GetHelp! Analysis

Without the application for hands on, it is actually a bit difficult to piece up the puzzle using the pieces of screenshots given. I have to use a bit of imagination for navigation around the application.

1. Usability vs Aesthetics (Is the interface attractive? Is it functional?)

Needs improvement.

Usability: 

• What is the meaning of feeds and SMS? I think the Twitter option could be I post my request as a Twitter status, but I don't understand how feeds and SMS work. If SMS means Facebook will send SMS to my friends, I don't think it is helpful as not many ppl reveal their phone no on Facebook.
• The description for the project is not shown on the page that shows the project to the others. And there doesn't seem to be a page to view more details about the project? Where can I view the description that the person who created the project entered???
• The tags are of no use?

Aesthetics: 

• The graphics are actually very beautiful, they must have put in quite a lot of effort. 
• Why is the SQL query shown to the user? (Figure 1)
• There sections "Helpers" and "Probables" seems to be misleading. For eg in "Helpers" it says "9 souls have offered their hands" but I only see 3 people each having their photos repeated thrice. So shouldn't it just say "3 souls have offered their hands"? (Figure 3) It sort of makes the app look over clustered with (irrelevant) info. Maybe can replace these sections with a tag cloud and related qns asked. Maybe can put up these info as numbers under each project but not include the photos (we can make the numbers as clickable links, so they can click into it to see who has helped in this project).

PS: Some comments on the statistics page on Figure 4. "Statistics" is not a good word used here. Isn't hvg a leaderboard for this kind of helping app create similar controversial issue like that of Causes? I looked back at the Causes slides for the FB seminar, the "spirit of giving" go against the "social incentive appeals to altruism", hence the "double edged sword"...

2. Number of options / freedom given to user when posting a need.

Not enough.

• There should be a contact detail input box for the user to enter how can the helper contact him if he can help.
• The location should be more specific to the country the help is required in, as Facebook is for users around the world. 

3. Cycle of interaction & incentives (Are the elements of the app engaging?)

Not enough.

• There doesn't seem to have a page for them to edit their past project posted => they should include one.
• There isn't a page for them to change the status of the project (alr helped or help still required) => should let the person who posted the project change to status of the project to "pending" and "done".
• We do not know who is helping who for which project under the list of projects, some projects may get extra help that is not required while some get no help at all => put numbers next to each project on how many ppl has offered help and whose help is helpful. Then we can sort the projects by the no of ppl who have helped/ lastest projects etc.
• We do not know the person that offered help to the project is really helpful to the project (the person just get the points for wanting to help even if he didn't really help?) => the helper should only get the points if the person that asked for help marked his help as helpful.
• It seems like we can only help our friends not users around the world => allow the user to select the location around the world for users to select, include a map or dropdown box that allow user to choose the location he wants to help in.

4. Other problems you think the team might have faced

I think the major problem is really getting users to use the application. There is one saying  in Chinese that says "water at a distance away can't save the fire at near", so if a person really need help eagerly, i think he will rather email/sms/phone/look for the person (including his friends) who he can help rather than make a post on Facebook using an app and hoping his friends will help. There is a barrier created thru Facebook/this app btn he and his friends. Not all ppl will log in Facebook frequently and even if someone logins Facebook frequently doesn't mean this person gets to notice all his friends status.

If someone just only have one or two specific qns to ask, he can post on many of the online forums or qns-and-ans websites. The idea of this app is too general, it will not attract the kind of experts gathering there and interact. So I can't post help to specific qn there also. So this app is somehow impractical. Last but not least, i think this kind of app attracts more spams then ppl who truly needs help or wants to help.

Extension: Just a crazy idea... what if this app is on a phone with a map? For eg this person sends a help that he has fell down into a drain with no one around... anyone with this app can get info of his status and can rescue him (better if the helper is nearby)? lol