InnoEngineer – Bringing Engineers And Project Owners Together To Execute Successful Projects

29 thoughts on “InnoEngineer – Bringing Engineers And Project Owners Together To Execute Successful Projects”

1. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!): 
   What do you remember?

   Two boxes in the middle of the site.  The blue one that states “Project Owners” and the orange box which states “Engineers”.
   What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?

   The site is about teaming project owners and engineers together for projects.  If this is what I was looking for, nothing would have caused me to leave the site.
   Register as an engineer. Please ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. You will get a confirmation after you win a project. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.

   After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.
   You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.
   Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.
   Please answer following questions:
   Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
   Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
   Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
   What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?

   I tried to register as an engineer and I ran into a problem with the contact information.  I had issues with the phone number.  I typed in my phone number and it kept sending me back to the page with a red symbol by the phone number. 

   One thing that you should include is when there is an issue such as the phone number, you should have something on the side either stating the problem or an help tab or link. 

   I looked over the site and seen nothing about “Help” or “FaQ”.  FaQ is very important for people who have questions and instead of having to contact you, they can check the “FaQ” for common questions asked.  When answers are just a click away, people are more willing to stay on the site and learn more.  When you have to take the time to contact the person or company and then wait the time for a reply, most people will just close the site and look somewhere else. 

   There are two things in which I think you should include.  I think you should include a tab for comments or stories made by your clients.  When people are looking at a service which you are providing, it helps to see what your clients are saying such as “It has helped me find jobs”, “I really enjoy using this service, it has opened doors for me”, etc.

   The second thing in which I think you should include is a link for “facebook”, “Twitter”, etc.  You need to have an account with social sites such as the ones I named and then have the links on your page.  I understand they are social sites and have nothing to do with the service you are providing, but…those social sites are popular and will bring you in more clients.  Almost every business these days have accounts with social sites due to it bringing in more clients.

   I think the site looks professional and it is easy to understand.  I think you just need to change a few things in which I stated above.  Good Luck!!

2. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!): 
   
   What do you remember? I remember thinking that this site must be like an Elance style of site but for Engineering.  I remember the color scheme of blue and orange.  I remember there being a place for both Project Owners and Engineers.    I remember there is a tab for Get Ideas, Network and to Share Knowledge.
   What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site? I think the site looks to be self serving.  I think that the it looks easy to navigate.   I don’t think that I would have left for any reason if I were looking for this type of work.
   Register as an engineer. Please ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. You will get a confirmation after you win a project. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid. I attempted to register but could not get past the phone number section.  It would not take any phone number I listed.  It would also not allow me to change the state from Virginia.    I tried to override this and go directly to bidding, but it would then not allow me to sign in.
   After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool. Unable to complete
   You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool. 
   
   Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects. Right now, I cannot go any further on using the site.  It started out really good.  I think the concept is excellent.
   Please answer following questions:

   Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
   Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
   Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
   What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved? 
   

   I like the overall idea and think that it’s a great concept.  I wish that I had been able to actually go in and bid on projects.  It looks like something that will really work well once it gets the bugs worked out.  I look forward to checking it out further in the future!

3. Please read this if you had any registration issues.

   You will get a confirmation email after registration. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.”
    

4. I am still unable to get past the phone number.  It won’t take anything I enter in the field.

5. I placed a bid about 4 hours ago but nothing has happened yet?? There was another bid on that project already.

6. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
   What do you remember?
   circles with light bulb and something else, statement regarding customized features for engineers.
   What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
   something to do with engineering.  Initially I did not see anything that caused me to feel the site was not worth my time.  Had a good first impression and peeked my interest.

   Register as an engineer. Please ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. You will get a confirmation after you win a project. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.
   completed.  Process was fairly simple however, it took several attempts to log in after I had registered.  It appeared there was a lag in the creation of my account or something.  I had to repeat use of the verification email 5 times before the site let me log in. 

   I waited for 4 hours and never received confirmation on either project I attempted to bid on.

   After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.
   The first item I tried to bid on was in computer engineering and I received a Bid Filter Restriction message. 

    I moved to electrical engineering and was able to complete this bid with no issues.
   Never received confirmation on my bid and never could locate the project in order to create the team and other tasks requested.
   You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.
   The forum it very simple in nature and was easy to navigate all of the test posts.

   Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.
   The visual flow of the site is spectagular.  There is nothing that bogged down the site.  Whoever create this site did an amazing job.  I found it so easy to navigate pages and INSTANTLY see what I was looking for.  The use of graphics vs. text is set up perfectly.  I was able to see what I wanted to do immediately and then had the OPTION of reading more if I chose.  I love this.  It is to often that I am required to read mounds of text to find what I am really looking for.  Wonderful creation.
   Please answer following questions:
   Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
   I found the site very user friendly, but began having issues when bidding on a project and the set up from there on.  Since I was unable to complete a project, I would be reserved about using the site.  When things get complicated I typically move on.
   Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
   The speed of use in getting around the site is phenominal.  When you get to the bidding and project areas it becomes slightly more combersume, but after using it a couple of times I am sure it would be easily useable to regular clients.
   Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
   If this were any other site I would not comment so meticulously however, your site is setting a very high standard.  Due to this, on your tools page for projects, you use the same images that were previously links to the pages one wants to go to.  My instinct was to use these buttons on the tools page to go to the specific pages.  I had to scroll down the page to find a way to get this started.  Again, I typically would not comment on something as minor as this, but everything other action on your site has been immediately in my viewing area and this felt a bit inconvenient. 
   What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
   The details put into the site are wonderful.  I did not even know that it was possible to offer font size adjustments on a website. 

7. Feedback sought:

   Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
   What do you remember?  Honestly, there are so many words that I can only remember the buttons for Project Owner and Engineer on an orange background.  That is all I remember.
   What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?  I believe this site is geared for both project owners and engineers.  However, by only looking for 5 sec.  I don’t know how to answer the question “what would have caused me to leave the site” from a 5 sec. glance.  That is too brief for me to make a judgment call on if I can use it or not.

    

   Register as an engineer.

   Done. Registered.

   After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.  Noted.
   You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.  Noted.
   Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects. 

   User Experience:  I looked up a project by the title of:  long lead bid with a non-disclosed budget.  Average bid amount $31,751.71 with roughly 92 days left.
   I saw many bids on this project.  I bid on it, but wasn’t the lowest bidder.
    

   Please answer following questions:
   Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?

   I think InnoEngineer is very usable.  It looks like there are a lot of details and aspects that make this site comparable to ebay as a method of buying or selling projects.  If this wasn’t a test, I don’t know if I would use it.  I don’t know of your brand, and without any reference on it, I don’t know how credible you are.

    
   Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?

   I can’t tell you of “time saving” improvements but I can suggest cosmetic improvements to your site (below).

    
   Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?

   I think the design and process is straightforward.  Comparable to any bidding site.

    
   What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?

   Improvements to site:  First, the buttons in the top left:  Share Knowledge, Get Ideas, Network look really well done, but the font is a little small.  I think you should make the buttons bigger and the font of the white text larger.
   I like the Forum and the topic discussions under the “Professional Networking Tool” tab.
   Under the “Our Team” tab, I would really like to be able to see the profile pictures of the team.  I was really hoping the name would be a link.  I think adding pictures would add a personalized touch to know who we are working with.
   Going back to the first original question: Glance for 5 sec. and then give your first impression – I don’t know how effective your site is to bringing in new customers.  What I am trying to say is that it doesn’t look like there is a high “fun factor”.  I get the feeling that I am doing work, and that it is work.  Well, I bet you could get more people to sign up and want your service if it seemed more user friendly.  Put a smiling face (real or cartoon-designed to be your site spokesman like the Geico Gecko) on the upper right hand corner.  I don’t feel the warm and fuzzy feeling, that I think you need to give the impression that it is work, but it doesn’t have to be boring and dull.  I think you need more smiling faces, and definitely put up profile pictures of your team.  The color scheme works.  Everything else looks good.

8. 1.
             i.            I just remember the “Project Owner” and “Engineers” options.
            ii.            It was not completely clear the value proposition.  I think there is too much disperse info on the page. Difficult to read / not compelling logo.
    
