Executive Summary

Writely is currently a Google product, which Google purchased in March 2006. The registration is open and any users can sign up if they connect to the Internet. Overall, users can easily and quickly deal with the tasks such as inserting/editing texts, images, tables, etc.

Compared to Word, Writely allows users to keep their document online and edit them anywhere they can access to Internet; to organize documents by tags; to collaborate with others on the document editing; to get access to their previous versions of documents easily. In addition, Writely has some other nice features: it has an HTML viewer; it can publish to blogs directly; and it can save file as PDF file.

On the other hand, Writely has also limitations. A big concern is the security of the document that the documents� content will be kept secure and that the document can be accessed from their server all the time. Compared to Word, it is not as powerful. For instance, it cannot check the grammar, count the words, insert header or footer, etc. In addition, some icons are not similar to conventional ones.

A. Manage document by a single user

1. Insert and Edit Texts

To insert texts, users just type in the texts to be inserted, which is very intuitive.

To edit texts, there are several options:

a.      Change the font and size of the texts;

b.     Change the alignment of the texts;

c.      Change the style of the texts;

d.     Change the background color of the texts;

e.      Change the foreground color of the texts;

f.       Add bullets to the list of texts;

g.      Add numbers to the list of texts;

h.      Check spellings;

i.       Change texts to superscripts/subscripts/strikeout;

j.       Add/delete indent of the texts

There are also keyboard shortcuts for editing texts.

Pros:

�       The actions for inputting and editing texts are very easy.

�       Most icons are intuitive, very similar to those in Word.

Cons:

�       The pull-down menu for font type does not appear to be obvious to users, since the little triangle is a bit too far away from the font type.

�       Icons for fore/background colors of the texts are different from the conventional ones, which are not intuitive to users.

2. Insert and Edit Images

Procedure for inserting an image:

a. Click on �insert� and select �image.�

b. Set the size, layout, and padding of the image and Click OK.

Procedure for editing an image:

a.      Select the image to be edited;

b.     Right click the mouse or click on �change� to edit the format of the image.

Pros:

�       It is very clear to users how to insert an image.

Cons (not really here):

�       Compared to inserting an image, users might find not as easy to edit an image with this editor, since they use �Change� in the editor, the name of which is not so intuitive in the first place. This function is different from what needs to be done in Word. In Word, if users want to edit the image, they first select the image, and an image tool bar will appear. Then users can select the functions in the tool bar. Or they can go to �Format� menu and in the pull-down menu select �Picture��.

3.� Insert and Edit Tables

Procedure for inserting a table:

a. Click on �insert� and then select �table. �

b. Specify the size, layout, border, and background of the table.

Procedure for editing a table:

a.      Select the table to be edited;

b.     Right click to select the options or click on �change� to change the style of the table.

c. Users can also use the �insert� function to edit the rows and columns of the table.

Pros:

�       The insert menu is adaptive.

Cons:

�       It is very difficult to adjust the width and height of a specific row or column.

�       There is no specific menu for �table, � which might not be intuitive to a experienced Word user.

5. Save files

To save a file, users can click on �File� and pick the file type they want to save as. Alternatively users can save the file by clicking the �icon. However, with this icon, users cannot specify the type of file they want to save as.

Pros:

�       It can save documents in five types of formats: HTML, PDF, RTF, Word, and OpenOffice. The great thing is that this editor converts text file to PDF file.

Cons:

(don�t see any.)

5. Print files

To print a document, users only need to click on the printer icon . However, they cannot do this function from the �file� menu as Word.

Pros:

�       It is very intuitive to print a document.

Cons:

(don�t see any.)

6. Add/Remove a Tag

Procedure to add a tag:

a. Click on �tag�.

b. Insert a tag name.

Procedure to remove a tag:

If users want to remove a tag, they can click on �Tag� and select �remove a tag.�

Pros:

�       It is easy and intuitive to add/remove a tag.

Cons:

(Don�t see any.)

7. Publish

Procedure:

a. Click on the �Publish� tab. Users can preview the document. They will also be told the address of the published document.

b. Choose �Publish Document.�� Users will be prompted to select viewers. They can let anybody see it or just the some specific people.

c. Give the email addresses of the people who are allowed to view this document if only specific people are allowed.

d. Decide whether to send an email message to the viewers or not.

e. Type in a message to the viewers if �Yes� is selected.

Pros:

�       The procedure for publishing a document is easy to follow.

Cons:

(don�t see any.)

8. Blog

Procedure:

a. Click on the �Blog� tag. Users can see the preview of the blog post. There are three choices for the next action: �Tag/Category,� �Post to Blog,� and �Return to Edit.�

b. Fill out the blog site settings if users click on �Post to Blog,�

c.      If users want to add a tag/category to the blog piece, they can click on the �Tag/Category� button.

d.     If users are not satisfied with the current content, they can click on �Return to Edit� to edit it.

Pros:

�       The procedure is easy to follow.

Cons:

�       Tag/Category is a bit confusing � don�t know why they use Category here, since there is only �Tag� on the menu bar.

9. Revisions

This function records who edits what and when. If users want to go back to a specific old version, they can view a specific old version by clicking on the link to it.

Pros:

�       It is a nice feature that users can get access to their previous versions during the process of editing.

Cons:

(Don�t see any.)

10. HTML view

Users can view the HTML source file if they click on the HTML tab.

Pros:

�       It offers users with HTML knowledge an alternative way to edit texts.

Cons:

(Don�t see any.)

11. Preview document

Users can click on �Preview� to preview the document.

B. Collaborating with other users

Procedure:

1.     Click on �Collaborate� tab.

�

2. Click on �Share Document with Others.� Users will be asked to input the email addresses of the collaborators.

3. Decide whether to send emails to collaborators.�

4. Type in the message to the collaborator if choosing to send an email to collaborators.

5. Add/remove more collaborators if necessary.

Pros:

�       The collaboration tab is obvious to find.�

�       The procedure is pretty easy to follow.

Cons:

�       Step 3 and Step 4 can be embedded to Step 2.