NIST/CIFter Tasks

(as characterized by TMF)

The Motley Fool Audience:

• USER PROFILE 1:
  • a naive to novice knowledge level investor
  • recently became interested in investing
  • new consumer of online investment information
  • curious about money issues
  • asks: "What do I need to know about investing?"
• USER PROFILE 2:
  • an intermediate to advanced investor
  • has firsthand experience in investing
  • more experienced consumer of online investment information
  • invests in 401k, stocks, or mutual funds
  • asks: "Where do I find the investing information I need?"

Also, we tend to believe that there is some difference in computer/web sophistication between our two typical user profiles. User 1 is somewhat less computer/web savvy than User 2.

The Motley Fool has a deliberately broad market focus. We want to serve people from the moment they become interested in investing for the first time right up until they feel they have become successful beyond their wildest dreams. We feel that we have some of the best investment content available on the web, no matter your level of sophistication.

TMF Tasks

We have constructed 10 tasks which we think are typical for our users and for which we think there might be some usability problem. For each task we also describe what we think is the expert or preferred navigation path. In some cases, subtasks are described. For example, Task 04 is structured to explore the functions of the MainPage of the site. Eight 'Expert Paths' are given, depending on a particular sub-question. Actual paths, even actual 'Expert Paths', will depend on how you, the usability engineer, decides to instantiate these generic tasks with more specific wording. In addition, there are several 'browsing' tasks for which there is no 'Expert Path'.

TASK: 01 (TaskID: GENERAL)

ISSUES INVOLVING GENERAL CONTENT:

We want The Motley Fool website to be as "sticky" as possible. We don’t define stickiness solely in terms of maximum minutes per user session. To us, stickiness occurs when our users feel equally comfortable spending either long, informative sessions on our site or paying frequent, short, and productive visits. We also understand that there are parts of our site where usability success can be measured by shortened stopwatch times and others where the opposite is true. Further, we know that while quality content can make a site sticky, good usability alone can not. (We also know that bad usability can make a site very un-sticky, very quickly.) What usability information can you offer that will help us be as "sticky" as possible?

EXPERT PATH 01:

This task was deliberately drafted in a vague manner, much in the way that clients/owners often tend to present usability concerns to usability engineers. The idea here is to have the usability evaluators create a specific task from the client-like task presentation above. That being so, it is not possible to generate a single expert path for this task.

TASK: 02 (TaskID: NEW_V)

NEW VISITORS:

Can new visitors to The Motley Fool site quickly form an accurate idea of the general sorts of content and services the site offers? What sorts of offerings do new users consistently perceive in the site? Conversely which content offerings do new users consistently miss at The Motley Fool?

Since this is basically a 'browsing' task, there is no 'Expert Path' per se; these are some likely paths.

EXPERT PATH 02A:

This is a likely new users path from the main page, through the "Tour" link

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/about/site/pg000013.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/about/site/features.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
4. The "Continue to Step 3 of 9 Discussion Boards"
5. /FoolSite/BorderPages/boundaryboard.htm

EXPERT PATH 02B:

This is a likely new users path from the main page, through the "Start Here" link

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/about/site/pg000009.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/about/site/features.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
4. The "Continue to Step 3 of 9 Discussion Boards"
5. /FoolSite/BorderPages/boundaryboard.htm

TASK: 03 (TaskID: CONTENT)

NEWS/EDITORIAL CONTENT:

Among the core elements of Motley Fool content are our news and editorial offerings. We provide these because we believe that in order to effectively manage and direct their own finances, our visitors need to be well and fully informed. To that end. we offer several different sorts of news and editorial content:

• News pieces written by Fool staff writers.
• Pieces written by contributors to the Fool.
• Pieces supplied by outside news services, etc.

We'd like to know:

• Can visitors differentiate between content from different sources? If they can differentiate between different content sources how much weight, credibility, and trust do they assign to each?
• Looking at the news and editorial content itself, how usable is the page design? Does it provide good access to the information it presents?

The Motley Fool also tends to feature articles that are rather longer than the norm on the web. Do we account and adjust for this adequately? Should we provide more, or different, intra-content links or similar tools?

EXPERT PATH 03:

This is another one of those deliberately vague tasks.

TASK: 04 (TaskID: MAIN)

MAIN PAGE:

How well does the main page work? Does it serve as an effective path into the deeper content? For example, can a user find information to:

• Help get out of debt?
• Plan for retirement?
• Buy a house?
• Get the news about a specific company? **
• Learn to research the value of a stock? **
• Locate a message board conversation about a specific topic? **

How effective is the main page navigation structure? What could be done to improve the usability of the main page?

