You are individually to write a paper discussing the user interface of a videoconferencing software
application. Specifically you are to describe three good and three bad interface aspects that you have
observed associated with tasks that users perform with that application.
As background, you will need to consider the following questions.
What are videoconferencing tasks? A task is what the user sees and does. A user does not “see” anything
behind the screen such as communication aspects and software code, nor any hardware (except for
display, keyboard, and mouse). Some tasks relate to (a) add/drop a participant/user/moderator, (b)
promote/demote a participant/user/moderator to a different status, (c) switch view between camera &
desktop, (d) mute/un-mute individual/selected group/all participant(s)/user(s)/moderator(s) audio and/or
video, (e) start/stop/pause record function, and (f) creating/removing a breakout session. (The list is not
exclusive as there are more tasks depending on the specific application you use.)
How do you differentiate a good from a bad interface implementing a task? That’s the application of what
you learned, but in summary, “A bad user interface is like a bad joke. It’s not very good if you have to
explain it.” If you or another person in the video conference has to explore options, ask for help, or appears
confused, then you have a bad interface. Alternately, if you or someone else can do a task quickly without
help, or in a way that is natural (“that’s just the way I’d do it”) then you have a good interface.
The paper you are to write will state the application you are discussing, and will describe the three
instances of good interface design, and three instances of bad interface design as well as why the
instances are good or bad. The paper should be 3-6 pages in length using 1½ line spacing in Times Roman
12 point font.