   5.  The sign-up process provided 4 options early on without explaining them.  There were two for engineers but it was not clear the difference between them, in other words, which one was the FREE version.  After signing-up for the website, it was not clear that I needed to check my e-mail to complete the process.  I try to login immediately and got a vague error message.
   6.
             i.            I think the navigation is not optimized.  Key functionalities like “Post Jobs” and “Bid on Project” are mixed with other less important functionalities.  Also, these secondary navigation tabs are not clearly highlighted as separate tabs in some areas of the sites (“Engineering Projects” and “Project Management Tools”) which makes the website navigation inconsistent.  They are all together under this black box.  You can only identify they are actually navigation options when you hover the mouse on top of them.   
            ii.            I would eliminate the yellow/orange bar “customized tools for…” that has no value in the system.  Change the navigation tab colors.  For the secondary tabs, I would use a different color and clearly separate each option across ALL main tabs.
          iii.            I have issues biding for a project and never got a project awarded.  So, I can tell more about some of the functionalities of the site.
          iv.            I liked the vertical navigation part of the website and the overall look and feel of the website below the yellow/orange tab.  I think the website is missing a FAQ

9. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):

   What do you remember?

   I remember that it’s a site geared toward engineers, and honestly, I also remember the bold colors of your banner images (which, for such a small area, is very bold, due to the colors).

   What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?

   From your intro above, I know what your site is designed to do; however, the supporting copy and buttons on your homepage don’t make that abundantly clear. Your banner headline says “Customized tools for engineers and employers.” Your two buttons are geared toward “project owners” and “engineers.” The supporting copy of “bringing engineers and project owners together…” is really very hidden, and that’s the clearest piece of copy on the page. If I were an engineer, and I came to this page, the fact that my title is mentioned is not enough to keep me here. The purpose of your company and your site is not coming through clearly and concisely. I can appreciate that you want to keep homepage copy to a minimum (I’m all for that); however, the copy you are using is pretty ineffective, and could be much more effective.

   Register as an engineer. You will get a confirmation email after you win a project. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.

   After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.

   You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.

   Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.

   After bidding on a project, I found it a bit strange that there was no confirmation copy. It wasn’t clear that I had actually completed a bid until I did some searching. I think a simple line of copy could make this more clear.

   Please answer following questions:

   Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?

   For extremely simple reasons (I’m not an engineer), I would not use your site. I am; however, a project manager, and from that perspective,

   Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?

   The tool itself is very valuable; however, I think your site’s layout could make it’s primary tasks easier to find and navigate. Specifically, your main tabs are “Engineering Projects” and “Project Management Tool.” These are the primary functions of your site, and the ones that are making you money. The “About” and “Our Team” tabs are secondary. I recommend pulling them up to the header or down in the footer…make them less distracting. For a site like this, equal space shouldn’t be given to way less important tabs. I think that the bidding and PM tools are very effective, but your nav and design are not conducive to using the tool as effectively as it can be. Although your content is pretty wide, I’d almost recommend a side nav. Or better yet, keep it simple. Keep your basic nav items (“Home,” “About,” and “Our Team”), and use the three circles in your banner image as actual links to the main functions (that’s what I thought they did anyway. A site like this is so functional, content is an afterthought. Navigation and design should be as clear and easy as possible.

   Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?

   Please see above for feedback regarding design. I think your navigation could be used much more effectively.

   What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?

   Although your description above states that you compete with odesk and Elance, and that part of your target audience is contractors or freelancers, the words “contract” or “freelance” are not prominently featured (I didn’t see them at all, although I didn’t scour the site looking for them). This is not great for SEO purposes, and also, again, the copy and nav are not clear (even the tab for freelancers/contractors says “Engineering Projects.” This is a very general term, that is not geared specifically toward engineers. It’s not clear what I’ll find there. I mentioned I’m a project manager. I work for a marketing firm that specializes in recruiting and staffing firms. One of the things I encourage my clients to aim for especially is clarity – in design, in copy, sitewide. Your site lacks that. Again, I want to stress that your product is great. It’s the design and copy of your site that are inhibiting the product.
    

10. 
    Look at the site at
    https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
    Done.

    
    What do you remember?
    
    What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
    I liked the colors of the the site. The bright blue and orange and the dark black made the two of colors pop. After looking at the sight for just a few seconds nothing would have me leave. I’m more intrigued to see what ever is on the sight. I wanted to click on the boxes and see what information is behind them. I remember vividly that the pages featured orange, blue and black colors. I remember seeing that you bring project owners and engineers together to work on projects. I remember that you could click on either a project owner or engineer box.
     
