5. Research objectives
Understand
1. User adoption
2. What Google Docs lacks
3. Issues for Mobile Use and Accessibility
4. Issues Surrounding Collaboration
5. Security and Privacy Issues
7. Contextual Inquiry
– Directed interview + observation
– Provides data on user behaviors
• what features they use
• how they use the product
– 2 sessions conducted
9. Survey
– Conducted using Google Docs
– 32 responses (20 users, 12 non-users)
– Mixture of open- and closed-ended
questions
• 5-point Likert scale used for attitude judgements
10. Interviews
– 3 interviews conducted:
• experienced user
• functional user
• novice user
– Pre-determined questions and open-ended
follow-up
• 10-point Likert scale used to quantify attitudes
11. Focus Group
– One online chat room session
– Four participants
• Age 20-30
• Use Google Docs >=1 year(s)
• Technical professionals and students
– Semi-structured
13. Key Findings
– Used in a variety of contexts:
• home, school, work
– Most likely to use for small, simple tasks
“I think it works very well at least for the basic tasks.”
25% of Google Docs users surveyed reported that Google
Docs was their primary word processor and spreadsheet.
14. Key Findings (2)
– Treated as a clone of Microsoft Office
"It is quite similar to MS office. For me, it is pretty easy to use.
Its like working with MS office.”
– Expect features to act the same
“It doesn't support "Track changes" like what MS office does.”
“Chart and graph functions are very good on MS Office
comparing to the Google Doc.”
15. Key Findings (3)
– Most users are comfortable with storing
documents online
“I can access to that document anywhere anytime.”
“When I’m travelling, I don’t have to worry
about taking the computer with me”
“online free storage of files as my HDD crashed several times.”
“I have pdf’s of my tax returns up there, and I also have, for my
small freelance business, I have contracts and things up there.”
16. Key Findings (4)
– Collaboration features are used heavily
!
“It is easy to share document and have others view and adjust it
without sending email back and forth”
17. Key Findings (4)
– Novice users sometimes confused by
collaboration features
“when I’ve collaborated and there are different versions of things
it’s hard to find the specific one I’m looking for.”
“So everybody would be making edits at the same time including
me and because Google docs do the auto save, all the sudden
everything would be different on everybody screen. What is
saved wasn’t necessarily what is supposed to be saved”
19. Strengths
Collaborative editing
No more sending email back and forth
Online access
Available from anywhere with Internet
Familiar interface
Similar to Microsoft Office
Free
No cost!
21. Weaknesses
Lack advanced features
Compared to Microsoft Office
Problem with formatting, printing
Loss of fidelity in imported documents
No offline access
Online only
Difficult to discover new features
Do not know about new, improved features
23. Recommendations
Improve support for collaboration
and sharing features.
“It would be great if it has
ability to track changes made
by collaborators.”
“I would like it to be able to
share documents with
somebody who don't have a
Gmail account.”
…
24. Recommendations (2)
Improve feature parity with Microsoft Office,
especially formatting
“Better formatting - At the
moment, it's quite difficult to
format the document.”
“I need more beautiful graph
and charts on Google Docs.”
Spreadsheet Macros
and Formula
…
25. Recommendations (3)
Make it easier for existing users
to learn about new features
Offline service
“I'd like to use it offline ”