I had the pleasure of meeting founder Chris Rault at the 2008 CMS Expo. He is a very bright guy with some fantastic ideas for Joomla, and he’s determined to change the way we see and use Joomla templates. Chris asked me to perform usability testing on Morph BETA and I was very excited to do so.

I didn’t read any of the template’s documentations because I wanted my experience to be “fresh.”
That led to one unpleasant surprise. In this limited beta version, Morph wipes out the site’s entire data, replacing it with template information. Chris assures me that this will not be an issue in stable
releases. Users will be able to choose whether to keep their content or to install the Morph content.

There were a few other issues but they were very minor and as you will see in this usability testing video and in the summary below, I was very impressed with this template’s breadth. You can control every aspect of your site’s design: logo, colors, width of different elements and so
on. I tested only a few features but I am sure I will be testing and
using all of them in the future.

Morph is going to change the way template developers and users see templates. It will also allow users to create user-friendly sites easily. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it evolves!

Usability Testing Video:

Usability Testing Video Summary:

• A good start! The template and components are easily installed…
• Butwhere’s my information? Everything’s gone! This beta version is
  currently being used by only a few developers. When it’s released,
  users will be able to choose to keep their data.
• Template settings are unclear.

  Component backend:

• My first reaction is that the backend is very slick and easy on the eyes.
• But it’s hard to read the field label. The dark gray on black background makes text difficult to see.
• Selectingthe color is a little fiddly. Once, I’ve made my selection, I can’t see
  the color I’ve chosen, and I’m not sure what the “secondary color” is. The popup doesn’t explain.
• The text in the drop down menus is too small.
• The logo options are great. I can easily upload my logo image and set my logo width and height.
• There’s a huge number of menu settings. I haven’t been able to test them all yet.
• I’m not clear what the Toolbar block is. That should be made clearer.

Installer:

• I’m not clear what the Themelet is.
• Where’s my logo? That I can upload it is great – but I’d like to see it, and it should become the default automatically.
• Most importantly, when I upload anything, all the other settings are gone. It would be best to save everything upon upload.
• I’m not clear how I can change the module colors.

On the whole, I found Morph very promising, slick and beautifully designed.

Suggestions:

• Color selection should indicate which color is currently selected.
• The background of tabs should white or light gray to make the text easy to read.
• The drop down menus should also be bigger.
• Everything should be saved when the user uploads a logo, favicon, or anything else.

To learn more about Morph click here! For more usability testing reports, click here.

Barrie has asked me to perform two tasks.

Tasks:

1. Receive a free template.
2. Register and post a comment.

Watch the usability test video:

Video summary and suggestions:

1. Because the site is not a “.com,” it would be a good idea to show the “.net” at the end of the name. That would make it easier for me to return later.

Downloading a template

1. Finding the download area is easy.
2. Asterisks should be on the left, not on the right, and should be red if possible
3. Submit button should also be on the right.
4. After I registered, I was shown the registration page for a second time.
5. On activating my account, I was asked to log in but the site doesn’t show me the login form nor is there a link to the form. It would be a good idea to place the login area on the activation page.
6. After logging in, the site asks me “Register or login for free downloads,” two actions already completed.
7. The links under the login forms look like regular text; maybe they should be blue or underlined.
8. When I am ready to download the template, there is no link to a demo so that I can see what I’m receiving.

Posting on the blog

1. The blog itself is hard to find. It might be a good idea to add a menu item that links to it directly.
2. The modules on the top show on every page of the blog, which can be confusing.
3. The comment box is hard to find. It should be open by default.