Microsoft Forum IA Proposal By Brian-Anthony Garrison Overview The following is a proposal for a new information architecture for Microsoft s online help forum. Through a computational analysis of the current site, users were found to frequently discuss update-related issues with their machines; the current site does not clearly and directly point users towards information on such issues. Based on the data gathered from the analysis, a new architecture was designed that assists users in finding troubleshooting information while maintaining the already-present community of expert users (or anchors). Microsoft will benefit from the new architecture through increased traffic to their site and a boosted reputation. Introduction Microsoft s help forum site (answers.microsoft.com/en-us) is where many users of Windows computers seek and share information on various topics relating to problems with their machines. Users can create and view posts under many categories of problems, including those categorized as Performance & system failures which I will refer to as PSF issues. For this study, I focus on PSF issues for Windows 8.1 systems, meaning all threads analyzed here deal with machines using the Windows 8.1 operating system. Research Conducted Computational Analysis- I analyzed the community of the site by processing nine question/discussion threads on Microsoft forums. These threads were picked based on their number of views and replies. I extracted the raw text of each thread, including the initial post and all of its replies, through Outwit Hub lite (a web scraping tool) and copied it into a corpus. I then cleaned the corpus of extraneous data (reply counts, sharing buttons, etc.). I processed the cleaned corpus through AntConc (a word concordance software) and generated a wordcloud of the the most used words in the corpus in tagcrowd.com.
Findings- The words windows and explorer were the most used words in the corpus; both of them were used in concordance with the subject of updates or upgrades (used interchangeably). Users posted about their machines behaving strangely after updating their operating systems to Windows 8.1. Appears to be a bug in the 8.1 upgrade where the pc and sky drive trust is broken, it didn't happen until I received a windows update,... I just did a Windows update for my 8.1 and now whenever I start my laptop it goes to a soft shutdown after being on for 10 seconds. Similarly, users also posted about windows explorer behaving strangely after updating their machines. I upgraded from windows 8 to 8.1. Now when I click on the folder icon in the taskbar to open an explorer window so I can access my files, the taskbar dissappears, then reloads, and no window opens. I just updated to Windows 8.1 2 days ago. I'm encountering the same kernelbase.dll explorer crash. In my case, explorer starts crashing as soon as I login and never stops. Furthermore, the words update, performance, and crash are among the most used, reinforcing a connection between updates and performance issues. My system keeps freezing as well. I cannot find anything in the even logs and there does not appear to be any commonality to the freezing and crashing. My system was fine with Windows 8, it has become unstable with 8.1. After updating to Windows 8.1 Explorer.exe crashes if I open it by using file explorer on my task bar, or when I right click on a folder or file. Judging from these findings, it appears that there is a common theme of Windows users having problems with their machines stemming from updating their operating systems. About the Community There are two types of users on this site: casual users and anchors. Casual users come to the site for the sole purpose of seeking information and have no incentive to revisit the site unless they have more computer problems. One would suspect that they are also frustrated and confused from dealing with computer problems that they lack answers for. They are also less familiar with the site than the anchors. Anchors are established members of the community who supply credible information that is validated by other users. Anchors build a reputation for supplying valuable information by repeatedly supplying it, which entails frequently visiting the site as opposed to casual users. It is unclear what motivates anchors to supply information.