    
    Register as an engineer. Please ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. You will get a confirmation after you win a project. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.
    I liked how your page gave a little info as to how you can assist with an egineers process of finding a project owner. I also liked the additional information you had below such as: bidding, promoting, and etc. However, I did not like the design. I felt like I was just scrolling and scrolling. I thought some of the boxes just had dead space and the that the links you have to the side could had been put in the boxes to use some of that space.

    The registering process was quick and easy. I liked how you had terms and conditions right out of box and that you featured a security question and security verification. The little Id badge next to the “select your role” was just such a nice touch. It’s nice that you provided an area where people can provide their creditentials. It took the guess work out. Maybe you could also have an area where you could upload a resume in it’s own text box as a option. I had some trouble with entering my phone number with the first box that had the “+” in it. I just guessed and entered two zero’s next to it and then proceeded from there. Nice free and paid options. That’s gives a person on any level the opportunity to use your site. I received my email very fast and just clicked the link and I was ready to go within minutes on finishing the registration. I liked the artisty of the page with the world map linking the people together. It gave a nice visual to what your website does.

    After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.
    I have been waiting for approximately two days and I did not win the bid as stated in the directions. I never received an email conformation so I am unable to create task and things of the like. I’m not sure what happened. There was several projects to bid on but the outcome was still the same.

    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
    I think that the website can be a challenge for someone who has not used it before. The setup of the website is similar to that of ebay but it’s a little me detailed in the tabs. I think that the website needs to be simplified just a touch more.

    Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
    I think there needs to be emphasis put more on the: projects, management and networking tabs on the top. The about and our team tabs needs to be moved either down to the side or down to bottom. I’m not sure if that idea will save you money but the tabs needs to fewer and more simple. Maybe because I’m not an engineer or owner but I found myself kind of all over the place.

    Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
    See above information.

    What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
    I really like the professional networking tool – it’s very detailed and useful.

11. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
    
    What do you remember?
    I remember the colors orange and gray and the title of the site Innoengineer which I can only assume it stands for “innovative engineer” for someone who is on top of trends and current technological tools. I remember the site was layed out in an interactive way where a person can utilize tools to share, network and create projects.
    
    What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
    I think this site is about posting jobs where people can bid for engineering or project management jobs. Nothing would have caused me to leave the site, the few seconds I had to look at the site encouraged me to look further into the site and find more about what it is all about and what services it offers.
    Register as an ‘engineer’. You will get a confirmation email after you win a project. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid on.
    Registration completed, however, I ran into an obstacle while entering the telephone number because I did not know what to enter in the first field. Normally there are 3 fields when entering a phone number and the registration process had 4. There was a warning sign letting me know there was something wrong, but, there was no explanation as to “what” was wrong (more explanation for the user is needed to move forward). I just made up a number to bypass it.
    Also, prior to registering I noticed the “register” link is hard to see since it’s right below the orange banner and the link is also orange which can easily disappear to the eye. I would make that link more visible especially since that is how a person begins using the service or the application.
    The process of placing a bid was fairly easy to navigate and follow without any confusion. I liked the purchaser information on the right hand side and all the info provided for easy visibility, also the bid history below the project allows me to see who else is bidding that is something I’d be interested in viewing. I wish there was an info box with an example estimation of what the bid is normally sold for to give the bidder and purchaser an idea of the range in pricing.
    After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool. You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.
    For this task while I wait for my bid alert, I’d like to make a few observations: I suggest adding a “my account” or “my dashboard” tab in the home page, I did not see one and I was confused as to how to get to my account to see my bids, my info, my profile, etc. I think the “accounting” section should be renamed to something like “payment activity. I also suggest that any icons shown on the bidding site such as the handshake, stars, eye icon should have a snippet of information explaining what the icon represents to give the user as much info as possible to guide him/her through the site.
    Also, I noticed after I put a bid for a job, I did not receive a confirmation saying my bid had been completed such as: congrats on your bid! You are number 3 on the auction or something like that that let’s the bidder know the bid was recognized and accepted.

    After completing the bid I never received confirmation that I won the bid after the 2 hr period the instructions stated ( I waited a day). I am unable to wait for the “I won the bid” confirmation to finish the feedback.

    Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.
    I like the way the site is layed out and I actually like the colors, but, black, gray and deep blue are colors I’d associate with engineers. I think the site has some really good tools and its objective is a good one, however, I think it needs to be organized in a more user-friendly way, it’s not so easy to navigate through it and find what a person’s looking for, there seems to be too much information that overlaps with each other for example, the control panel, the dashboard and preferences. I think there is some redundancy in these areas that can confuse a user. The site should be organized and info found in each tab should be more concise.
    I think there is way too much information on the navigation pane and some of those links could be regrouped or reorganized. For example, place the “public profile” link within the preferences section and just rename it “my profile” once the user clicks on it then public/private, etc. can be shown. It folder with folder organization is more effective than showing all content at once.
    I didn’t see a “contact us” or “help” link. Do you offer assistance with the site?
    Please answer following questions:
    
    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
    Yes. This is a useful tool overall because you can bid or post a project, network, exchange ideas, get additional information from other users about projects allowing the exchange for communication and knowledge. I would still use the site although it took a while to understand how to get around it because I still think it could be a very resourceful tool to place bids and post projects and most important network with others in the same industry.
    
    Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
    Add a “my account” section to be able to go back and see my bidding, payment, messages, etc. I had a hard time finding my account as it wasn’t easily visible. I didn’t think of finding it by going through “my control” panel. Also, there needs to be a confirmation/alert system when bids are accepted and won. I wasn’t sure once I put my bid if it was accepted or not until I went back and saw my username as one of the bidders.
    
    Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
    Have the sign-in or sign up link in a different color than orange, orange can fade away within the page easily. I’d suggest placing in the upper right hand corner in a bold color. I do like the lay out just, the information just needs to be organized properly so as to not lose the user with too much wording/links at once and rename some of the tabs such as “control panel” to “my account”. The website needs to be worded in terms of “how to read/navigate easier” and not in terms of how an enginner or project manager would read easier, hence, be user-friendly.
    
    What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
    See above. People like videos so maybe adding a video about how the tools used in this site can benefit its users. Since this is an engineer/project manager site I’d expect to see more special effect graphics, 3d effects, or animations. It attracts users and encourages them to stay on the site and navigate. Finally, remember that people want modern, something to read but not all at once, clean, simple and unique makes people want more. What’s unique?

12. 1. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):

    1. What do you remember?

    Basically, I remember the colors and the two big buttons at the center: project owner and engineers. The tabs at the top don’t bring much attention, and the buttons on the orange banner get a bit lost because of the bright orange colors. Still, they are easy to find if you pay a bit of attention to it, so I don’t think that this is a big deal

    2. What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
    I don’t understand what this site is about from the very beginning. The tag line “Bringing engineers and project owners together to execute successful projects.” is nice but doesn’t tell me what the site does or how this site will help me.
    If I look at the tabs above, it is obvious that it is a project management tool or similar.Maybe it would be convenient to change the tag line for something more descriptive. Probably something like “manage your projects, meet new engineers and get in touch with other project owners”.

    2. Register as an ‘engineer’. You will get a confirmation email after you win a project. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid on.

    Well, I registered and filled in my details (lots of trouble here… you do have to fill every single field) and then a list of possible projects appeared. Some of them were as project owner, some of them as an engineer. I didn’t understand this very well. Was I supposed to bid on any of these projects? Why does any project includes “project owner”? Don’t project owners log through another panel? It looked like it. Else there wouldn’t be two buttons in the home page, one for engineers and other for project owners. Maybe I haven’t read all the screen but a bit of further help here and some explanation would be nice. I hit the “continue” button and I get a message that an e-mail has been sent to me and that I need to wait for it if I want to reach the marketplace.
    I wait. I wait. After 3-4 hours, I’m still waiting. Maybe because it is weekend. I’ll see if I had any luck on Monday.

    Can’t answer any other question since I don’t have the chance to get to the proper screens.
    The site is clean and it seems easy to use and yet the usability can be improved. There are screens that you really don’t know what is expected of you.
    It would also be nice if you were informed from the start that you have to fill every single field of your personal data when you sing in.

13. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):

    What do you remember?
    I remember the color scheme most about the site. The orange and blue go very well together, and they are very eye catching. I also recall the blue and orange box in the center of the screen.

