Evaluating MOO Spaces
You can save this page as a text
file and add your comments directly, then save it. Give a copy to the writer,
so your comments can be used for revising the draft. First spend some time
reviewing the project to gain an overview. Then focus on the key issues below.
Make notes in a text file for the most significant issues, and turn it in
to the teacher folder. The author can then take a copy to use as a reference
while revising.
Overall Content
- What seems to be the purpose
of the space?
- Who are the primary intended
audiences? Is the project appropriately developed for this audience?
- Does the project reflect the
research done by its architect(s)? Would additional research improve the
project? Can you suggest possible sources?
- What kinds of information are
included? (descriptions, stories, examples, etc.)
- Is it evident how the project
might be expanded or developed further, either by the original architect(s)
or others?
- Timeliness and the volatility
of content: How much maintenance will be required to keep the information
viable?
- Do you have any suggestions
for improving the content?
Spaces
- Descriptions
- Sensory appeals
- Sense of space
- Appropriateness to topic
Exits
- Properly constructed
- Aliases working
- Exit messages
Objects
- Descriptions
- Messages
- Features
- Integration (where appropriate)
- Verbs
Household events or other room
features
- Appropriateness
- Effectiveness
- Writing
Puppets/bots
- Description
- Triggers
- expressions
Organization and arrangement
- How is the information arranged?
(sequential series of room descriptions, puppet narratives, hyperlinked
rooms, multiple paths, etc.)
- Grouping and Classification
of content: Is the information grouped and classified appropriately?
- Can you suggest some alternative
form of organizing the information? Other suggestions about the organization?
Navigation
- How does the project address
the participants' key navigation questions of: Where am I? Where do
I want to go? How do I get there? What will I find there? Why should I want
to go there? How do I return?
- Does the project use effective
navigation aids: directories or signs, puppets, well-named exits, appropriate
room descriptions and object descriptions, household events, object messages?
- Are there multiple paths, and
does the project still make sense if participants follow different paths?
- Suggestions for improving navigation
Interactivity
- What kinds of interaction are
built into the project? Is it basically a static museum display participants
move through, reading descriptions as they go, or are there other opportunities
for interactivity provided, such as:
- Opportunities for participation
- Opportunities for decision-making
- Opportunities for interaction
with others
- Opportunities for creation/building
- Opportunities for personalization
- Opportunities for creating paths
- Are the cues for interactive
possibilities well-presented?
- Suggestions for improving interactivity
Style
- Style matters. How would you
describe the overall style of the project (for example, witty and lighthearted,
baroque and elaborate, spare and elegant, etc.)
- Does the overall style suit
the purposes of the project, and its proposed audience?
- Is the style consistent and
coherent within the framework of the project? Is it clear?
- Is the style undermined through
errors of mechanics, spelling, and punctuation?
- Suggestions for improving the
style of the project