. For example, when the user uploads a

picture he doesn’t receive any message saying the picture has been uploaded

successfully, he can just see that the loading window disappears. Another interesting

thing could be informing the user about the status of the image, the text or the video

when uploading, because the user can only see a circle moving without knowing how

much time this will last.

2. Match between system and the real world When the user looks at Tumblr’s dashboard interface for the first time he can

immediately understand every word because the network uses a current and familiar

language for the user. Some examples of the words you can find are (see Figure 8):

text, photo, quote, audio, video, customize, posts, search blogs, etc. So there isn’t any

specific word from the network that the user needs to understand to carry on using it.

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Figure 8: Tumblr’s dashboard or homepage


Almost all the actions you can do through the different icons located in the dashboard

have the option “Cancel” that allows the user to return to the initial page. When there

isn’t this option you can always click the Tumblr logo or the house icon located at the

top of the page to exit what you are doing and return to the dashboard. In order to

make easier to exit what you are doing and do other actions, the interface indicates

you in which section you are in that moment.

The only moment, in which you have no other option than to follow the instructions of

the interface is when you have just signed up, because the user must follow five blogs,

indicate which operative system has his phone and some other data to go to the

dashboard.


It is difficult to confuse the different actions of Tumblr’s interface because all of them

have a different word and a particular icon associated to them. Also, it is difficult to

misunderstand the meaning of every action because in general they follow general

platform conventions. For example, the icon of the section “Liked posts” is a heart like

Instagram or We Heart It; the icon of “Photo” is a camera, and the icon of “Messages”

is an envelope (see Figure 8).

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5. Error prevention

Tumblr’s interface has also certain aspects that prevent the user from making mistakes

or do things he did not want. For example, all the “Cancel” buttons are in grey while all

the “Post” buttons are in blue in order to avoid the user clicks “Cancel” instead of

“Post”. It also asks the user if he is sure about deleting a post or leaving a page in

order to make sure the user doesn’t lose something he may not recover. Finally, when

the user likes an image the “Like” icon (a heart) turns into red, so if he sees this image

again another day, he knows he has already liked and prevents him from doing it twice.

6. Recognition rather than recall In order to minimize the user’s memory load, Tumblr offers

different functions that makes his experience easier and more

efficent: 1) when the user searches for something (hashtags or

other blogs) the interface reminds him the similar words that he

has already searched in other occasions and 2) when the user

tags a post the interface reminds him the similar words the has

already used for tagging in other occasions.

Figure 9: Tumblr’s search engine


There aren’t any accelerators or tools for experienced users in Tumblr. The functions

and actions are the same for the novice and the experienced users and there isn’t any

other way to do them faster. However, we have to take into account that all the

functions that Tumblr offers to his users are very fast and easy to perform. How can we

post an image faster than reblogging it from another blog?


Tumblr has a very minimalist and simple design because it doesn’t have much

information, it only has relevant information for the user and this is synthesized with

icons and visual elements (see Figure 8). The different post options can be easily

differentiated due to the different colours of the icons. And also, it is easier to know

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what the user has to do in every moment because the important buttons are in blue,

which stand out from the other words in white.

9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors When there’s some error either due to the actions of the user or the website, the page

explains the user what has happened and what he should do.

Figure 10: Error message of Tumblr

10. Help and documentation It is easier to find the help page because it is indicated in the dashboard with a

question mark (see Figure 8). When the users clicks this icon he is redirected to a page

with FAQ, different ways to solve the most common problems and an email direction in

order to ask all kind of questions about the network.


Tumblr doesn’t have open access to the functions of the network because if the surfer

doesn’t have an account in the network when he enters the website he can’t post any

kind of content, but it is possible to see other user’s content searching blogs or

hashtags with Tumblr’s search engine.

Figure 11: Tumblr’s initial page

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12. Different options of visualization One of the latest updates of Tumblr is the option of choosing different visualizations

when the user looks for a hashtag or a concrete word, because he can choose to see

the pictures in a grid with infinite scroll or in a bigger size and one after another

vertically. However, it isn’t possible to choose the visualization in the dashboard, which

could be more useful for the user.

Figure 12: Page of results of the hashtag #love 13. Personalization of the user’s profile Tumblr is one of the only blog platforms that provides the possibility of customizing

predesigned themes for each user’s blog for free. Tumblr users can choose the design

of his blog within a wide range of predesigned free themes and then they can change

different elements like tons, colours, size and visualization of the images.

14. Register of activity In the dashboard, there is a headland called “Liked posts” (see Figure 8) where you

can see all the posts that you liked since you created the account. You can also find

your reblogged pictures at you blog or your profile. The only thing you cannot view is

the comments you have left in other users’ photos.


The reblog icon is one of the most distinctive aspects of Tumblr because you can post

any content at your blog by clicking one single button. It is such an important element

of the network that some people say that Tumblr is “the Twitter of images”.

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5.1.3 INSTAGRAM





5. Error prevention












The web of Instagram doesn’t offer so much information about the system and there is

not feedback for the user, so it can’t be informed about what’s going on every moment.

20


The language used by the website is adapted to the one from the user: the words and

icons are simple and understandable. For example, “log in” or “exit” are words

everyone understands and use in every-day conversations.


When the user wants to cancel some of the actions, the website has the option

“Cancel”, which permits you to return to the home page.


The platform has icons and symbols that define it, but it’s easy to recognize their

meanings. For example, there is the “heart” that means you like a photograph, or the

house on the top of the page, which indicates the returning to the home page, as well

as the photo of your profile which means you can go directly to your profile.

Figure 13: Instagram’s “Like” button 5. Error prevention

Instagram has a system that prevents user’s errors, and this way avoid the many

problem he could have. For example, it is used the red colour when you want to delete

a comment because is more visual for the user and to make him conscious about the

action.

Figure 14: The message that appears when you click “Delete” 6. Recognition rather than recall The platform hasn’t a system that avoids users to make memory efforts. Instagram

doesn’t have search engine o recognition tools.


In the web of Instagram there aren’t accelerators that speed up the system. Expert and

inexpert users can do the same actions. However, we have to take into account that

21

the website doesn’t have many functions, so most of its utilities don’t need to have

accelerators because they are simple.


The design of Instagram is simple and easy to understand. There isn’t irrelevant

information or useless elements in the home page; everything has a function.


When there’s a problem, it appears a message in the middle of the page informing you

about what’s happening and where the error comes from. Usually trouble is related

with saturation of users and the network suggests loading the page again.


Even though there’s the option “Help” in the website, it’s difficult to find it because it is

on the lower part of the page and the user must search a lot to find it. When he clicks

on it, different options appear depending on the kind of the problem, so it is easy to find

a solution for the problem.

Figure 16: Lower part of Instagram’s home page where it can be seen the button “Help”


If the user has never signed up, in other words, if he doesn’t have an Instagram

account, it’s impossible to access it, and for this reason he is no able to see other

user’s photos or videos. 12. Different options of visualization

Instagram’s web offers the option to visualize photos in some different ways in your

personal profile. You can see a great amount of pictures in a grid or one after another

clicking the keyboard arrows. However, this tool is not present in the news feed page,

which could be useful too.

13. Personalization of the user’s profile

Instagramers don’t have the possibility to personalize the design of his profile.

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14. Register of the activity

Instagram doesn’t provide any kind of register of activity, so the user can’t consult the

previous, likes or comments he has left.


The Instagram user can’t reblog any photo or video from the users that is following.

There isn’t even the option of saving a photo, so there isn’t any way to post a photo

from another user.

5.1.4 FLICKR





5. Error prevention









23


15. Possibility of reblog - 1. Visibility of system status

All the time the system offers information about what is happening when an action is

performed or when the page is "thinking". So, the users find messages that appear

spontaneously and that warn them about the process that the web is doing. Some

examples are the window that pops up while the pictures are uploading which

indicates, through a bar, how the task progresses or the window indicating the process

of editing the picture.

