Group Name: Google Dawcs
Weekly Meeting Times: Fridays @ 2:30pm on Zoom
Group Members:
- Jorrin Thacker - jct13761@uga.edu
- Nour Trabelsi - yd172016@uga.edu
- Rimsha Bashir - yd22016@uga.edu
- Daniel Harper - dgh91150@uga.edu
Revised Problem Statement
Google Docs for student note-taking is not the most friendly and usable interface. Specifically, the ability to take notes from multiple users and draw or insert diagrams easily into the document is not very effective. Our definition of friendly is the average user’s ability to effectively interact with the interface without hindrance to their objective. Our problem is focused on Google Drive because it allows for a cross-platform solution for note-taking for multiple users and devices simultaneously. It is also the most popular note-taking platform by far. Another common note-taking app, Notability, does not allow for multiple users to take notes on the same document. Microsoft’s solution, OneNote and OneDrive, is not as simple as Google Docs and as a result, doesn't have as much traffic as Google Docs. Other note-taking options, like paper and pencil, cannot be shared realistically with other users simultaneously and, while it does allow for easy drawing, does not have the benefits of an online solution (copy-and-paste, backups, sharing, etc.) Taking notes simultaneously on Google Docs can lead to a clunky user experience, especially if the users are taking notes around the same area of the document. Page formatting can be messed up, users can be jarringly shifted down pages, and latency delays can lead to multiple people typing the same sentence because they did not know the other one was typing. The result of these can lead to one person doing the majority of typing while the others watch to avoid causing more issues. Diagram features are lacking because it does not allow users to format diagrams easily without messing up the page’s text among other formatting. It also does not support any on-screen drawing from a touch-screen device, like an iPad with an apple pencil. This hindrance is further compounded for non-touchscreen devices which require the user to use a clunky insertion and creation of diagrams. We think that these issues can apply to every user of Google Docs, but our focus is mainly on students and instructors in in-person classes. These lacking features can lead to students missing notes and information due to the clunkiness of Google Docs or an instructor not being able to draw a quick diagram on the projector to illustrate an idea to the class. Factors that contribute to our problem are self-efficacy and information recall, as students may be discouraged from using the app to avoid the problems listed above.