These two types of users are united under the context of solving performance problems with windows machines; casual users seek information needed to solve these problems while anchors supply the information. Through the computational analysis, I noticed three interesting behaviors: Many users respond to posts by saying they have the same or a similar problem, without directly contributing towards a solution. Some users give machine specs, showing that there are some users in the community with a more in-depth understanding of computers than others. Sometimes, Microsoft officials/employees will contribute to conversations. How the Forum Works The current forum site allows users to post in one of several different categories, each containing more categories which contain more categories. In this case, users posted in the Performance and system failures topic, under the Windows 8.1 version under the Windows category. Within each three-tiered hierarchy of categories are user-made threads which can be sorted by number of views, number of replies or time of posting. The threads can also be filtered by whether or not questions were answered and whether or not they are discussion-based rather than question-based. When creating a new thread, users create a subject (the name of the thread), enter the text (the main body of the post), choose whether or not the thread should be labeled as a question or discussion thread, and select which categories the thread should be placed in. The threads start with the initial post, followed by the top two answers to the initial post (top answers are determined by how many users voted them as helpful ), followed by an option for users to view All replies to the initial post. Users can interact with posts in three ways: for initial posts, they can reply, subscribe to the thread, or vote Me Too, signaling that they have the same problem. For other posts in the thread, users can reply, vote the post as Helpful or vote it as Solved my problem. Users with certain credentials will have them listed under their usernames in their posts. Credentials include, to name a few, Insider, meaning a poster is part of the Windows Insider program, and Microsoft, meaning a poster is an employee of Microsoft. These credentials help establish a poster s ethos and have an effect on defining knowledge within the community; a user with such credentials typically gives credible information more often than not. This ties into Liza Potts s theory of data translation, which explains how raw data is turned into information and then into knowledge 1 ; these community members are anchors who post data which is then verified as information by other users who vote the posts as Helpful or Solved my problem. This information can be applied as knowledge by new users finding it for the first time. The Current Sitemap A map of the current site illustrates the steps that a user must take to get from the landing page to the desired troubleshooting information. Nodes highlighted in blue 1 Potts, L. Social Media in Disaster Response: How Experience Architects Can Build for Participation. Routledge. 2013.
represent duplicate content, meaning there are multiple objects/locations on the same page that contain the same content. Nodes outlined in yellow are webpages. Nodes highlighted in green represent a possible end of the task. (sitemap of the current site) The user s experience starts with the landing page (answers.microsoft.com/en-us), which has a top navigation bar leading to content already on the page; the page is not very long and one would not need a navigation bar to skip to the content. It might be possible for the user to find the desired information through the search bar. The user can navigate through the Windows category to reach the Windows page, focused solely on Windows products (answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows). On this page, the user can select the version of Windows on the affected machine (in this case, version 8.1); selecting a version will send the user to the forums page, with threads filtered to those pertaining to the selected version. The user could, alternatively, select a topic from the Windows page and be shown forum threads filtered by the selected topic. The forum page (answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1) displays forum threads that are, by default, sorted by those with the most recent posts. The user
can sort and filter the threads as needed to search for specific information. If desired information is unavailable, the user can make a new thread in the forum requesting it. To make a thread, the user must sign-in with a Microsoft account or create one. Shortcomings of the Current Site Duplicate Content- On the landing page, there are two options to view categories of Microsoft s products: one is from the dropdown menu in the top navigation, the second is the list that is clearly displayed on the page just below the navigation. For example, clicking the link for Skype products from the dropdown menu takes the user to the same page as clicking the Skype link from the other list. Also, the forum page allows the user to sort threads along the same categories and topics encountered on previous pages. It would be more consistent and less confusing for the user to have the category options in one place. Long Journeys- A journey is a sequence of steps it takes for the user to perform a task. 2 Based on the sitemap, it could take as many as 19 steps for the user to reach the desired information. Assuming another user has posted the required information in the forum already, a user might be able to find it simply by entering the question in the search bar on the landing page. Or, the user might take 8 steps to find the information through a more targeted search. Or, if the user can t find the desired information, it could take 19 steps including those required to submit a question to the forum with no guarantee when or if they will receive a satisfactory answer. Lack of Interest- The Windows page displays four topics and an all topics option. It is unclear why the four topics Cortana & Search, Network & internet, Install, upgrade & activate and Windows update, recovery and backup are the ones immediately visible out of over a dozen possible topics. Are these common topics that the overall community typically has questions about? If so, why are they not labeled as such? Incomplete Conversion Funnel- A conversion funnel is a five-layer measurement of how users come to and return to a site. The layers in order of descending volume of users is: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action, and Repeat Action. The site does not do as well as it could to generate interest and desire; there is so much information in front of the user that it is unclear whether or not they are on the right path to the information they actually came for. Also, having to make an account to ask a question in the forums is a barrier to action for casual users; someone in a state of distress would sooner look for information somewhere else rather than make an account just to ask a question. The Proposed New Sitemap A redesigned site would be better equipped to assist casual users while still maintaining the option for users to join the community and become anchors. My redesign helps users reach desired troubleshooting information quicker with less superfluous content to navigate. My redesign also factors in the data from previous work about what type of information users are looking for. 2 Covert, A. How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2014.