Figure 17: Progress bar in Flickr when the user edits a picture


Flickr uses very familiar terms by the users because the platform doesn’t use a specific

language linked with the system of the website. Moreover, it uses words very nearby

and understandable as the fact of holder the access to the personal section "You";

abbreviating words like "Expos" instead “exposures” to make it more colloquial; or

using phrases with such a sympathetic treatment as "Puff, puff, puff ... Your gallery is

running out of energy. Fill it with beautiful photos." or "¡Hello! Photo albums need

photos like on the same way that stories need words.”


In general, there isn’t an explicit option of exit when the user is carrying out actions and

only in some very specific actions they have the option "Cancel" to abort the task.

However, the logo of the website is always present in the upper left margin of the page

to redirect you to the homepage when you are in the development of a "hopeless”

action.

24


In Flickr there’s no place for the confusion because it’s assumed that the clarity and

naturalness with which the site explains the controls implies that users don’t question

at any time the meaning of what the website is saying to them: Flickr uses a nearby

slang that doesn’t raises any presumption, users act for inertia under the convention

that everything is presented in this way for their recognition.

5. Error prevention

Flickr is a website that has a careful design, so the system error prevention is

manifested, mostly, through the activation of colours. An example is the fact that when

the users search with the search engine, the magnifying glass icon -which is grey when

is inactive- becomes blue. Another example is the colour of the sections, which

changes their colour when the user puts it on, and it goes from white to pink to

recognize to what section the user will be redirected. We found other devices in order

to make sure the user doesn’t fall into the trap such as highlighted buttons that lead to

the most frequent choices, colours, sizes, reliefs or blinking icons.

Figure 18: Upper part of Flikr’s page where it can be appreciated the mutation form one color to another

6. Recognition rather than recall Flickr offers to its users instructions of use and navigation all time, and tries to provide

them with many advanced features as possible. For example, when searching, the

platform offers several places to do it (on the personal section, in other galleries...) so

users don’t have to take any trouble thinking about the location of the content.


Although the page stands out for its efficiency and agility, it is unknown if there’s any

option or accelerator aimed at most experienced users. Flickr presents its experience

equally to all users, and tries to supply the best conditions to perform all the tasks.

25


We can consider that Flickr has a minimalist and practical design that allows an easy

navigation and comfortable identification of all the options. Regarding the information

that Flickr gives to its users, the way that the network does it follows this principle of

functionality: only appear occasionally, especially when there is a problem or a process

in development, and in a clear and synthetic way. 9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

The website identifies and communicates the errors to users, making them part of the

knowledge of the nature of the mistake, and also offering them alternatives to the

solution or the abortion of the task. Some examples are the actions of uploading files

that are not allowed by their format, the weight of the files that the users try to load or

the lack of capacitance on their account.

Figure 20: Flickr error when uploading a picture


The website, despite the fact that initially lets users navigate freely on the platform, is

always available for their concerns. Besides an information section, Flickr adds

descriptions, pop-ups and "guided visits" to many of its options in order to preven the

user from getting lost.

Figure 21:Guided visit of Flickr

11. Open access to the content of the network Any surfer can visualize the content of the network without having an account by

searching tags and users a the search engine.

26

12. Different options of visualization The design of the display of the contents on Flickr is standard for all the users and

there’s no option to configure it in any other way.

13. Personalization of personal profile Flickr doesn’t allow its users to customize their personal profile because it uses a

uniform design pattern for all the personal pages.

14. Register of activity Flickr users enjoy a section on their profile where all their activity with other people is

recorded, like the pictures where they put "like" and the comments they have written.

Figure 22: Flickr’s register of activity

15. Possibility of reblog Even though Flickr itself doesn’t offer the possibility of “reblog”, in the platform it exists

an own dynamic that could be equivalent: it’s about the “Expo”, which are albums

created by the users that they fill with photos from other people who also interact with

the social network.

5.1.5 PHOTOBUCKET





27

5. Error prevention












Photobucket has a really good system to keep their users informed in every moment.

For example, if the user wants to create an album it appears a bar, which is getting

blue until the photo is uploaded. Moreover, the user can see how many pictures have

been uploaded because the network has the phrase “0 (number of the photos that are

uploaded) out of 1 (number of the images that have to be hanging) uploaded to your

Bucket”.

Figure 23: Photobucket’s uploading bar


This photo-sharing network uses a simple language in order to make all the features

understandable to their users. Some words that are found in the website are: home,

library, top categories, people, interest… Moreover, Photobucket doesn’t have an

especial language, so it means that everyone can understand the features of the

28

webpage. It only has the word “Bucket” which refers to the general album and that the

user learn quickly.


If a user is uploading a photo and he doesn’t want to do it, he has the option to cancel

the operation on the right of the blue bar. However, it doesn’t happen with the albums:

in this case if the user wants to create an album but when it’s loading he want to cancel

it, he can’t. However, he can always click to the logo to go to the home page.


On the one hand, most of the categories and features of Photobucket are really clear,

but on the other hand, there’re some options that should have another kind of word to

describe it. For example, next to the “library” it has an option called “Connect” which

the user can get confused because some people could think this option is to connect

with other social networks (Facebook, Twitter..) and when the user clicks on it, he

realize that inside this category there are “followings” and “followers”, “recent activity”

and “interests” options.

5. Error prevention

Photobucket has a strict limitation in terms of space: if the user wants to upload a

photo and it is larger than 1MB, he can’t. So, the network should warn it before the

user chooses the photo. Another is example is that in order to create an album, the

user has to write the name of the album, a description and the option to be a public or

a private album. Firstly, It’s important to say the user could think perfectly that all the

options are not obligatory because there isn’t any signal to know it; but, if the user

doesn’t write the description a statement appears saying “This field is required”, but

any field is selected with any colour, so the user doesn’t know which field is obligatory

and which is optional.

6. Recognition rather than recall Photobucket has a clear system that allows the user to view the recent activity,

because there’s a section where you can see the photos you’ve liked and commented.


Photobucket have options to upload a photo more quickly. On the one hand, the user

can click on the “Library”, select the album that he wants and upload the photo. But, on

29

the other hand, the option “Upload” is always present at the top of the web. So, it’s

easier for novice users to use this network.

Figure 24: Photobucket’s home page where the “Upload” button can be clearly seen


Photobucket doesn’t have a minimalist design. This statement is based on the fact that

when you get into the website, it has a photo at the background, some images below

the option to sign up, and moreover, some options on both sides (right and left). So

when you take an overview it feels like it is a saturated page and makes a little difficult

to focus the attention in one single thing.


Photobucket doesn’t have a clear error system to inform which the mistakes that the

user had done are. Sometimes the user can’t sign up or upload a photography and it a

appears a message that says it has been an error but it doesn’t explain what caused it

or what the solution is.


Photobucket includes a feature on the right side of the page called “Help”. Inside it,

appears a lot of categories “privacy and account settings”, “payments”, “mobile”,

“general knowledge”, “upload”, etc. In addition, it has a section of “hot topics” that

includes many problems lots of users have had.

Figure 25: Photobucket’s help section

30


Photobucket offers the possibility to view photos and videos uploaded by other users

without having an account.


This photo-sharing network has a strict visualization of the content: all the images are

organized in a vertical structure without the possibility to change.


The design of the personal profile is the same for all the users and it can’t be changed

in any way.


Photobucket includes a section called “Recent activity” which involve trending photos,

“your uploads”, and all the user’s friends.

Figure 27: Photobucket’s register of activity 15. Possibility of reblog

Photobucket doesn’t offer the possibility to reblog, so it means that no one can share

something he likes to his friends or followers.

31

5.2 TASK ANALYSIS 5.2.1 PINTEREST

1. Sign up

Respondents were able to sign up smoothly and easily. Moreover, they have seen the

operation of the web because after the registration, Pinterest presents a user guide

that explains how it works. During the sign up, users have two options: they can do it

via Facebook or introducing the email. The four respondents used email and they had

to write their name, their email and password and their country. Finally, they had to

click "Sign up" and finally the account was created.

