Category: team 10 (17/18)

Week 9 – Usability Testing

We have been creating our prototype over the last couple of weeks and are now almost at the stage for it to be tested by our client. We have developed our prototype using the online software Marvel. It was fairly easy to use but proved a little more difficult when it came to linking the pages of the prototype together, as some of the questions we have decided to use have a number of different answer options, each of which needed their own individual page.

We also have prepared a list of questions to ask the client during the user testing. These will include what they liked/disliked about the prototype; if they found it easy to navigate and use; if there was anything that they would change etc. We realise now that when we undertake the user testing with the clients, the prototype doesn’t have to be a fully functioning product at this stage of the development process. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter whether they like everything about it because it’s not a finished product yet therefore again it will be useful to gather feedback to improve our prototype.

When it comes to the meeting whereby the client will test the prototype, we need to make sure they receive a friendly welcome to ensure we build a rapport with the users, especially in our case, as not all the team have met the clients before. We need to ensure that we create a friendly environment as the clients we are working with include children of secondary school age, therefore it’s very important that we make them feel relaxed and at ease to be able to be honest and critical of the prototype. This will make it easier to gain feedback and make improvements that they feel will be beneficial to the prototype.

During the user testing we needed to decide what aspects of the website we would test. We’ve decided to only test the game element within our website. We have chosen to do this because it’s the main part of our product and testing all elements would have been unrealistic as we wouldn’t have had enough time to prototype them all. Therefore the blog, events and newsfeed elements of  the website will just be explained to the clients before we begin the user testing with them. We will discuss these other elements with them to make sure that they understand what we envision to include within these other aspects of the website. This includes uploading their own events for the community on the ‘Events’ section of the website.

The user testing will allow us to see how the client uses the prototype and to collect useful feedback about what works and what doesn’t in their opinion. It will also give us the opportunity to collect any ideas the client may have of what we could improve at this stage of development. This in turn will enable us to make alterations to the prototype before we present out final version of it to the client in a few weeks’ time.

Blog 10 – North Tyneside Prototype Testing Outcome

BLOG 10 – North Tyneside Prototype Testing Outcome 

 
On the Thursday the 7th of December, our whole group took the opportunity to meet with Julia (our main client from North Tyneside council), Teresa (our academic mentor), Oscar (mayor of the Youth Council) and Emily (part of the environmental team on the youth council). The aim of this meeting was to allow them to participate in a prototype testing on our website ‘Tyne-vironment’ that we have made using the Marvelapp website. 
 
Overall, the experience of the prototype testing was very positive and our client’s/stakeholders were very happy with the outcome of our prototype. 

·      The digital method – would be a great way to connect with the young people as they don’t come to meetings so the blog would be a good aspect 

·      Liked the range of questions

·      They can see it as a viable option as it can be  put in the monthly meeting for Emily – could be to discuss statistics or change the questions

·      The children’s council could promote this aswell because this is there peers – they will have the right language to use 

·      Really liked how we have encorporated the youth council into the newsfeed

·     Liked how we focused on a single age group (Primary School) as they recognise that is difficult to get one method to be effective from 5-16. 

 
They did provide us some useful criticism as well that we will be using in the next couple of weeks to improve Tyne-vironment in order to make the necessary changes for our final presentation to ensure that we meet all of our clients needs. 
 
The following are a summary of the notes that were taken throughout the prototype testing that we will hopefully work to improve Tyne-vironment in the coming weeks – 
 

·      Little bit wordy for the small children 

·      Could be more information on how to make choices about recycling when they get the wrong answer

·      Legend on the map for the water refill stations

·      In the future, the water refill stations could utilise the logo that oscar’s campaign will have for water refill bottle’s in North Tyneside however they are still deciding on a logo

·      Implementation of things like existing cycle paths on the google maps page

Overall, the meeting for prototype testing with our client was successful and ran smoothly. We were happy with how the meeting went and the outcome of their feedback. 

Moving forward we hope to continue to have a positive relationship with our client’s surrounding the development of Tyne-vironment and work to improve the website in order to satisfy their needs. 

Week 7 – Prototype Planning

The practical prototyping activity that took place during the lecture this week was helpful with the further development of our own prototyping. Being able to create a basic prototype such as making a pair of glasses out of paper, allowed us to see that prototyping really doesn’t have to be a perfect example of the final product that is produced. As long as the prototype demonstrates to the client how it will work and gives them an alternative means of understanding of the proposed product, as an alternative to a basic explanation in words. From this, we felt more confident in beginning the prototyping for our product. We were now aware that if we could get an outlined product we would be okay, even if it possibly wasn’t perfect by the time it came to the initial review of the prototype with the client. So, this gave us confidence in moving forward.

