Changes to End User Interface
Jason Moore
(Click images for full screen view)
We are making drastic improvements to the overall look & feel of the application. The changes will first take place only on the End User version of the application. The functionality will remain the same.
The screenshot above is the proposed home screen for End Users.
Below is the proposed Create Ticket screen for End Users.
Please provide any feedback that you have about this.
The primary goal in the layout is to make the application more friendly to view. You will also notice that there are no menu bars on the top or left. These were of no use to the End User due to the simplicity of the short list of functions that they have.
You will still have full control over the customization of fields and features to utilize in your department's version of bigWebDesk.
All of your current settings will remain in tact as well.
Remember, these changes will only effect the End User side of bigWebDesk in the beginning.
We encourage you to provide us with any feedback that you have about this.
You can leave a comment below or contact us by phone or email.
This is going to confuse a lot of our users. Also, from a tech viewpoint, there's not enough info requested. i work for a school district and we have several buildings, and so many teachers switch rooms a lot, so we need to have building and room info on the ticket as well, and not as that room number child system you have.
Some change is good, but too much change makes for frustrated users and tech support.
Thanks for the comments!
Doug -- Your ticket setup will not change at all. Only the "skin" of the application is changing. What you see in the screenshot is just one representation.
Let us know if you have any other questions about this.
--JM
Hey Guys,
I like the overall design and the icon set. I think my internal customers will like it.
Thanks for including my input and thanks for continuing to improve your product.
Just one more thing... Thanks for the outstanding customer service.
I agree with Doug about the need of having more info. We are also a school district where our techs require lots of up front info. The iconic design is pleasing to the eye, but make sure we can still gather all the info as up front as possible
If you added the Asset Tag/Ser Number field that would add a lot of info the "background" ticket because it could pull from the asset DB. This would be transparent to the end user though visible to the Tech when he/she viewed the ticket.
Marty:
This asset tag/serial number field will still work in the same manner where it automatically attaches the ticket to the asset (and vice versa). None of the functionality will change for your Customers (replacing the term "End User").
We will making another blog post soon about the approved list for changes to the Asset Manager.
We look forward to more comments there.
--JM
Jason,
We are not a district but we serve schools so we understand the comment about changing the end-user look and feel. It does not matter if it is easier and better it is still a change. To solve this issue, we do announce and document the change in May and implement July 1. This way the changes do not occur in the middle of the school year. Even for corporate clients I think this is a good policy.
Well, it looks like the first decision has been made by the bigWebApps Community!!
After reading the comments above along with emails sent directly, you have decided that the transition for this new interface should not take place until summer months.
The projected release date is now June 1, 2007.
We will keep any updates posted here.
Great job by everyone helping us come to this conclusion for the better of the whole community!
--JM
I think the new look is great. Yeas it will be a change....but an easy change. I like the uncluttered look and it will be much easier for end users to use. I would be willing to implement immediately.
I have recently looked at other similar products and this is something that was missing from your application.
To technicians....the look doesn't matter to much....to the end user...it will make a huge difference and appear more user friendly.
Proposed end-user home page. The icons look more user-friendly. There are spelling and grammar errors I will send in a separate e-mail. I'd spell out OA/KB as most end-users won't know what that stands for and may skip the description.
Create a new ticket page: What is class? Type of ticket? Classroom? Why is Issue/Summary Subject repeated twice? Why not make the second one "Details" or something like that? I liked the fields for ID Method and Property sticker #. We use those and I'd hate to see them gone.
I work at a school district with multiple schools and each tech covering multiple schools, and some end users work at multiple locations. They need to be able to select a location if not the default one the tech set in their profile. The child structure was very confusing to all. Thanks.
Are you in the future going to enable some type of spell checker within BWD?
To Warren--
Once we get the ticket creation process converted to .NET, I believe we will be able to add a spell check component. We do not have a specific timeline for this, but it is possible within the next 6-9 months.
I agree with spelling out OA/KB and Summer implmentation. Here is one thing that our users miss because it's too small and too similar: be sure that the Ticket Created Successfully message and the Warning that you missed a required field message are either different colors than each other and/or are in different size or style text then each other. Thanks!