However, It seems that the user guide can help the novice members but sometimes it

is difficult to understand for them: half of the subjects had problems to arrive at the

home page of Pinterest because they had to clicked "Next" several times and finally, it

appears a message in a screen ("to finish up the tour, try searching something that

interests you") and that was confusing for them. When this message appears, the

users have to click a blog. However, they could finally understand the last step and

they could continue the experiment.

2. Upload a picture

The action of upload a photo was a little more difficult than the first one for the

subjects. Firstly, two of them wanted to upload a photo from the home page and they

clicked "Pin it". Then they realised that it was wrong and they clicked at their name.

The other ones clicked directly their name in order to enter inside their profile. Finally,

all the subjects clicked the icon "+" ("Add a Pin") from their profile and they could

upload the image correctly.

3. Share a picture to any other social network

Firstly, all the subjects opened an image and they read the different options. Then, they

clicked different options: they tried to share the photo with the icon of the flag, with the

option "Pint it", with the function "visit site" or the "Notifications" button. Some of them

tried it several times with different images and finally, they realised that this option

doesn't exist in Pinterest. You can just share an image when you are adding a pin from

your computer; in this case, it appears a option called “Post to Facebook”, but you

cannot share photos from other users.

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5.2.2 TUMBLR

1. Sign up

Half of the subjects of the survey have found the way to sign up quickly but the other

two have confused the “Log in” button for the “Sign up” one. This is the main problem

with the sign up so Tumblr should differentiate the buttons or explain the user what is

the function of each one. A good way to differentiate them could be associating the

each word with a different icon.

Many users had problems to arrive to the dashboard after signing up, because Tumblr

doesn’t allow them to skip some steps. Some of the actions that you have to perform in

order to arrive to the dashboard are difficult to understand for them. It is interesting to

have a guide that explains you the basic elements of the network but it should have a

way to skip all this instructions and go directly to the dashboard.

2. Upload a picture

In general, the task of uploading a picture hasn’t been difficult for the users because

they have identified the icon quickly (which is a camera) and they have uploaded the

picture with any problems. Only one person needed the help of the researcher in order

to find the button to upload the photo.


The experiment has shown that Tumblr has to change the way users can share content

to other social networks because all of the respondents needed the help of the

researcher to find the icon to post the picture to another social network. All of them

have clicked other buttons but they have been uncapable of identify the share icon.

The main problem is that people dosen’t associate the arrow with the action of posting

to another network, so they should study what’s the best way to indicate it.

33

5.2.3 INSTAGRAM 1. Sign up

In general, all the subjects have had difficulties to sign up to the website of Instagram.

From the beginning subjects haven’t find the option “Enter”: subjects first observe the

two buttons that refers to access to Instagram by Android or Iphone and not the button

“Enter”. Some subjects have even clicked all the possible buttons they have seen, and

they have consulted the section “Help” to find information about how to enter in the

website. As everyone can only be registered by the mobile phone application, the

analyst gave them an Instragram username and its password.

2. Upload a picture

This objective cannot be achieved because the web of Instagram doesn’t allow

uploading any kind of photos or videos, there isn’t a tool that gives this possibility as

the mobile phone application.

The subjects don’t know this information and they start searching some tools or options

that permit them achieve this objective, so the first action they all do is to click on the

icon of the house, because it is the first they see, but they realize that nothing happens

after doing it. A lot of them look for a photo camera but they don’t find it. So then, they

click their profile photo and look the options of the profile. Some of them click on the

“Help” button and others exit this menu. Finally, the analyst had to intervene and he

had to get to know the subjects the impossibility to uploading a photo in the Instagram

web.


The last step hasn’t been done because subjects can’t upload an image in the website,

as we have observed in the second step, so there’s no chance to share a photography

to another social network using Instagram’s web.

34

5.2.4 FLICKR 1. Sign up

Users found quickly (almost immediately) the option to sign up because as you enter in

the website there’s an explicitly large pink button in the middle to do it. In addition, this

principal page that appears when the user enters the site doesn’t allow to access to

any other page, so you have no option besides to sing up or to log in.

The problem that has been identified is that in order to register the user must create a

Yahoo account, which, among other information, asks for some intimate data as the

mobile phone number to confirm, which makes the participants feel reluctant.

2. Upload a picture

Participants have identified the "Upload photos” option easily at the top of the page

once they have been on their account.

The problem in this task occurred, basically, because of an edit screen, which is the

previous step before uploading the image. In this moment of the process, the users

don’t know, between too many elements, which is the right button to finalize the task:

they’ve got to spend more time checking them and it makes them feel confused with

other buttons, especially one with the word “Add”. Despite the confusion, with some

attention and time, they found and identified the right option, “Charge photo”.


While half of the participants have failed to accomplish this task because they haven’t

find how to do it or have left it, the other half of the users have done it successfully and

relatively fast.

Users that have been able to complete the task, easily recognized the icon that has

allowed them to share content on social networks.

35

5.2.5 PHOTOBUCKET 1. Sign up

In general, all the users that had been analysed signed up to Photobucket quickly and

correctly because the option was easy to find and use. However, we have to say that

one of the users had problems at the final step, because she clicked on the arrow

instead of dragging it.

2. Upload a picture

On the one hand, half of the subjects found the option “upload” quickly because it was

at the top of the page. All of them didn’t know how to drag the photo, so they clicked on

“select a picture”. But, on the other hand, we have to emphasize the fact that after

uploading the picture, the photograph didn’t appear anywhere and we couldn’t

discover the reason.

However, before uploading a photo, two of the subjects created an album without

noticing it because they didn’t find the option “upload” although it was always at the top

of the website.


In general, all of the users clicked on the correct option without problems. However, we

have to say that we realized the fact that there were two options in order to upload a

picture: on the one hand, one of the subjects have the Facebook and Twitter icon

above the image which was uploaded before; and, on the other hand, when another

user was searching the icon, a new pop-up window appeared saying “you can share

the image”, so the subject did it quickly.

36

5.3 VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY 5.3.1 PINTEREST The average satisfaction of Pinterest's website is 8,1 (in a scale from 0 to 10), so we

can detect that the photo-sharing network is well regarded. However, the score of the

System Usability Scale (SUS) is 55,3, which indicates that the website it's not that good

and that i should change some functions.

The survey indicates that, in general, the respondents are satisfied with the website of

this photo-sharing network because they explain that it is easy to understand how to

use it. In addition, when the website includes new functions, it offers notifications and

alerts in order to explain how to use the new options and it facilitates the adaptation.

On the one hand, according to the ten participants, the best aspects of Pinterest's

website are 1) the high quality of the images, 2) the design of the interface, which is

minimalist, well designed and it has been improved over the time, and 3) the possibility

to organize the images through folders, called "boards”.

On the other hand, the answers of the fourth question explain some functions that the

users don't like: the suggestions to invite friends from other social networks, the

inability to share images in other social networks or the disorder of the images in the

home page are some examples of the most unliked aspects. However, some

respondents said that they wouldn't change anything of the Pinterest's website

because they think that it fulfils all the functions and they consider that it is a complete

website.

Moreover, users indicated some aspects that the website could add in order to improve

the photo-sharing network: customize the personal profile, establish accurate

instructions about the platform system and provide the ability to share photos to other

social networks.

37

5.3.2 TUMBLR In general, users are satisfied with the experience that Tumblr offers in his website.

The average of the rating in a scale from 0 to 10 is 8,3, which is notably high. 80 % of

the respondents consider that it is easy to learn and use the different options that are

provided in the website. The average of the 10 scores of the SUS is 67,8 which means

is effective, efficient and satisfies the users but it has also a lot of things to improve.

What they like the most is the graphic design of the network and the ease to share

pictures and texts from other sources. Moreover, they also value the different designs

you can install in your page, the possibility of personalization and the quality, originality

and number of pictures you can find.

Even though they are all satisfied (there isn’t any user which rates the website with less

than a 7) there are many things they don’t like and that they would like to change.

Several users say the format of the comments is a little bit confusing because they are

difficult to find and read so they propose to group them and do the same with “likes”

and “reblogs” in order to make all the notes more clear. And also, some of them explain

it is difficult to learn how to use the platform at the beginning and that the web should

provide some instructions when the user signs up. Another thing users dislike is the

design of the initial page because they would prefer a grid of images or the possibility

to change the visualization. Finally, one user complains about the fact that you have to

register if you want to view the photos of the network, which is not true.

Surfers also propose some functions that would be interesting to add to Tumblr’s

website: image editor, real name searcher (besides username) and a tool to suggest

blogs.

38

5.3.3 INSTAGRAM

After doing ten interviews to different subjects, we can extract some conclusions.

When it is asked about their satisfaction with the web of Instagram, subjects could

choose from a scale from 0 to 10 the number that they consider better to qualify the

site. Almost all the answers are between 4 and 6, so it means that they are not

satisfied. However, we can see that there are two subjects who rate the web of

Instagram in a good way, rating it with a 9 and a 10. Moreover, the result of the SUS is

76’8, which means is effective, efficient and that the satisfaction of the users is really

high.

We can also observe that subjects don’t need to learn a lot of aspects to be able to use

the web of Instagram, because this is easy and simple. What they like most of this web

is the possibility of seeing pictures in a higher size and in a better quality than in the

app. Furthermore, they also consider being easy to access.

Despite the positive aspects that the interviewers have stated, they complained about

the impossibility of uploading an image and sharing it to another social network.

Moreover, they aren’t satisfied with the inability to follow users and the design and

structure of the web because it is too simple and the options are not enough.

Finally, the users will introduce some changes to improve the web of Instagram, such

as applying functions from the app, uploading all the pictures you want, edit and share

them as many socials networks as possible, and finally they would add new photo

effects and filters.

39

5.3.4 FLICKR From the answers of the respondents we conclude that Flickr is a website highly

valued. It has obtained an average of 8.1 in a scale from 0 to 10, and finale score of

70.00 in the SUS. So it’s implicit that is a photography network highly taken into

consideration by the public. In fact, the marks given by the participants have been high

because they find the website accessible, easy to use, understandable and intuitive.

What the users like the most from the page is, above any other attribute, its design and

the quality and large format in which images display. Foreground other features that

are valued very highly too such as the ability to share pictures and albums, the fact of

having a personal space within the complex of the whole website and its

professionalism and specialization.

However, respondents found that the page has weaknesses, in general, in the

personal section of every user, which is not customizable; in the sign up form, which

requires creating a Yahoo account; and in some aspects of the design. Therefore, they

propose some changes and improvements as a new approach to the access and the

customization of their own space.

From the averages of the rating scales it’s been observed that those questions that are

favourable about the web obtained high scores and those, which are worse, have been

evaluated more negatively. With this, we conclude that is a website that users like to

frequent it, easy since the beginning of its use, with functions that satisfy those who

use them, and where they feel comfortable and agile.

40

5.3.5 PHOTOBUCKET After having done all the surveys of Photobucket, we can analyse the different answers

of the interview. Firstly, it’s important to say that the average of the 10 scores of the

SUS is 65,00, so it means that Photobucket is not as efficient and effective as other

photo-sharing networks, because there are many options that should be improved.

Regarding the first question (satisfaction, from 0 to 10), most respondents give 7 and 8

of the satisfaction level, although we must say that a person has described his

satisfaction with a 6.

In question number two, 9 of 10 respondents found that the functions of Photobucket

are easy to use, the web is well structured and easy the options are easy to find.

On the one hand, most of the people like the good image quality, the ability to share

photos to other social networks, the graphic design and the different categories that

has the web page where the images are distributed by theme. On the other hand, the

things that people dislike of the website are the option of being Premium (because

discriminates other users), the advertising that appears in the page and the fact that

the website is only available in English. And moreover, one of the respondents had

complained about the uncreative graphic design and the poor quality of the images.

So, we can say that there’re a contradiction in the fact that most of them have flattered

the quality and the design of the page.

Regarding the last question, most of the people have said they hadn’t had many

difficulties to use the website and, in addition, they’ve also said that they wouldn’t need

the help of a technician to use it.

Therefore, we conclude that the 10 respondents agree with the fact that Photobucket is

useful for creating your own albums; it’s easy to find the different categories of the

images. Even so, what could be improved is the navigation, as it’s quite slow.

41

6. CONCLUSIONS

The analysis of photo-sharing networks websites using heuristic principles, task

analysis and virtual ethnography has allowed us not only to detect the most common

malfunctions, weaknesses and dislikes of the users of these pages but also to extract

conclusions of the methodologies. We have observed that these three research

techniques complement each other in a way that allows the researcher to develop a

complete report of the things that every website must change or improve.

Analysing the compliance of the 10 heuristic principles of Jakob Nielsen and writing the

5 principles of photo-sharing networks permitted us to detect the most common

shortcomings of this kind of websites and also to compare them. Many of the problems

that were identified in this phase were reaffirmed in the task analysis experiment. In

Figure 28, can be seen a synthesis of the application of the 15 principles.

First, note that Tumblr doesn’t have many problems with its usability; it just should

improve his visibility of system status, giving more detailed information and it also

should introduce some shortcuts in order to speed up the processes and facilitate

experienced users’ interaction. Also, it is interesting to highlight that Photobucket and

Instagram have a lot of aspects to change and to add, especially Photobucket,

because doesn’t apply four of the Nielsen’s principles. So it is recommended to explain

what the cause of Photobucket errors is and to give solutions or alternatives as well as

to introduce error prevention mechanisms and a simpler and less saturated design.

Regarding Instagram, it would be very useful for the user to have a search engine that

offers the possibility to look for users and hashtags.

On the one hand, what all networks include is the possibility of exit what they are doing

whenever they want and any kind of help documentation. Besides Photobucket, all the

networks have standard words and buttons, error prevention, and a minimalist design.

Moreover, all of them, besides Pinterest and his word “Pin it”, use a familiar language

for users. On the other hand, there’s a lack of personalization and flexibility, because

networks doesn’t offer specific tools for experienced and novice users. Even though, in

general, the different functions that the system provides are efficient, it would be

interesting to make possible to do things faster and easier using keyword shortcuts or

multiple options.

Secondly, performance measurement made possible to identify the problems in three

specific and basic tasks: sign up, upload a photo and share a photo to any other social

42

network. It is interesting to work with adult people because they are not used to interact

in this kind of engines and it makes possible to know the most basic errors.

The first conclusion that must be commented is that the website of Instagram doesn’t

have many functions compared with the app and the other photo-sharing networks and

that is impossible to interact and to be active without having the application.

Photobucket has been proved to be the easiest one to use due to the characteristics

and the position of the icons. Flickr, doesn’t have many difficulties neither. However, it

must be stated that some subjects has had problems to sing up and to upload a photo

to Photobucket because the system communicated the existence of an error, which is

very important to be solved. Regarding to Tumblr and Pinterest, they should allow the

users to go directly to the home page after signing up and they also should change the

icon and the position of the “Share” button in order to be more intuitive and easy to

find.

Finally, the interviews with young users made it possible to develop a thorough

analysis identifying users’ dislikes and needs. First of all, it is important to take into

account an interesting observation: some of the likes and dislikes of the respondents

match with the 5 principle proposed by the researchers, such as the customization of

the user’s profile, which is one of the things the user’s value the most and that they

would add to some websites.

Another aspect that has been seen is that the results of the SUS and the open answer

questions do not match, but the results of the SUS and the performance measurement

do match. The most notable example is Instagram, which has obtained a 76,8 in the

SUS and a 5 in the rating between 0 and 10. The explanation of this fact is that the

SUS included questions about the difficulties and complex use of the website and not

about the satisfaction in terms of likes and dislikes. So Instagramers do not like the

website because doesn’t have many important and basic functions but they state that

is very easy to use. With Pinterest has happened the opposite because the users like

the functions and the different things they can do in the website, but they find it difficult

to learn and get used to. Regarding Tumblr, Flickr and Photobucket, the satisfaction

and the score of the SUS are both high, so the users consider they have the right

functions and that they are not so difficult to use.