Therefore, in terms of our project this week we have been using Marvel, an online prototyping tool. However, we realised that we were better off drawing out how our product would work on paper as a large step by step flow diagram, before going on to creating it using the online software. This is because we began to put our ideas onto Marvel first, but this proved difficult to do without a proper plan on paper. Creating a storyboard was very helpful in coming up with the concept for our game because it gave us more of an idea as to what the game would consist of. Also mapping out how the prototype would work on paper was similar to the storyboard we created but the storyboard didn’t include the added pages we would need to include within the prototype. This is especially important  when it comes to the questions asked in the game that have multiple choice answers which will make the user go back to select an alternative answer if they choose a wrong answer to begin with. Therefore we need to create copies of certain pages with minor alterations for the different possible variations of the ways in which a user could select their choice of answer, when it comes to the multiple choice questions.

Ultimately, we want to aim for our product to be of a medium to high fidelity and our main goal is for the client to use the prototype for exploration. However when creating the prototype for initial user testing we can afford to keep some aspects of the game to a lower fidelity such as the map showing where you can fill up your water bottle, as we wont have the time nor expertise to input a move-able map such as that of the level of Google Maps. Yet there are aspects of the prototype that we can produce with a higher fidelity i.e. no matter which answer the user chooses during the multiple choice questions, they will be able to go back to have another go at choosing another answer, with the first ‘wrong’ answer they chose having disappeared seamlessly so that they eventually get to the correct answer to move onto the next stage of the game. By creating the more fundamental aspects of the game to a higher fidelity, this will let the client pick up on more of the other things that could be improved without worrying about the mechanics of the game itself, they can focus on more of the content and visual aspects of the game.

Therefore, when it comes to the client testing the initial prototype, we can make note of what they like, dislike and if there are any improvements they suggest we make to the prototype. Whilst our intentions are that the prototype will look very similar to the final product, we don’t know that the visual imagery of the game will be up to the standard of the final product. This is because the process of creating our product on Marvel can’t be predicted as it could take a longer or shorter period of time than we expect it to. Therefore, the initial prototype that we will use for our user testing with the client may not look identical to what we hope the final product will look like. The purpose of prototyping our product is see how the client uses it and whether it actually works as it should. It is an experimental stage in development as we are testing out a number of different ways in which the product will work and look, to end up with the best product possible for the client to test at this stage. Our intention is to gain a valuable insight into the possible improvements we could make to develop the prototype further from the client during user testing. Furthermore, we don’t believe that our prototype will be at the stage that it’ll be testing for technical issues as it will not be in the format of an actual website. We believe this will be the most beneficial step, as when we present our prototype to the client, the product will still be used through Marvel.

6) North Tyneside Youth Council (week 6 blog)

DISCUSS AND DESCRIBE WHAT USERS CAN DO WITHYOUR PROTOTYPE

Users will be able to engage actively with a game component of a website. It will include improving the environmental problems in North Tyneside throughout the game. The player can only achieve this by answering the correct questions that either directly relate to North Tyne side or globally. The website will also have areas such a blog space. Where people can post thoughts about the community and areas of concern. These will be viewed by the youth council and can become a platform for many people to post thoughts. Additionally, there would be are of the website that includes all upcoming community events that engage the youth directly such as clean ups in the area including time, location etc.

Our main goal is to create a digital method that is educational and will create long term change in North Tyneside. With particular emphasis on schools and the learning program as the students are the next generation and have a platform to create change.

Long term goals can also include the possibility for the website to cover other issues potential planning and developments in the area that the council wants feedback on.

CONSIDER HOWYOU WILL CREATEYOUR PROTOTYPE

  • Marvel
  • Indesign/photoshop
  • Invision

4) Youth Council group – example search

Digital Civics blog

During last week’s session it became clear that we had one main design concept in mind – a website with an interactive tool to address litter as a social problem. Originally we were going to design our interactive tool in an app, however it became clear that it could be too costly and therefore decided to do it via a website. The website also fits in well with the feedback that we got from the youth council as they said it would be a good idea to put the website link on the school home page, which in turn should generate a larger user group as more young people will be coming across our page on a daily basis and get to a large young audience as we are targeting schools.

The design of the interactive tool itself revolves around being able to go through the North Tyneside area with your mouse on the computer screen. From here young people will be able to gain more of a perspective of where litter ends up i.e. landfill, the ocean etc. There will also be a game that almost takes inspiration off Pokémon go where you can collect points from barcodes off bins and in turn get rewards when you pick up rubbish (this is an minimally developed idea and we are looking into the logistics of it more). We are also hoping to design a ‘North Tyneside of the future’ which will give an outlook on how the area will look if we continue to litter at such a rate, and on the other hand how it would look if we were to become cleaner- we hope that this could encourage behavioural change that will change their outlook on how to treat their local area. Below are a couple of links to show the sort of style we want our website to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur9MqboHfhw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v64KOxKVLVg

Although we have a relatively clear idea in mind, we are still yet to get much feedback off the client, and because of this we have been in contact to ask a range of question. Although we are still waiting on a reply we hope that once we get these answers we will be able to shape exactly the direction that our project is going. In addition to this we received feedback during our presentation that it would perhaps be in our interest to look at a wider range of environmental issues which prompted us to think of the possibility of a quiz on the same webpage that young people can fill out, this data can then be collected and returned to the schools – this can then get passed to the youth council who can use this information to benefit them when putting forward ideas to change the area and express young people’s point of view in a more professional manner.

3) North Tyneside youth council – stakeholder interviews

Our approach to user research has been specifically based on the key stake holder North Tyneside youth council. These a young people aged between 13 – 18 therefore it is particularly important that our method is suitable for the age group.

  1. What methods do you employ? (i.e. see lecture 2), Who do you involve and what insights do you hope to gain? What did you plan for your user interviews?

The initial method was contextual enquiry as it includes user conversation. With emphasis on the talking aloud method and artefact use. We feel this would be best as sometimes younger people can express their thoughts and ideas verbally or through visuals aid such as drawings. With large groups such as a youth council it will also encourage a collaborative detailing practice. Where all members are included rather than a survey or questionnaire style. Along with this method we also decided to conduct one of our meetings with the youth council using a design research method. It was intended to run the session in a workshop format. We created poster prompts to allow the members to write down ideas and thoughts in a creative way including different coloured pens in order of importance. Through these posters we has planned for a particular points or question to be on each so it wasn’t to over whelming. The points were of significance to help us better understand what the stake holders wanted achieved. With putting two methods into place we could create a strong attention to values and experience, but also making tangible with the use of posters and interactive activities.

Although we have had one meeting with the youth council members we do hope to have a more productive second meeting. Unfortunately, we did face some challenges with the adults present. They did take over the session and asked many of their own questions. Making it difficult to run the work shop style session with the youth member. Although it was beneficial because it clearly outlined we have a lot further to go with understanding clearly what they want achieved through the digital method. As it was different to what we had expected, they don’t want an app or anything online due to cost. So we are revisiting this as they want something much more simpler.

For our future research we hope to follow a workshop style for the youth with an additional element of wither surveys or questionnaires for the adults involved. This would allow for both groups to have a platform of opinion and ideas without one dominating. During week 4 we have also decided to outline some goals based on feedback from our previous blogs and what we learnt from our client meetings.

  1. Key issues or issue the North Tyneside Council want achieved from a digital method
  2. Is there a particular emphasis on the environment in the area if so do they wish for this method to help solved these issues?
  3. Who should this digital method be aimed at? Youth council member or general public?

1) A tool to gather young people’s priorities in North Tyneside

A tool to gather young people’s priorities in North Tyneside
BLOG 1 – Danielle, Sally, Sophie, Adam & Alex

Our group project is ‘a tool to gather young people’s priorities in North Tyneside’. Over the semester in digital civics we will be working with the North Tyneside council and youth cabinet. We will use digital civics to establish a method to enable young people in the area to express their opinions for what makes a good neighbourhood with a particular focus on the environmental issues in the area. There are a number of stakeholders listed in the brief, including North Tyneside Council, Youth cabinet representatives, young people in the wider public and officers in the environment directorate. Some challenges that might be associated with these stakeholder groups include – The council may have financial incentives which could make them biased when it comes to the development regardless of the data that is provided by the youth, however they will also benefit if development is done well as people will move into the area. The youth cabinet that currently exists may not be an accurate representation of the wider population. However, we will consider all stakeholder groups interest when designing our final product.

After unpacking the brief further during the week, the list of questions that we came up with to ask our client (Teresa) at the first meeting are as follows;

  • Is there a specific age group of the ‘youth’ we are trying to engage through the use digital civics?
  • What is the socio-economic status of the people that will be using these methods? – – – This could potentially impact our final design if not all members of the community have access to a mobile phone, there may be limitations to what we design if it needs to be accessible via computer as an alternative.
  • Will there be a chance where we can speak to the youth members in council to discuss whether they have had success on other projects to get advice on how we could approach this?
  • Since the project is looking at new housing development proposals in North Tyneside, is there a particular development happening at the moment that this project should be focused towards? Or is the aim of this long term use for all developments within the area and therefore it should be a more flexible design?
  • Is there a particular method that the client would be leaning towards us using in our prototype for example; an app, a blog, engagement on social media or are they open minded to see what we come up with ourselves.
  • Whilst this project aims to get young people to express their priorities for their neighbourhood, is there a system in place that successfully allows the rest of the population to contribute their opinions that we could potentially take ideas from? Or is gathering priorities an issue for the entire population in North Tyneside and we have just been asked to focus on this specific population group.

    We also realise that Teresa is not our main client and therefore after the meeting we may still have outstanding questions for Julia following the completion of the meeting which we will look forward to exploring further in the coming weeks. We hope after our meeting we will have a better understanding of some parts of our project so we can keep moving further.

2) Initial Client Meeting – Project Tyneside Council Youth & