CGI Heaven

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10:48am on Monday the 25th of February 2008
MY PERL SCRIPT WORKS!
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After many stressful hours, buckets of blood, sweat and tears and enough elbow grease to fuel the proverb itself for years to come, my feedback form works!

After travelling down just about every avenue in a desperate hope to rectify the problem, with the very much appreciated help of Sue and Greg, we deduced that the issue was simply (tuft) the location of the send mail program.

The time spent trying to resolve this issue has not been a complete waste as I now feel as though I have a much greater understanding of the process than what I perhaps would have had if it had worked first time.

The only problem now is that I have gone form mad! After I realised that the same engine (script) can be used with many different forms, I set about creating my usability testing form ONLINE!

This might be described as some as a novelty; however, I believe that many people are lazy and unenthusiastic about filling in questionnaires in general so anything that makes the questionnaire easier to fill in can only make it more inviting and more likely to get filled in.

Today’s timed task highlighted to me the importance of each lecture. Whilst I have read and understood the notes from last week, it is no substitute for actually being there for the class.

Whist I liked how the final piece turned out, I do feel that it would have benefited greatly from my presence in the lecture; I cannot help but think that I 'played it safe' in fear of making an obvious fundamental errors.

I still have a lot of work to do over this week in order to successfully meet the submission dates; undoubtedly my illnesses has had a baring on my workload and performance; however I will simply have to preserver.

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Quote of the week

"It MUST be the hosting ... its configured correctly I am sure of it!" - Shaun Bellis (famous last words)

Nothing to see here

As the title suggests there is nothing much to report on this week. Illness (Sinusitis I am told) has one again left me incapacitated.

I have never been poorly as much before in my entire life! Deciding that I'd had enough yesterday I visited the doctors whom prescribed me with 6 tablets to take a day (including the antibiotics) and a nasal spray; and for which I was charged £20 for the privilege!

No doubt during this week I will be once again harassing people to find out what I have missed.

As is my nature I have been trying to get done what I can whilst at home. The one thing worse than having to pay for my own tuition fees, is having to pay for my own tuition fees and not getting the benefit because of SINUSITIS!

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Quote of the week
"Not a happy bunny!" - Shaun Bellis

Half Term

Half term so far has meant to me two days working at home! The relaxed atmosphere has given me chance to work out some of the more 'niggly' issues with the current projects.

I think I have been quite fortunate compared to some of my classmates as other than a CGI related issue (which I am blaming on how I have set my hosting up) the build has been quite smooth sailing for me.

Given more time, I would like to change the design of the A5 build, however, whilst the aesthetics is less than perfect (understatement) the functionality and practicality of the site works well and it would be a shame to jeopardise that for the sake of vanity.

I am keen to get on with the usability testing of the site so any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

See the site here.

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Quote of the week

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” - Chinese Proverb.

Playing Catch Up...

Catch Up...

Another great productive week!

My first priority at the start of the week was to catch up on the notes I missed last from the previous week.

I had planned for about 20 minutes worth of copying / catching up time; however, come first break I was still at it (in the cafeteria might I add).

I think that this really set the tone for the week as many of the tasks I have undertaken so far have taken much longer than originally anticipated.

Usability & Accessibility...

This is becoming an area of increased interest to me. The more I learn, the more I find there is to learn! The prospect of making a living from consultancy later in life is something certainly worth considering.

I can feel a DasForum post on the way.

Timed Task...

Of the two timed tasks we have had so far, I would have to say that this one has been the most enjoyable and rewarding for me personally. The atmosphere was much more productive which lead to a much better design; and in my opinion, the printed version worked well.

Everyone had a much clearer idea of what had to be done and the seriousness in which the time scales were to be taken.

Feedback Groups...

The new seminar groups are working very well for me at the moment; the level of productive discussion, whilst remaining light hearted in places, is high.

I feel as though after each seminar session that I am much more comfortable with what is expected for each stage of the assignment.

Conclusion...

Overall this has been a very productive week. There has been a good balance between work and play making the level of output and quality high.

There is still much more to be done this week during self study so please keep an eye out on both here and on the forum for work to comment upon.


Thanks

Shaun Bellis

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Quote of the week

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” - Proverb

Usability Questionnaire

With our usability testing in mind, I have found a really good example of a usability questionnaire.

Obviously we are not allowed to directly copy the sites content, but its a good starting point.

If anyone has any others then please do share. Likewise for good accessibility statements to reference (see DasForum post).

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Thanks

Shaun Bellis

Quote of the week...end
"Usability is like oxygen - you never notice it until its missing" - Unknown Source