The most valued characteristics of the photo-sharing networks are high quality of the

images and the graphic design of the interface. Then, there also some specific and

43

differential things of every website that surfers appreciate a lot such as the boards of

Pinterest, the option of “reblog” of Tumblr and the professionalism of Flickr.

Finally, if we observe precisely the different conclusions extracted from every

methodology we can reaffirm the following aspects.

Pinterest has a well-designed interface but it should try to be more intuitive and

give clearer instructions to the members to make them easy to learn how it

works. It is also recommended to explain the meaning of “Pin” somewhere in

order to avoid confusions.

Tumblr hasn’t got many usability problems. The only thing that should be

considered is the introduction of instructions for novice users to make them

easy to adapt and ti be inserted into the Tumblr dynamics. It also would be

interesting to add features occasionally.

Instagram is the photo-sharing social network that has more to be done. Its

essential problem is the lack of functions and it is also recommended to

introduce some basic aspects of usability: more information about the status of

the system and more tools that reduce the use of the memory for the users.

Flickr has worked to develop a well-designed and intuitive interface and a

platform with a wide range of functions. The members are satisfied and it

doesn’t have many problems to solve. However, it is recommended to update

his page and add new features more frequently.

Photobucket members are satisfied with the functions and the intuitive interface

of the network but it must avoid the constant flux of errors and learn how to

communicate it in order to give users the necessary information and calm them.

Otherwise, the system will start to lose members.

44

PINTEREST TUMBLR INSTAGRAM FLICKR PHOTOBUCKET


2. Match between system and the

real world



5. Error prevention

45




9. Help users recognize,

diagnose and recover from

errors


46

Figure 28: synthesis of the application of the 15 Heuristic’s principles

11. Open access to the functions of

the web

12. Different options of

visualization




-

47

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http://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/

http://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/expertreviews.html

http://www.upf.edu/leupf/

1. TASK ANALYSIS: Annotations of the performance 1.1 PINTEREST Male, 56 years old

1. Registration: He clicks “Sign up” quickly and fills all the boxes correctly. 2. Upload a photo: Then I tell him he must upload a photo. After the registration it

appears some instructions about how to personalize the profile. He clicks the button

“Next” several times. Then appears this message in the screen: “To finish up the tour,

try searching for something that interests you”. He sees the button “Finish” and tries to

click there but he can’t because it is in grey and the system wants the user to choose

some other users to follow. Then he clicks in a blog category named “Art” and then he

realizes he can now click the button “Finish”. He clicks it and he finally arrives to the

home page of every Pinterest user.

He stays a few seconds looking in the screen without doing anything and then he says

“I can’t upload any picture” and I tell him to keep trying and looking carefully. He clicks

a photo and then he clicks “Pin it” and closes all the windows and goes back to the

home page. Then he clicks a button with his name, located at the top of the page, and

starts reading the different options. Then he closes this window and says he doesn’t

know how to do it. I tell him to click the icon with the “+” and then he clicks “Upload a

pin”. He chooses an image and uploads it correctly.

3. Share a picture from Pinterest to Facebook (or any other social network): I tell

him to share the image that he has just uploaded, or any other one to Facebook or

another social network. He clicks at the image and reads the different options. He

closes the windows. He clicks another image and then he clicks the icon with a flag

and reads the words in the buttons. Then he clicks in the “+” button. He doesn’t find

anything and closes the windows. He says “There aren’t more buttons, I don’t know

how to do it” and I say it’s OK and we finish the experiment.

Male, 54 years old

1. Registration: He clicks “Sign up” quickly and fills all the boxes correctly. 2. Upload a photo: After the registration it appears some instructions about how to

personalize the profile. He didn’t understand the explication of every step because he

doesn’t dominate the English language, however, he understood that he had to click

“Next” and “Finally” in order to arrive to the home page of Pinterest.

Then I told him he must upload a photo. Firstly he went to his profile and there, he

created an album. Finally I had to help him because he didn’t see the option “Add a

pin”.

3. Share a picture from Pinterest to Facebook (or any other social network): I told

him to share the image that she has just uploaded, or any other one to Facebook or

another social network. He clicked at the image and he looked the icons of the different

options. Then he clicked the icon “visit site” and it opened a new window; he closed the

window and he returned to Pinterest website. Then, he tried another time with a

different image and he said me: “I think this option doesn’t exist”. Finally I said him that

we had finished the experiment.

Female, 44 years old

1. Registration: She clicks at the “Sign Up” button quickly and fills the boxes correctly

and fast.

2. Upload a photo: Then I tell her he must upload a photo. After the registration it

appears some instructions about how to personalize the profile. When she sees that

she says she can’t do anything because the network doesn’t allow her. I say: “You

have to upload a photo, look again carefully and keep trying it, please”. She clicks the

button “Next” several times. Then it appears this message in the screen: “To finish up

the tour, try searching for something that interests you”. She sees that the “Finish”

button is not available for her to click and says “Now I can’t continue, I can’t click this

button” I tell her that maybe she has to follow the instructions of the network to keep on

moving. She reads the message again and she clicks in a blog category named “Cars”

and then she realizes he can now click the button “Finish”. She clicks it and she finally

arrives to the home page of every Pinterest user.

She stays a few seconds looking in the screen without doing anything. Then she clicks

a button with his name located at the top of the page and starts reading the different

options. Then she closes this windows and clicks the icon with the “+” and then she

chooses “Upload a pin”. She chooses an image and uploads it correctly.

3. Share a photo from Pinterest to any other social network: I tell her to share the

image that he has just uploaded, or any other one to Facebook or another social

network. She clicks at the image and reads the different options and then she clicks

“Pin it” and closes the windows. Then she clicks in a button located at the left of the

page with different categories and closes it quickly. She clicks the “Notifications” button

and she doesn’t find anything and closes the windows. She says “I give up, I don’t

know how to do it” and I say it’s OK and we finish the experiment.


1. Registration: She clicks at the “Sign Up” button quickly and fills the boxes correctly

and fast.

2. Upload a photo: After the registration it appears some instructions about how to

personalize the profile. She read all the steps and clicked the button “Next” several

times. Finally she click the button “Finish” and she arrives to the home page of every

Pinterest user.

Then I told her he must upload a photo. Firstly she clicked "pin it" and she didn't found

how to upload a picture. Then, I said her that she could try to upload the picture

through her profile. She went to her profile and there, she created an album. Finally

she clicked the icon “+”, “Add a pin” and she could end the action.

3. Share a picture from Pinterest to Facebook (or any other social network): I told

her to share the image that she has just uploaded, or any other one to Facebook or

another social network. She clicked at the image and read the different options. Then

she clicked the icon with a flag and read the words in the buttons, however she couldn’t

get to share the picture because Pinterest doesn’t have this option. Finally I said her

that we had finished the experiment.

1.2. TUMBLR


1. Registration

When she enters www.tumblr.com she sees different boxes and the word “Sign Up”

below and she starts filling the boxes. Then, instead of clicking “Sign Up” she clicks the

“Log In” button located at the left inferior extreme of the page and then appears two

boxes to fill. She asks me “What happened?” and I tell her she has clicked the “Log in”

button. Then she clicks the “Sign Up” button and fills the boxes again. Then she clicks

“Sign Up”and the system aks her to enter the age and to agree the Terms of Condition

and she does both things fast and correctly.

2. Upload a photo

After this, appears a message from the network which asks the user to follow 5 blogs. I

tell her she must upload a photo. She looks at the screen a few seconds and goes

down. Then she goes up again and says “What do I have to do?” and I tell her that she

has to try to upload a photo. She reads the messages of the page and clicks to follow a

blog and she says “No” and clicks “Unfollow”. She goes down and says “I can’t upload

a photo” and I say she should follow the instructions of the system. She reads the

message again and clicks “Follow” in 3 icons. She clicks “Next step” several times and

she finally arrives to the dashboard.

She passes the cursor through different icons and starts reading the words aloud. She

clicks several options: Posts, Liked Posts, Activity and then she goes back to the

dashboard and reads all the options again. Then she says: “I don’t know how to do it,

there isn’t any option”. Then I tell her to look at all the icons again. She looks

everything and says she doesn’t know. Then I point at the camera icon and she click

there. Finally, she uploads the photo successfully.

3. Share a photo form Tumblr to any other social network

When the photo has been uploaded I ask her to share this photo to any other social

network. She clicks the photo and goes back to the dashboard. Then he clicks at the

reblog icon and then he gets out of it. She clicks at the settings icon and she clicks

“Edit”. She looks at the emerging windows and closes it. She goes down and clicks

another image again. She looks at the screen for a few seconds and says “There isn’t

http://www.tumblr.com/

any tool to share an image to other webs”. Then I tell her to look one more time all the

icons. She spends a few seconds looking at the screen again and then she says she

doesn’t know how to do it. I tell her to click on the superior right extreme of the image

and then she clicks it and finds the icon of sharing after revising all the icons. She

finally shares the picture to Facebook.

Male, 52 years old

1. Registration

When he enters www.tumblr.com he sees different boxes and the word “Sign Up”

below and he starts filling the boxes. Then he clicks “Sign Up” and the system tells him

he must write a longer password. He understands it and writes another password.

Then he clicks “Sign Up” again. Then the system aks him to enter the age and to agree

the Terms of Condition and he does both things fast and correctly.

2. Upload a photo

After this, appears a message from the network which asks the user to follow 5 blogs. I

tell him he must upload a photo. He looks at the screen a few seconds and goes down.

Then he goes up again and says “I have no idea how to upload a photo here” and I tell

him to read the messages of the page and look carefully. He reads the message and

starts clicking blogs to follow and then appears a button with “Next Step”. He clicks it

and appears a new message that says “Tell us about yourself” and a windows with

different boxes to fill and a tool to upload a profile picture. This tool is indicated with a

camera and when the user sees it he thinks it is a tool to upload a photo to the blog so

he clicks there and uploads a photo and says to me “That’s all, here’s the photo”. Then

I tell him he has uploaded a profile picture and not a photo to the blog and he looks at

the screen and clicks “Next step”. Then appears another message: “Get the app” and

three options: Ios, Android and Windows Phone. He chooses iOS and he finally arrives

to the inital page.

He passes the cursor through different icons and he clicks “Photo”. He chooses the

image and uploads it correctly.

3. Share a photo form Tumblr to any other social network

When the photo has been uploaded I ask him to share this photo to any other social

network. He clicks the photo, looks at the screen a few seconds and goes back to the

dashboard. Then he clicks at the reblog icon and reblogs the post but he says “No, it is

not this”. Then he clicks at the name of the user and goes to the blog and when he

sees that he is not in the right place he goes back to the initial page. He looks at the

screen for a few seconds and says: “I don’t know how to do it”. I tell him to look

carefully all the icons. He passes the cursor over different icons and he says “No, no. I

don’t know” and then I ask him to click at the superior right extreme of the photo and to

http://www.tumblr.com/

look at all the icons in the new windows. He finds the “Share” icon and clicks it and

then he shares the picture at Facebook correctly.

Male. 49 years

1. Registration

Consequently, the user realises that he can’t do the task of sharing the photo in

another social network, because he couldn’t do the previous task. However, the

analysts encourages him to try to share some of the photos of the user’s gallery. The

user, after searching a possible option, concludes that the website doesn’t offer the

possibility to share photos in another social network.

2. Upload a photo Then the subject must use all the available tools in front of him to upload a picture. On

the page there are a series of icons that inform on the activities that can be carried out,

and among them there is a camera. The subject quickly relates this icon with the option

to post a photo and click in, but when he looks at the options found within this tool very

slowly. He is a time lock, because although it is in the right place, he does not know

how to publish a photo so he slowly investigates all options.

Once he has selected the picture, he finds the publish button, and quickly finds no

problem. In less than 2 minutes photo has been published and appears in the top of

the page, but the problem is in the third step.


When it is asked the subject to share the photo with another social network, the first

thing he does is going to his Facebook account .

The user, seeing that this is not the optimal way to achieve step 3, looks for a

photography option to indicate "sharing" or any similar option , but it is not. On the

toolbar, he clicks in to see the many options, he even goes back to the profile, even

seaching “Help”, but he can not find the solution, and finally he leaves the page.

Female. 45 years

1. Registration

First of all, the user must be able to enter to the second page of the social network, and

therefore she quickly identifies she needs to register in it . At the front, right in the

middle, she can see the necessity of a password and a name or email user to enter, so

she tries entering her email, but she does not know what to writte in the password, so

she invents it.

After trying several times usernames and passwords, the subject realizes the necessity

to belong to that network to have access on it, so the analyst provides both necessary

characters.

2. Upload a picture

Once she has entered to the website page, she must to publish a photography , and f

she sees that in front there is a toolbar with multiple options: a camera, a few letters,

some “Comillas”, a link, a chat, a music player and a video camera, and she can

identify and interpretate the icons. So, without thinking so much, she clicks on the

camera and then she can see a picture.

At first she does not understand exactly how to select the image, and by lucky she

clicks on the test box, and then realizes that she can choose a photo from her library.

Once she selected it, she clicks the publish button because she understands that is

the only way to post a picture and she observes how quickly this is loaded .

3.Share a picture to any other social network

The third step is to share the photo to another network. At this time, the subject is

completely blocked because she does not know where to start looking, so she tries

clicking in all options which are before her: first in the top of the toolbar where the are

other icons, but she observes that this is impossible, so selects Section profile. In this

section, she finds many options, but none solutionates her problem and she returns to

the main page.

Finally, she clicks on "”Reblog” but she realises that among several options none of

them let her share the photo in another social network, so she decides to quit and the

analyst must explain the answer.

1.3 INSTAGRAM Female, 46 years old

1. Registration: The user tries to enter and she discovers that she needs a username

and a password to enter, but she feels lost because she doesn’t find the option to sign

up. After a few seconds, she clicks “Help”. The analyst explains the user that Instagram

web doesn’t give her any option to register.

2. Upload a photo: After giving the user an account of Instagram , she can enter to the

web page and she decides to click “Instagram”. Immediately, she realises that clicking

this button she only returns back to the home page, and the same situation happens

when she clicks to the house icon. After realising that there aren’t more options, user

decides to go to the menu as a last option. In there she discovers that there isn’t the

option to upload photos. In this moment, the analysts explains her that Instagram

website doesn’t give the possibility to upload a photography.

3. Share a photo from Instagram to any other social network: Consequently, the

user realises that she can’t share a photo in another social network, due to the

impossibility of uploading it. However, the analysts encourages her to try to share one

of the photos of his profile, and the user identifies quickly the option that could allow

her to do it (a button with three points “…”). But the user only finds the option to delete

it and she realises the impossibility to achieve the third task.

Male, 49 years old

1. Registration: The user clicks “Enter” but he feels lost because he doesn’t find the

option to register, so he asks for help to the analyst, who encourages him to keep

surfing on the page to find an alternative. The user discovers the two buttons of the

mobile phone application, the Appstore and Google Play, and he thinks this is the only

way to register. Finally, the analysts explains him that, though Instagram’s website,

there isn’t any option to register and that he can only do it with the app.

2. Upload a photo: The analyst gives an Instagram account to the user to do the

following task: upload a picture. As he feels a bit lost, the analyst informs him about the

few possibilities to achieve the objective, so the user hesitates in clicking to the house

icon or to the user’s profile picture. Finally, he decides to click on the his profile picture

discovering all different options like “Edit your profile” and he has the feeling that if the

upload photo option existed, it would be here. In this moment, the analyst explains him

that Instagram’s website doesn’t have the option to upload a photo because it can only

can be done by using a mobile phone.

