Critique of Process Description Relating to NJIT Virus Protection Software
The
process description that was chosen for critique is the one relating to virus
protection software provided by NJIT titled “
First, the process description should list requirements and a summary of the description. While a summary is already given, it is not particularly detailed nor does it specify that the description is only for users who wish to use MacAfee’s security software. The requirements should be that the user is an NJIT student or faculty member, has a computer that can access the internet, Virtual Private Network software if off-campus, has basic knowledge of how to install computer software, and a registered UCID. The requirements should also list the system requirements of the software that will be used in the process description.
The first step given tells the user to install McAfee STINGER, a program that is used to check for specific viruses. While this is useful advice and is well written compared to other steps, there instructions are still rather vague for the average user. The link on the process description links smartly links directly to the exe file for McAfee STINGER, avoiding any hassle that the user might find in locating the file. However “install” is not the right term to use here. The process description should read something like “save this file to your hard disk, then open it when it is completed downloading”. This step should also use a graphic to show what STINGER looks like. An example image showing STINGER is shown below. The part about adding the drive letter should come before the part about hitting “scan now”, and should be more detailed. It should say something along the lines of “to add an additional hard drive to the scan list, press ‘Add’, type the drive letter in the text window that pops up, and press ‘OK’ shown on the text window”.
The second step’s description is very messy and in much need of improvement. While it does link directly to the NJIT website location where the software is offered, it does not offer any aid in actually downloading the software. The fact that the user will need to enter their UCID and password along with their Department/Major is not mentioned at all. The links for installing either piece of software do not provide any graphical aid for the user. The instructions for installation of the virus protection software should not be stretched across multiple steps. For example: “if you are on an NJIT owned PC, such as a computer in one of the computer labs, go to step A. If you are on your own personal computer, go to step B.” or something along these lines would be adequate for this purpose. The process description does not provide any description on actually using the McAfee virus software. It simply tells the user to run the program without any aid in how to use it. In addition to all of this, McAfee’s SecurityCenter software would be a better recommendation than just the VirusScan software, and will be used for the remainder of this critique (partly because it is superior software, and partly because I would need to install VirusScan to get good images and having both would interfere with my computer’s operation). Information of actually using the software to scan for viruses would be useful. Two graphics that could be used to aid a user in scanning for viruses are provided below. The first graphic should have a description attached saying “click scan my computer to initiate a virus scan”, while the process description should indicate that the user must press “Virusscan” on the sidebar to access this area (note that this is not what would actually appear in the process description, it is simply what I have access to that can be used to approximate what the author of the process description should be doing). The second graphic should simply state “press ‘Scan’ to initiate the virus scan” in its description.
For reasons unknown there is a step four at this point in the process description that is left entirely blank. As the next actual step is a logical progression of the previous one, it can be assumed that this is a mistake on the part of the author and should be deleted.
The step that tells the user to update their virus definitions is a necessary step. However, the link provided leads to something that is incompatible with either piece of software provided in the process description, and only one of them needs outside software to update its virus definitions. In addition, this step should be a part of the previous step, before the user runs the antivirus software and scans for viruses. A graphic that would be useful in updating virus definitions is provided below. The description for the image should read: “click updates in the top right corner and follow the onscreen instructions to update your virus definitions”.
The step that tells the user to update their operating system is a valid step in improving a computer’s security, but there are two problems with it. The first is that it does not tell users that the site is only compatible with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. The second is that the font changes to Ariel here for no apparent reason. This is easily fixed by changing the font back to the Times New Roman of the rest of the process description.
The user is now told to run STINGER one more time. While this is a good thing to do at this point in time, the link to STINGER should not be repeated as the user should already have the exe file for it saved from the first step (and can easily scroll back up to the first step if it is needed again for whatever reason).
The final step listed gives the user information on running a virus scan. This is an unnecessary step, as a virus scan would have already been completed if the user had been following the steps up until this point in time. It can be safely deleted.
The information given after the steps is valued information and does not need to be edited outside of changing the font to match the rest of the process description. However, the sentence about getting your computer unblocked from the NJIT network does not make any sense within the context of the process description. If the user’s computer was blocked by the NJIT network than a good deal of these steps are impossible to complete and being unblocked warrants a separate process description.
At the end of the process description there should be contact information or somewhere to submit additional questions or comments on the description.