**NOTE: These questions must involve tasks that point to information on the 3M corporation, as that is the only corporation-specific data included in the CIFter test content.

EXPERT PATH 04A:

Getting out of debt:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/browse/pg000053.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/credit/credit.htm
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/credit/cardtricksstep10.htm (or)
5. /FoolSite/FoolMain/news/foth/2000/foth000510.htm (or)
6. /FoolSite/FoolMain/specials/2000/sp000412lbym.htm

EXPERT PATH 04B:

Using the Retirement link in the "What's Here" list:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000004.htm

EXPERT PATH 04C:

Retirement: an alternative path

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000037.htm

EXPERT PATH 04D:

Buy a House:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000044.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/house/house.htm (and all links on the above page)

EXPERT PATH 04E:

News About a Company:
In this case we will need to direct people to the 3M offerings.

Using the Stock Research tab in the top navigation bar:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/research.htm (and all links on the above page)

EXPERT PATH 04F:

Using the Stock Research link in the directory:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/pg000058.htm (and all links on the above page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/pg000059.htm#complete (and all links on the above page)
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/products/pg000060.htm (and all links on the above page)

EXPERT PATH 04G:

Research value of a stock:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/foolsden/foolsden.htm (including all links on this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/features/features.htm (including all links on this page)
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/products/suboptions.htm (including all links on this page)
5. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/spotlight/spotlight.htm (including all links on this page)
6. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/about/about.htm (including all links on this page)

EXPERT PATH 04H:

Locate Message Board About a Topic: (Here again, any task growing out of this content area will have to point to the 3M boards. )

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/boardstart/index.htm
3. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000006.htm
4. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000001.htm
5. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000007.htm
6. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000050.htm
7. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000182.htm
8. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000358.htm (then, clicking on the "Minnesota Mining & Mfg." Link it takes you to a page with only one post, number 442 of 442, )
9. /FoolSite/FoolBoards/pg000001.htm (Then, using the "Previous" usa-button at the top of the page)

TASK: 05 (TaskID: CORE)

THE CORE CONTENT OF THE MOTLEY FOOL:

The Motley Fool offers several kinds of content that form the philosophical core of the site. Among these are offerings like "13 Steps to Investing Foolishly" and The Motley Fool’s own example portfolios like the "Rule Maker Portfolio" and the "Rule Breaker Portfolio." Are users (especially new users) even aware of these content areas? How do they tend to take advantage of them? What could be done to increase the usability and visibility of such core content?

EXPERT PATH 05A:

13 Steps:

This is the expert path directly into the "13 Steps to Investing" link in the left navigation directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/school/13steps/pg000011.htm

EXPERT PATH 05B:
This is the expert path through the "Start Here" link into "13 Steps to Investing".

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/about/site/new/pg000009.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/school/13steps/13steps.htm (or)
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/school.htm

EXPERT PATH 05C:

This is the expert path through the "Our investing Strategies" link into the main page directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000015.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/portfolios/rulemaker/pg000017.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 05D:

Rule Breaker:
This is the expert path through the "Our investing Strategies" link into the main page directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000015.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/portfolios/rulebreaker/pg000016.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

TASK: 06 (TaskID: ADV)

ADVERTISING:

The Motley Fool sells space on the site to advertisers. Advertising is very important to us because it provides a substantial part of our corporate revenue stream. Still, we don’t want external advertising to interfere with our content nor do we want our content to adversely impact our advertisers’ messages. We ask ourselves questions about this constantly. For example:

• Can users distinguish links to internal Fool content from links to external advertisers’ content?
• When a user clicks on an ad are they aware of the fact (or do they tend to perceive) that they have just attempted to leave the site?
• Is advertising on The Motley Fool perceived as an annoyance? Is advertising seen as a source of additional information? Or is it simply not perceived at all?

In short, what is the usability impact of advertising on The Motley Fool site?

EXPERT PATH 06A:
(This is a rather subjective task that does not lend itself to a clearly defined expert path.)

TASK: 07 (TaskID: QUOTES)

QUOTES & DATA:

The Motley Fool offers users the ability to get quotes and data about different stocks on the site. On the live site, individual stock information is dynamically updated and that updated information is then used to update the portfolio information as a whole. Does this information work well? Is it clear enough for novice investors? Is it sophisticated enough for more advanced users? What can be done to improve the usability of this information content?

This area of inquiry must involve specific tasks that point to information on the 3M corporation, as that is the only corporation-specific data included in the CIFter test content.