    What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
    This site is like Odesk with a focus. The focus is on Engineer work. This site is for Engineers looking for work or companies in search of Engineers or technical resources. I think that the service is a wonderful idea. There are lots of people out of work, because of the economy. This site is perfect for an engineer searching for work, because he is not restricted to only search in his local area. If I was an engineer, there would be nothing that could cause me to leave the site other than if I were to learn it was a scam etc. For companies in search of an employee or contractor this is a great service, because they are not restricted to hire locally. My husband is an electrical engineer, and he has told me numerous times about how his boss was forced to hire people who are less the par. This is due the limited people in my area. I live in a rural town, and there are only so many people to choose from. Sure, some people may be willing to travel a ways for a good job, but we are a good hour from any place with a larger population. I think the only concern a company owner might have with a service such as this, would be not really knowing if the engineers are truly qualified. I have not gone into looking deeply on the site yet, so I am not sure if there is some sort of way for engineers to put up there certifications or qualifications. I am also unsure if there is some sort of testing your site administers. All of that being said, if there is not it can sort of be like a company has to blindly trust that the person they are hiring is telling the truth about their qualifications. I am sure they can check with past employers etc, but what if they cannot locate the company said employee is speaking of. Those are just rare instances. The positives strongly outweigh the negatives, especially for companies located in small towns.
    Register as an ‘engineer’. You will get a confirmation email after you win a project. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid on.
    project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool. You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.

    I found where engineers can post their qualifications while registering. I guess that answers my previous question. The registration was really complex. The phone number section is rather confusing. Instead of 3 sections there are 4, and I even tried putting a 1 in the first section with no luck. I finally figured out you have to remove the + sign that is in there already and add a one. I did not have issues like the previous posters had. I got my email immediately. I think it really depends on the email client you are using.  It took me a second to find the place to click on to bid on projects, but I did find it. Once I logged in it took me to my profile page. This dealt with all activity on my account. Once I clicked on the bid on project link. I could have went to just search, but I figured that I would do better seeing all the different categories. I went to the electrical engineering section. I bid on the only one in there, GPS Radios. My bidder ID for this project was 171. I waited 4 hours with no acceptance of my bid. I was shown as a bidder, but that is it.

    Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.

    The site itself is very user friendly. Most of the things are easy to find, and the use of which is pretty self explanatory. All of that being said, I do think that it would be much easier to review once my bid had been accepted. If I do get an acceptance later I will add on as a reply to my current post. I think that you would have people more willing to register for the pay account, if you went into more detail about the benefits of such. It does not really go into much detail about what they will get, and it does cost $100. $100 is a lot for someone to pay sort of blindly. I am in no way saying that it is not worth it, because it is. I just think that for most people they would want more details, before the dished out that $100. I really like the ability to report abuse on individual portfolios, because this will help to nip in the bud abusers etc.

     
     
     
     
    Please answer following questions:

    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?

    Yes, but not so much for me. My husband, as stated previously, is an electrical engineer, and this site is very likely to use this site once it is out of test phase. I do think it is a great site for the engineer looking for work, and for the company looking for workers.
    Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
    The registration process is sort of long, and some of the questions arent really needed. Like I stated previously, the telephone number is really confusing with the 4 fields. There are also lots of options, and links to click on for numerous things. Some of which, were not explained and I had to actually click to see what they were about. This is time consuming, and could be fixed in one of two ways. There could be a section that describes all the features and what each does, or you could just make it to where when the user hovers over a link you can see what it does or where it will take you.
    Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
    I stated previously about the phone number thing. This is not a bug, but it is rather confusing. Other then this, I found the site rather easy to use. It was user friendly, apart from some things not being really explained well. That being said, I am sure others may not have the same issue I had understanding things such as what the promote profile via verifications portfolio actually means. To me this is confusing, and I had to actually click to understand.
    What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
    I love the color scheme. I also love the service as well (I may be partial because my husband is an engineer). Other sites that are similiar do not have as narrow of a user base. When yo have a narrow target user base it helps to actually find what you are looking for. You do not have to weed through loads of other stuff to get to what you want. I think that a contact us section should be added. Even if it was just a link to an email. People may have issues etc, and they will want a way to contact someone to have them fixed.

14. I’m still waiting for my e-mail to get through. Now I’m starting to wonder if I did everything correctly… Although I did get the message on screen saying that an e-mail would be sent to me.