3. Share a photo from Instagram to any other social network: Consequently, the

user realises that he can’t do the task of sharing the photo in another social network,

because he couldn’t do the previous task. However, the analysts encourages him to try

to share some of the photos of the user’s gallery. The user, after searching a possible

option, concludes that the website doesn’t offer the possibility to share photos in

another social network.


1. Registration: First of all, the user must enter to the home page of Instagram, but

she doesn’t know how to do it so she decides to click all the buttons of the page: the

title, the house icon… without seeing the option “Enter”. After a few minutes trying

everything, she realises that the solution is in Enter option, but she doesn’t know what

to write when the system asks her a username and a password because she doesn’t

have an Instagram account. In front of this problem, the analyst gives her a user

account to facilitate the entrance.

2. Upload a photo: When the user enters the page, she must do the second task:

upload a photo. In that moment, the user feels lost because she doesn’t find any

symbol related with a photograph, and searchs slowly a photo camera, but as she

doesn’t see any kind of symbol like that, she starts clicking everything again: from right

to left. Then she searches between multiple options that offers the user’s profile and

she investigates deeply in each of them, being two or three minutes in each one.

Finally, she asks for help to the analyst and he explains her that Instagram website

doesn’t offer the possibility to upload a picture. 3. Share a photo from Instagram to any other social network: Finally, the user tries

to do the last task, but as she realises that it’s impossible to upload a photo, she

hesitates about the possibility of sharing it to a social network, so the analyst

encourages her trying to share one of the photos of user’s account. The user tries to do

it, but after looking for different options, she decides to leave the task.

Male, 48 years old

1. Registration User recognises immediately how to access Instagram website: clicking “Enter”, but

when the page asks him for a username and a password, he writes the ones he usually

use in Facebook’s account. After realising this was a mistake, the user also realises

that what he needs is an account of Instagram and he tries to register in the website,

but he doesn’t find this option, so the analyst explains him that he can’t sign up through

the website, it is only possible by using mobile phone application. For doing the next

two tasks, the analyst gives him a username and a password of a user account.

2. Upload a photo In task number two, user must upload a photography, so he starts searching in all the

web, a camera icon, because he thinks the task should be symbolized by this object,

but finally he doesn’t find anything. Then, he clicks to the house and he does the same

with the Instagram title, but this is not the solution, because doing it only returns him to

the home page. He decides to click the user’s profile and all the options that it offers

like “Edit profile” and finally he goes to Help option and starts to read all the questions,

but he doesn’t find anything.

After clicking in all sections and searching for about 10 minutes, he asks for help to the

analyst, and he explains that by Instagram website anybody can’t upload a

photography, the only option to publish a photo is by the mobile phone application.

3. Share a photo from Instagram to any other social network

In the third task, the user must share a photo in another network, but knowing that he

doesn’t upload a picture in the website, he asks the analysts if it’s possible to do it.

Analysts, as he had done with other users, encourages him to try sharing one of the

photos of the user gallery, and user tries but he realises that it’s impossible to achieve

it.

1.4 FLICKR

Female, 46 years

1. Registration The user has found easily and immediately the sing up option and has

accomplished it so quickly.

2. Upload a picture: Once on the homepage, the user quickly has found at the top of

the website the "Upload photos” option. She has left freely to accomplish the whole

process itself and by inertia she has tapped "Choose photos and videos" and has

chosen the photo that has been gave to do the task. Then, the page redirected the

user to a publisher that is the definitely last step before the final upload of the picture.

The user didn’t identify this as an editor and thought that it has upload yet and that now

was on a place where you have the possibility to add a description, tag people... The

person who runs the study gets involved at this time and tells the user that is still on the

editor and that she must to strictly abide only the task entrusted to her. At this point, the

user confuses the button to upload the photo and choose the button "Add". For itself

realizes that is not the right option and identifies the "Charge photo" option on the right

top. She went through the popup to the personal photo gallery website immediately.

3. Share a picture to any other social network: First, the user identifies the icon for

sharing but instead of doing it on her photo, does it for the option to share the whole

gallery of her personal section. The person who leads the test indicates her that she’s

trying to share something wrong. Then, the user clicks on the photo that she uploaded

before and make it large. In this new screen, the user wants to go to the main bar

option "Communities" and the driver of the test gets involved again to explain the

function of this bar, which has nothing to do with the work proposed. The user try to

understand the icons that appear below the photo and recognize commands as the

star which, literally, "should be preferred," the bubble that "should be used to discuss"

and "square with an arrow that must be share." She clicks and acknowledges that it

can be shared, and there choose the network where to do it.

Male, 49 years

1. Registration: The user access to the platform using the pink button on the home

page to sing up immediately.

2. Upload a picture: Once registered and on the Flickr’s homepage, the user quickly

identify the "Upload photos" option. The user stars the process of rising freely

photography: choose his photography, he charge it, and identifies that he’s in an editor

and the photo isn’t upload yet. The user, at first, chooses to press the "Add" to load it to

the gallery, but realizes that he is mistaken in his choice. Then he discovers the

"Charge photo" button after inspecting carefully the screen for few moments. Accept

immediate the popup message that appears and he accomplished the task.

3. Share a picture to any other social network: The user identifies and makes big

his picture in order to share it. He inspect the icons on the screen and see "More ways

for sharing" [function that appears only in some computer browsers when you pass the

mouse over the icons and gives a descriptive message of what it does] and is able to

share the photo the chosen social network. Male, 50 years old

1. Registration: he found it quickly because it’s in the main page. When he was writing

all the options he said that he didn’t want to give his phone number, but he finally gives

it. 2. Upload a picture: it was easy to find and he had no problems to upload a photo. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: looking for a while, he finally found

the option to share the picture on Facebook or Twitter.

Female, 49 years:

1. Registration: she found it with any problems and she wrote all the options that the

photo-sharing network asks for. 2. Upload a picture: she found it quickly because there was an option at the top to

upload a picture. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: she was looking for the option a lot

of time and she finally got stressed. I told her where the option to share the photo on a

social network was.

1.5 PHOTOBUCKET Male, 50 years old

1. Registration: firstly he didn’t write the mail correctly, but then he tried it with

Facebook and he finally could sign up to the photosharing network.

2. Upload a picture: the user didn’t know how to drag the image, but then he click on

“select a picture” and he finally upload the photo. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: first of all, he click on “Get

Connected”, which connects the account “Photobucket” with Facebook or Twitter.

However, he turned back and clicks on a Facebook icon above the image, which was

uploaded before.


1. Registration: at the first time she couldn’t sign up to “Photobucket” because the

website was translated and it said “contract” instead of “sign up”. But finally she hadn’t

had problems and log in correctly.

2. Upload a picture: she achieved quickly because the icon “upload” is always present

at the top of the website. After clicking it, three new icons appeared and she thinks that

she had to click on a computer icon, but it couldn’t be clicked. After this incorrectness,

she clicked on “start”. Finally she didn’t know how to drag the image, but then he click

on “select a picture”. It’s important to say that the user complained about the time,

because the image was uploading slowly. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: after uploading the picture, a new

pop-up window appeared saying “you can share the image”. So the user click on “do it

now” and after she wanted to share the image on Facebook but she click on the icon

instead of the name of the social network, finally she did it correctly and share the

picture successfully.

Male, 53 years old

1. Registration: he clicked on “Sign Up” quickly and correctly. 2. Upload a picture: he went to his profile and there, he created an album. He didn’t

see the option “upload” and I had to indicate him how to continue. Then, the steps that

he followed were correct because there were some icons that indicated the options.

After having the image loaded, the photo didn't appeared. We couldn't discover the

reason. Finally, it’s important to remark that he doesn’t dominate the English language

and it was a problem for him. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: he clicked on the correct option

without problems.


1. Registration: she clicked on “Sign Up” quickly. However, at the final step, it

appeared a blue arrow and she clicked it, but she had to drag it in order to complete

the registration, so I had to help her. 2. Upload a picture: she went to her profile and there, she wanted to create an album.