EXPERT PATH 07A:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/default.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/pg000022.htm?symbols=&Go.x=15&Go.y=5 (and all pages linked to from this page)
4. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/pg000003.htm
5. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/pg000004.htm
6. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/historical/pg000005.htm
7. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/news/pg000006.htm
8. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/Estimates/pg000007.htm
9. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/Chart/pg000008.htm
10. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/Snapshot/pg000009.htm
11. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/Snapshot/pg000010.htm

TASK: 08 (TaskID: RESEARCH)

RESEARCHING STOCK INFORMATION:

A core belief of The Motley Fool is that people should do their own stock research and make their own investment decisions (we call this "investing Foolishly") rather than depending on brokers and financial advisers (which we deride as "investing Wisely"). To that end, there are various ways for people to get stock information from The Motley Fool website. Among the questions we ask ourselves are:

• Can users find the information they want?
• Can they use what they find?
• Conversely, are we offering our more advanced users the right mix of features?
• Is the information we provide prioritized correctly?
• Do these features work well, especially for new users? What could be done to improve the way we get stock information to all our users?

This area of inquiry must involve specific tasks that either point to information on the 3M Corporation or, in this case, to the free Stock Research Report on the AMGEN Corporation that is included in the CIFter test content.

EXPERT PATH 08A:

3M (Minnesota Mining and Mfg.) via Stock Research tab:
This is the expert path through the "Our investing Strategies" link in the main page directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/research.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/BorderPages/boundaryquotes.htm
4. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/pg000001.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 08B:

3M (Minnesota Mining and Mfg.) via Stock Research directory link:
This is the expert path through the "Our investing Strategies" link in the main page directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/pg000058.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/BorderPages/boundaryquotes.htm
4. /FoolSite/FoolQuotes/pg000001.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 08C:

Amgen via Stock Research tab:
This is the expert path through the Stock Research top navigation tab:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/research.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/products/freeresearch.htm
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/7/100/70/0001/wwwfoolcom/art/new/research/free1amgn.pdf

EXPERT PATH 08D:

Or, going through Stock Research tab, using the Amgen link in the NEW RELEASES table:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/research.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/reports/amgn.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 08E:

Amgen via Stock Research directory link:
This is the expert path through the "Stock Research" link in the main page directory.

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/pg000058.htm
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/products/freeresearch.htm
4. /FoolSite/FoolMain/7/100/70/0001/wwwfoolcom/art/new/research/free1amgn.pdf

EXPERT PATH 08F:

Or, going through the directory, using the "Companies We Cover" link, then using the Amgen link in the NEW RELEASES table:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/pg000059.htm#complete (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/research/reports/amgn.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

TASK: 09 (TaskID: DBC)

THE DISCOUNT BROKERAGE CENTER:

One of the basic tenets of The Motley Fool is that individuals are far better off managing their own investments themselves, rather than handing that responsibility over to "professionals" such as high-commission stock brokers. We support this by offering tools such as the Discount Brokerage Center (DBC) which allows each Motley Fool visitor to choose a discount stock brokerage that works best in his or her case.

• Does the DBC present the information users want?
• How well does the DBC work?
• Does the DBC facilitate choosing making appropriate choices?
• What could be done to improve the DBC?
• Is the DBC effective for novice investors?
• Is the action path for the DBC clear and obvious?

This area is very important to us because it supports one of the last steps in the process of "investing Foolishly," that is, taking charge of your money. What can we do to make this better?

EXPERT PATH 09A:

Using the "Choose a Broker" link immediately under the top navigation bar on the main page:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/dbc/pg000007.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 09B:
Using the "Major Financial Decisions" link in the directory:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/pg000044.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/dbc/dbc2.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

EXPERT PATH 09C:

Using the "Get a Broker" link (under the "Major Financial Decisions" link) in the directory:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/FoolMain/dbc/pg000045.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)
3. /FoolSite/FoolMain/dbc/articles/01.htm

TASK: 10 (TaskID: MSGBOARD)

MESSAGE BOARDS:

We know that the message boards at The Motley Fool offer a vast pool of information and a genuine opportunity for Fool users to contribute to the site community.

• How well do the boards work?
• Can people navigate through the content efficiently?
• Are the controls easy to use?
• What are your recommendations for improvement?

These questions must involve tasks that point to information on the 3M corporation, as that is the only corporation-specific data included in the CIFter test content.

EXPERT PATH 10A:

Using the "Discussion Boards" tab in the top navigation bar on the main page:

1. /FoolSite/FoolMain/index.htm
2. /FoolSite/boardstart/index.htm
3. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000006.htm
4. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000001.htm
5. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000007.htm
6. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000050.htm
7. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000182.htm
8. /FoolSite/boardstart/pg000358.htm
9. /FoolSite/FoolBoards/pg000001.htm (and all pages linked to from this page)

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