And here we start the do the brainstorming and then continue to add the rest of the issues required in task 1 . our site to work on is the Oikotie.
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USERS OF OIKOTIE.FI
Result of brainstorming:
The persons buying an apartment (on 29.10.2009 the service had 20969 apartments)
- The users most likely have savings for the purchase
- Needs vary according to the buyer (some are looking for an apartment in a block of flats whereas some would like to purchase an own house)
- As in every big financial solutions the users are prepared to some changes in their life
- The persons using oikotie.fi might have taken a look at some other services providing help for purchasing (for example etuovi.com or real-estate agents)
- Typical users are in at some stage in working life
The persons looking for a job (on 29.10.2009 there were 718 placements)
- Unemployed or looking for a better placement
- Persons looking for a job want a change in their life or have been through one by occupational or educational means
- Can basically be everyone
Employers, persons buying and selling their cars or users wanting to look for courses and seminars etc, can also use Oikotie.fi.
Roles defined better:
A user buying an apartment (example case)
- Buying his/her first apartment (with a partner), looking for an apartment, not a house
- Only been in working life for a while, will finance the purchase with a bank loan
- 20-30 years old
- Uses internet for useful purposes; communication, financial issues
- Has some amount of computer skills
- 20k apartments -> must be tens of thousands of users, out of which thousands fit this profile
- software should make the search for an apartment simpler, faster and more effective
- used generally from home or from work
- help from partner, and possibly from parents, to choose and finance the apartment
- use software from multiple several times a day(urgent) or casual checking few times a week
A user person looking for a job (example case)
- Recently completed studies
- First position as a full-time worker, wants to continue the work for at least three years
- Approximately 30 years old
- In a relationship, the partner already has a position (living together, will influence the household economy)
- Able to handle the computer skilfully, but not necessarily professionally
- software should speed job search by categorizing the jobs and dynamically offering the right positions
- software should provide faster infromation flow
- user is likely to use the web site daily
...[interview]
James
Looking for an apartment
"I like to see lots of pictures of the apartments, without too many technical details. I like to keep things simple"
James is in his mid twenties, currently living in a rented apartment with his fiancee. James has worked for a few years after graduating and has some savings together with his girlfriend, though not nearly enough for an apartment. They are taking a mortgage to finance the apartment. James needs to find a relatively cheap apartment and uses the Internet to find one.
James isn't in a great hurry, but their current house is getting too small. They are both busy working their daily jobs and at the same time, want to keep up to date on the current housing situation in the area they would like to move into. They check these apartments form oikotie multiple times a day, alone from work, and review the options together in the evening. If they find anything interesting, they will ask advice from relatives and friends who know more about these issues.
feature importance
Generally, developers might assume the most important features for the application are the accuracy, proficiency and reliability since they can have an effect on the user's financial situation. The ease of learning and convenience are not necessarily that important, since buying an apartment is a serious issue, with what a user is able and usually willing to invest more effort to get things right.
On the other hand, the user convenience and and satisfaction cannot be overlooked, because the user might just give up if the software is too complex, incoherent or inconsistent. In this kind of situation, the user probably learns the system, no matter how long it takes, and then uses it until the apartment is found, and then forgets it completely. In this case, the site has received it's slice of the money, and the user might not be returning to the site anytime soon. If the user needs another apartment in the future, he probably thinks about the whole experience and the overall price, and the retention of learning doesn't matter much
For James over there, the valuable features might be convenience, efficieny, reliability and accuracy. Convenience and efficieny is needed if James wants to continuously check the apartments. Reliability and accuracy are needed when making the financially big decisions.