15. i deposed in your innoengineer account for testing purposes you can post project now

16. $5 awarded to melaniestuber.

17. $5 awarded to Orchid7.

18. $5 awarded to prwriter2008.

19. $5 awarded to zeke2100.

20. $5 awarded to Nuria.

21. $5 awarded to Sierra12346.

22. $5 awarded to Latasha.

23. $5 awarded to Tricia.

24. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
    What do you remember?

    -The banner that says, InnoEngineer, Challenging engineering projects and 3 symbols below that says. Get ideas, share knowledge and network.

    What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?

    -From my point of view. It gets engineers work together so as project owners. If I am an engineer or a project owner and if your service is what I’m looking for. There will be nothing that’ll cause me to leave. I am the type of person that seeks service quality and I believe you have it.

    Register as an ‘engineer’. You will get a confirmation email after you win a project. If you do not receive it, please check your spam folder then use the link below to resend the e-mail. You will receive an email in your inbox. You must follow the link in that email before you can become active on the marketplace. Until you finish the email verification process, you will be told that you do not have permission to participate. Please also ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid on.

    -Done, didn’t encounter any problem at all. I didn’t fill out the degrees obtained and other fields. But I filled out the Name, company, address 1 phone number and email address. The phone number section is confusing though. It has 4 fields instead of the usual 3 fields. I didn’t left any fields blank on the phone number section since I divided my phone number evenly. After completing the registration. I received the email after a minute or 2 and I clicked on the link on the email (I received the email on my inbox by the way). And after I clicked on the link. It redirected me to the login page and I put in my credentials and it kept giving me the error message “The credentials you provided cannot be determined to be authentic”. that is what’s happening until now. I sent an email to your support staff and they replied with a ticket number. I will be looking at it from now onwards.

    After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool. You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.

    -I cannot answer this part since I’m having problems with my credentials although I think I did everything correctly during the registration process. But considering the fact that you have a forum in this kind of website is good. That is one way for users to communicate without giving out some of their contact information such as email address or phone number.
    
    Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.

    -I was not able to get the real feel of the site however, I checked on some things or links and I believe its pretty and user friendly. I tried to take some detour to view the existing projects for engineers and I was able to view them. I was also able to see the name of the bidders and their messages. However I find it as a vital error if you are requiring users to login for them to view the content of the site if not, then its good that you have other several links that directs users to the same page.

    Please answer following questions:
    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?

    -I cannot answer this question since the problem that I’m having with the site prevents me from accessing the features.

    Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?

    -From my point of view. Considering how the page works as a bidding site. The amount of bandwidth it’ll use is high, which results to the site having less design or graphics which is very ideal. The design can stay as it is for its own good. It is relaxing for the eye if you want to consider that. The colors that you use are good as well. So yeah. Good design overall.

    Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?

    -On this one. I think you need to fix some of your links, I will pinpoint the links at the bottom part of the page. T&C, Privacy Policy, Contact Us. Those links are not working. And I need to emphasize this as well but I highly advise that you put your FAQ links somewhere that can be easily found. I found your FAQs link on the “Learn” part on the page that contains the diagram.

    [What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?]
    -I think I can rename this question as Creative Criticism and comments:

    -First and foremost. Your site is good when it comes to design, most of the links are functioning well and I can even get a detour to view some contents of the site which is good in some ways but also bad on some ways depending on how your privacy works.

    -Another thing is the important links, FAQs, HELP, Privacy policy, About, Contact Us, Terms and conditions. You can put those 5 links at the bottom part of the page which is common and that is the place where users will seek for those links. And maybe you can emphasize some words or sentences that users needs to know. You can use bold or italic letters for emphasizing.

    -On your email support, like what I said above that I sent an email to your support regarding the problem that I encountered during registration. I think that they should input in their automated email the timeframe of their work. For example,” you will be able to receive another email from us within 5 to 10 hours regarding your request, and to review the status of your request and add additional comments, follow the link below” If you’ll add that sentence on the email that’ll give me the correct expectation that I need to wait for about 5 to 10 hours to get a response from the support team.

    -Overall, the site is impressive, the design, the functions, the concept. Everything is okay, it really just need some tweaking on the links and functionalities of the site. I do believe that this will be a great place for engineers and project owners. Best wishes to you!

25. Alright, so I got my account fixed now. the support team said that the link on my email did not complete my registration, it is impressive that they responded to my query within the hour. With that being said I tried to go back to the site and tried to login, I was able to login successfully and I navigated to the links. There aren’t much projects to bid on. But i tried to bid on 2 projects. On my first attempt it went smoothly and I was able to bid on a specific project. After that I tried to search for a project that I can bid on. On the left panel I clicked on the Computer Engineering and it gave me a single project, I tried to bid on that but it says I was not able to bid because I was not invited by the purchaser. Here is the message I got “Invitation Only. In order to place bids and interact with this listing, you must be invited by the purchaser.” With that being said maybe you could put it on the list page whether a project is for invited users only or not.
     

    Ok, so I will answer some questions that I skipped earlier.

    Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.

    -The links are working properly, the interface is good. And it is always a great idea to have a summary of activities of a the account. That way, users will be able to keep track of their bids. I have a suggestion though. Maybe you can put a bid limit for every user to maintain quality and avoid spam. Maybe 10 bids per day or maybe 5. Its up to you to decide on that part.

    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?

    -Definitely, as an engineer or a project owner, this is a great place to go since this only focuses on engineering works and projects. It is like the home of engineers. I will definitely use this tool if I were an engineer or a project owner.

26. Look at the site at https://stage.innoengineer.com/home/ for five seconds. Then look away and answer these two questions (without peeking!):
    What do you remember?
    The Engineer title, the 3circle and the two boxes below asking about are u engineers or project owners.
    What do you think the site is about? What would have caused you to leave this site?
    I thinking this is something like freelancer site which can allow people to post project and bid for project. If it’s free and i can earn some money from here i wouldnt leave. And if i have job to post i wouldnt leave too. But if both of these also none my purpose then i will leave.

    Register as an engineer. Please ignore security certificate if you are asked for. Because, our site still resides on our developer’s testing server and this task is needed only for testing purposes. Then, search and bid for any project. You will be awarded a project within 2 hours after you bid. You will get a confirmation after you win a project. For testing purposes, you will be awarded any project you bid.
    After you (engineer) won your project, you need to set up your project team, create tasks and milestones for your project using project management tool.
    You communicate with your peers (other engineers in our network) by posting on forums using professional networking tool.
    Provide us your user experience and feedback for using the site and achieving your objects.
    Okay first the register process is normal. I dont find any problem with it. For project bidding, the process is very detailed and it look professional. The detail such as history, bidding type etc. I found that ur site is more convenient than the others. It’s easy to use. I suggest that ur above menu bar color should be darker so that people can easily saw it.
    Please answer following questions:
    Usability: As an engineer or project owner, is this tool usable or not? If this wasn’t a test, would you have used the site? Why or why not?
    For now i dont see any tools that is not function. Only the share knowledge, get ideas, and network showing same page. U should add something in there if u have. I think the important feature which is people often will need to use it should be highlighted or place it in a place that is easy for ur client to use. Such as the find job keyword. Yes i would. Because it look professional and it’s an opportunity for me to bid for job. I can earn extra money from here.
    Time-saving: How can the design be improved to save you time and trouble?
    For the sign in, i think u can allow member to directly enter their login account in the front page. For the bidding process. I think the preview at the last should change to bid. Let people place the bid then preview their bid and place an edit button at bottom. To save time, people can direct bid on it. Then they can skip the preview if they dont wan to see the preview. 
    Ease of use: How can the design (or any bugs) be improved to make use easier?
    I saw about ur overview page. It require me to click on the next to see the next explanation. I think u should make it a slideshows by moving itself. It’s more convenient. And also letting people easily to view their account info which include their bidding or project list. The my account button should be on top and it’s highlighted in a bright color. Also add a notifying list in the my account which can let people saw the  latest posted project and it’s related to their professional aspect.
    What did you like about the site? What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
    Add how it works slideshow in the home page. U can also allow people to enter their certificate and also qualified professionalism aspect. which can allow people to see whether the bidder suit the job or not. Overall, ur site is simple and easy to use.

27. $5 awarded to pipezcicle.

28. $5 awarded to jwayne.

29. Thank you for great help.
    Oz
    ceo/founder
    Innoengineer Inc.

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