(sitemap of the redesign) The new sitemap starts with a landing page with three options: search bar, forums, and common problems. The search bar is the same as before, offering users a chance to possibly find desired information based on a custom search. The forum option on the landing page takes the user directly to the forum page. The common problems section directs users to the forum page with threads filtered based on frequently occurring issues. The problems listed in this section are based on the data gathered in previous research: they include system updates, windows updates, crashes and performance, which were all words found in the research corpus. In his book, Intertwingled, Peter Morville says that Words as links invite choice and inspire confidence, letting us know we re on the right path. 3 The words used in the common problems section lets users know they are on the right path to finding the information they seek. On the new forum page, the user can browse threads, sort them based on most recent posts or most helpful answers (which are based on the number of people who vote a post as helpful) and can filter threads by the same categories/versions/topics/etc. from 3 Morville, P. Intertwingled. Semantic Studios. 2014.
the current site. The user can submit a post to the forum, but without the need to sign-in or create a Microsoft account. The option to sign-in (or sign-up) is present on this page. Selecting the ask the community option on the forum page will bring the user directly to the post-maker page, where the user can submit a question along the usual categories. The user will have to submit a valid email address before submitting, to help prevent spamming/trolling on the forums. Advantages of the New Site Lean Content- The redesigned map removes the duplicate content from the landing page and minimizes multiple encounters with the various thread filtering categories. The categories are only necessary on the forum page (to filter threads) and the posting page (to categorize posts). Shorter Journeys- The longest possible journey is 14 steps rather than 19, what was once 8 steps away can be reached in 4, and now there are 4 possible 2-step journeys. Fewer Locations to Navigate- The Windows page from the current site (answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows) is omitted from this design because all it does is filter threads before the user gets to the forum page. All possible filtering options are present on the forum page in the current design as well as this one. Removing Obstacles- The current site requires new users to make an account before posting a question, which is a barrier from participating in the community. It can be an inconvenience and a deterrence from using the site again. Requiring users to submit a valid email is less of an inconvenience and can still potentially allow for an established community: members with actual accounts can still post and those who only submit email addresses can have generated guest usernames. Generating Interest- The common problems section on the landing page addresses issues that users discussed in the research corpus, so they should be directly relevant to what users are seeking in the first place; namely, troubleshooting information to update-related issues. Conversion Funnel Strategy Awareness- Windows users searching for troubleshooting information can easily find Microsoft s forum site in a search engine through typing a phrase such as windows computer crashing, windows 8.1 crash, windows explorer performance, etc. This is true for the current site and hopefully more so for the redesign with the inclusion of more relevant keywords in the new common problems section on the landing page. Interest- The new common problems section includes problems/keywords that users discussed in the corpus, and therefore should be relevant to them. This should signal to users that the information they seek is present on the site.
Desire- The promise of information regarding their problem will drive users to engage the forum and subsequently develop some degree of familiarity with how the community operates. Action- The new site better invites users to contribute to the forum thanks to the removal of the sign-in requirement. Users no longer have to make a Microsoft account to make a post. Repeat Action- Some users will choose to join the community after receiving the information they seek, in order to help other users who are in their shoes. Project Work Plan Questions to be Answered- It would be helpful to know exactly what motivates anchors to create accounts and continuously contribute to the forums, so that designers will have a better idea what features of the site to leave alone and what to do away with, moving forward. The information could be gathered by surveying registered members of the site. This information is not expected to affect the proposed redesign; the redesign is expected to only affect casual users. Skills Needed- In order to make these changes, Microsoft will need to have at least one web developer available. The developer(s) will need to be skilled with Javascript and PHP in order to be able to add the email validation functionality. HTML will be needed to remove superfluous content from webpages and to add the common problems section to the landing page. Timeline- User survey conducted (results may or may not influence design decisions) Web designer(s) hired Pages redesigned and developed Redesigned pages tested (open-beta testing; open to all users) Redesigned pages permanently implemented if testing goes well (no issues reported, all reported issues fixed, or positive user feedback) Conclusion The proposed new site provides a smoother experience for casual users by factoring data on what kind of information they seek and by removing superfluous material from the current site. It maintains the community of anchors by maintaining a sign-in option on the forum page, allowing them make or log into accounts and actively contribute to the community. Providing a smoother user experience will, in turn, benefit Microsoft by driving traffic to their site and boosting their reputation.