Category: Usability testing

Week 9 – User testing

This week we continued working on our prototype on marvel. The prototype would give us a chance to see how the users interacted with the app. They would test this out on the 8th and 9th of December. In the lecture we watched ‘The five act interview’ by Sprint which showed us how to set up the user testing. The five steps are:

  1. Friendly welcome
  2. Context questions
  3. Introduce the prototype
  4. Tasks
  5. Quick debrief

From this we learnt that we cannot just simply ask them to test out the prototype immediately. Instead, we should ask questions in context such as; have they used any apps related to planning? How they felt about them? Although we already asked these questions at the User Interview at the beginning of the module.

Reinforced throughout the interview was to reassure the user. The user should not feel, as though they are at an interview as, this would lead them to believe there is a right answer. We want the user to think aloud to give us a better understanding of how usable the app is.

We realised that without a dragging feature on marvel the prototype would not help us assess how viable the app would be, how the client would interact with the app without us present. We decided the users would test it out on keynotes with the marvel prototype as a supporting model to show what we envision the app to look like.

During the seminar, we assigned roles during the user interviews. We would have three observers and two speakers. We will be showing the prototype to five people, which means 80% of any faults of our app, would be flagged up. Any other details would be minor details that would not affect the function of the app. Hopefully we would be able to get valuable information from the user testing.

 

 

 

Second log entry: User interview schedule – Cycling Group

To improve our understanding of what users of our product will want, we have arranged an interview on Wednesday 26th with Tim Parsons. We know little information about Tim apart from that he is a cyclist in the Newcastle area. Interviewing him will provide us with first hand data about cycling habits around Newcastle and what tools and devices will appeal to that community.

Please find below a brief interview schedule:

Introducing ourselves:

Thank you for arranging to meet up with us. We are second year students at Newcastle University and we are currently collaborating with Robert Snowball who is a senior transport planner at Newcastle City Council. Our aim is to make cycle routes around the city more accessible and well known, as well as attempting to increase the popularity of cycling with help from the council.

  1. What is your preferred method of travelling around the city on a day by day basis?

– Why is this your preferred method?

– Why do you not choose to travel by other means (e.g. car, walk, bus, cycle)

  1. Is the transport infrastructure in the city adequate for this method of travel?

– Do you think that other methods of travel are better provided for within the city?

– How do you think the council could improve existing travel infrastructure?

  1. How would you describe your position as a cyclist in Newcastle?

– Do you feel like your needs (either as a single cyclist or as part of a community) are met by the council?

  1. Can you describe the ways in which technology helps your everyday life?

– Is technology involved in your commute or travel?

– Do you use mobile technology to aid you this way?

  1. Do you frequently use any mobile apps? If so, why those specifically?

– Would you/have you used apps to improve your cycling mobility in particular?

  1. There are already apps that cyclists can use, could you detail any that you use, if at all?

– Why do you prefer these apps to other apps that you have mentioned? (e.g. are they simpler to understand? More accessible?)

  1. When looking at the design and functionality of a map, what would you say is most important to focus on?

– How do you use maps when cycling? (e.g. Planning ahead? Whilst on route?)

– What would you suggest to simplify reading maps and using apps for cyclists?

  1. In your opinion, what would encourage more engagement with cycling?

– Should there be more incentives for the cycling demographic?

– How about incentives from apps, the council and community groups?

  1. Should there be more improvements to current apps offered to cyclists? If so, could you suggest any?

– What stops people from using apps? Why is this?

  1. From the cyclists you know, would apps be their preferred choice of route planning and engagement?

– Why is this the case? Is this because the app itself is difficult to use? Are there issues with the way a cyclist can use a phone whilst out?