This is the original M.Sc. Dissertation project concerning the UK League Snooker Community, it was completed in 4 months at the start of 2003, receiving the prize for 'The Best M.Sc Computing Dissertation 2003'. Since then the website has been expanded extensively with new functionality and refined to suit the needs of UK Snooker Leagues
FIGURES.
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TABLES.
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APPENDICES.
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ABSTRACT.
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1 Introduction.
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1.1 Research Problem.
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1.2 Project Background.
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1.3 Aim.
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1.4 Objectives.
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1.5 Intellectual challenge.
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1.6 Research Programme.
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1.6.1 Methodology.
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1.6.2 Determining the User Requirements - Interviews,
questionnaires and observing.
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1.6.3 Project Plan.
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1.7 Deliverables.
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1.8 Constraints.
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1.9 Ethical issues.
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1.10 Resources.
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1.11 Summary.
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2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.
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2.1 Literature Review..
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2.1.1 Online Community Theory.
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2.1.2 Usability.
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2.1.2.1 Consistency.
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2.1.2.2 User and Task Analysis
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2.1.2.3 Usability Testing.
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2.1.2.4 Usability Evaluation.
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2.1.3 Sociability.
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2.1.3.1 Purpose.
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2.1.3.2 People.
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2.1.3.3 Policy.
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2.1.3.4 Sociability and Usability.
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2.1.4 Software Development
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2.1.4.1 Software Life Cycle.
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2.1.4.2 Prototyping.
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2.1.4.3 Software Options
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2.1.4.4 Social Impact of Software Design.
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2.1.5 Summary.
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2.2 Research Methodology -
Community-Centred Development.
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2.2.1 User-centred design.
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2.2.2 Contextual inquiry.
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2.2.3 Participatory design.
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2.2.4 Assessing community needs and analysing user
tasks
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2.2.5 Selecting technology and planning sociability.
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2.2.6 Designing, implementing, and testing prototypes
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2.2.7 Refining and tuning sociability and usability.
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2.2.8 Welcoming and nurturing the community.
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2.3 Summary.
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3 ASSESSING COMMUNITY NEEDS AND ANALYSING USER TASKS.
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3.1 Requirements gathering.
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3.2 Survey design and
distribution.
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3.3 Analysis of the survey
results.
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3.3.1 Demographics – Age, gender, location, years of
league snooker experience.
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3.3.2 Current league information sources and
availability.
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3.3.3 Internet – access, location, frequency, browser,
PC or MAC.
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3.3.4 Computing and Internet experience – Internet
longevity and frequency of use, computing skill, possession of an email account
and participation in online communities
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3.3.5 Willingness to participate in developing the
community.
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3.3.6 Community features suggestions
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