Then, she clicked "upload". The steps that she followed were correct but after having

the image loaded, the photo didn't appeared. We couldn't discover the reason. 3. Share a picture to any other social network: she clicked on the correct icon

without problems.

2. VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY: Interviews 2.1 PINTEREST

Interview 1:

1. Rate your satisfaction with the website of "Photobucket" on a scale from 0 (I’m not satisfied) to 10 (I’m really satisfied): 10

2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí. Una vegada entens com funcionen els Pins, els teus tablons i els cors no té

cap mena de misteri!

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Qualitat de les imatges, varietat i qualitat del contingut sobretot (coses que no

trobes per exemple a Tumblr), el disseny de la pàgina també és molt agradable.

4. What features or aspects of the website “Photobucket” you do not like?

Cap

5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Trobo que és molt completa!

Strongly Strongly disagree agree 6. I think that I would like to use this system frequently 7. I found the system unnecessarily complex 8. I thought the system was easy to use 9. I found the various functions in this system were well integrated 10. I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system 11. I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system 12. I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly 13. I found the system very cumbersome to use 14. I felt very confident using the system 15. I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system

Interview 2:

1. Rate your satisfaction with the website "Photobucket" on a scale from 0 (I’m not satisfied) to 10 (I’m really satisfied): 8

2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Personalment crec que el punt fort de Pinterest és el fet de poder-te classificar

tu mateix les imatges que t'interessen en un perfil propi, permetent així tenir en

la pròpia pàgina un gran recull de referents, en el meu cas, per a la feina.

D'aquesta manera, et permet que estiguis on estiguis, tant sigui amb el PC o

amb els telèfons, puguis consultar què i com ho tens tot, sense portar un

“àlbum físic” acompanyant-te.


El que més em desagrada d'aquesta xarxa son les continues propostes de

suggeriments que et surten cada vegada que et classifiques alguna imatge. Tot

i estar fet per ajudar als usuaris a trobar més coses d'interès, al final es fa

pesat.


No canviaria res ara per ara, ja que cada xarxa social té unes finalitats, i crec

que Pinterest ja compleix.

Interview 3:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí, molt fàcil. Quan et fas usuari et presenten una petita guia que t'explica totes

les funcions d'aquesta xarxa social. A més, cada cop que s'incorpora alguna

funció nova el web incorpora un avís a la part superior amb un link que pots

clicar si hi estàs interessat per obtenir més informació sobre com funciona i

veure alguns exemples. L'última funció que recordo que van incorporar va ser

crear un "board" amb mapa.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) - Disseny de la interfaç fàcil, minimalista i ben dissenyada, que va millorant amb

el pas del temps.

- Possibilitat de carpetes ("boards") per organitzar imatges que et poden ser

útils per projectes, per inspirar-se, etc.


El menú de l'esquerra on et suggereixen que convidis als teus amics d'altres

xarxes socials a Pinterest o busquis els que ja hi són.


Al botó desplegable de notificacions establiria algun sistema visual per poder

diferenciar entre likes, nous seguidors (boards o tot) i pins.

Interview 4:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí, no és massa difícil, ja que només de fer-te un compte ja t'ofereix la

possibilitat de seguir amics, crear les teves pròpies "boards", posar "pins"... Tot

i així, és difícil entendre per què serveix cada funció.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) M'agrada el disseny que té la pàgina perquè pots veure moltes fotos en una

mateixa pàgina i pots anar baixant per veure totes les fotos sense la necessitat

de passar a la següent pàgina.


No és massa fàcil compartir les imatges amb altres xarxes socials. 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Estaria bé poder retocar el disseny del teu perfil, de manera que el poguessis

personalitzar com altres plataformes.

Interview 5:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sembla fàcil tot i que no estic registrada.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Facilitat de comentar, posar “me gusta”, buscar amics i registrar-se.


La pàgina web és massa complexa: desordre total de les fotografies. 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Caldria fer un disseny de la web més senzill i no incorporar tantes fotografies.

Interview 6:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí, d'entrada sembla que posa a disposició totes les eines necessàries per

entendre-la i fer-ne un ús fàcil, tot i que crec que té una funcionalitat complexa.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) El que més m'agrada és el seu disseny gràfic: no destaca especialment per la

qualitat de les seves fotografies o per la seva funció específica però li han

donat una identitat que em fa dirigir-me a aquesta pàgina quan busco un tipus

d'imatges concretes: temàtiques boniques... És molt identificatiu.


Crec que tot i que d'entrada et doni moltes facilitats per fer servir la web quan

t'hi impliques és complexa i cal aprendre com funciona el sistema propi que ha

creat la plataforma (pins, etc). 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Jo afegiria unes instruccions més acurades sobre el sistema propi de la

plataforma.

Interview 7:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí. La web és fàcil d'utilitzar i les categories de fotografies estan ben

classificades.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) M'agrada molt veure els "like" dels amics que tinc registrats i les imatges que

pengen o que més els hi agraden. La qualitat d'aquestes també és bona. 4. What features or aspects of the website “Photobucket” you do not like?

La veritat és que m'agraden tots els aspectes. 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Potser afegiria més opcions al perfil personal que pots fer-te.

Interview 8:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí perquè no té dificultat i amb la pràctica s'entén ràpid.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) El disseny és senzill i agradable i les diverses maneres de buscar imatges

també. 4. What features or aspects of the website “Photobucket” you do not like?

Els nous mapes només són útils per àlbums de llocs, que ja existien

anteriorment, de manera que no ha guanyat gaire utilitat.


M'agrada tal i com està tot i el comentat anteriorment

Interview 9:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? Sí que és fàcil perquè és molt intuïtiu. A més estem tan acostumats a aquest

tipus de pàgines webs que arriba un moment que totes comparteixen algun tret,

com és el cas de Pinterest.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Pots penjar totes les fotos que vulguis, organitzar-les per carpetes i pots

compratir les fotos d'altres persones. 4. What features or aspects of the website “Photobucket” you do not like?

Que es perden els drets d'autor, ja que arriba un moment que no saps de qui

és la fotografia 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Cap.

Interview 10:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by “Photobucket” in its website? L’ús d’aquesta pàgina web és bastant senzill i no hi ha masses complicacions.

3. What features or aspects you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Facilitat d’accés, disseny gràfic agradable i corporatiu i bona qualitat de les

imatges. 4. What features or aspects of the website “Photobucket” you do not like?

Trobo que la pàgina web compleix totes les funcions. 5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of “Photobucket”?

Compartir a altres xarxes socials com Facebook, Twitter, etc.

2.2 TUMBLR

Interview 1:

1. Rate your satisfaction with the website of Tumblr on a scale of 0 (I’m not satisfied) to 10 (I’m really satisfied): 8

2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by Tumblr in its website? Sí, de seguida veus quines funcions té

3. What features or aspects do you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Qualitat de les imatges, originalitat de les imatges i personalització de la teva

pàgina. 4. What features or aspects of the website of Tumblr you do not like? Disseny de la pàgina d’inici, ja que és feixuc anar arrossegant cap avall per

veure les fotos.

5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of Tumblr? Una pàgina d’inici en forma de galeria quadriculada.

6. I think that I would like to

use this system frequently

7. I found the system unnecessarily

complex

8. I thought the system was easy

to use

9. I think that I would need the

support of a technical person to

be able to use this system

10. I found the various functions in

this system were well integrated

11. I thought there was too much

inconsistency in this system

12. I would imagine that most people

would learn to use this system

very quickly

13. I found the system very

cumbersome to use

14. I felt very confident using the

system

15. I needed to learn a lot of

things before I could get going

with this system

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Interview 2:


2. Is it easy to learn and use all the features offered by Tumblr in its website? Sí, perquè té un disseny molt visual i simple.

3. What features or aspects do you like most of all the ones that the website provides? (ease of access, ability to share photos with other social networks, image quality, graphic design...) Qualitat de les imatges. Disseny gràfic.

4. What features or aspects of the website of Tumblr you do not like? M’agrada tot.

5. What features or aspects would you like to change or add to the website of Tumblr? La possibilitat d’editar les imatges online.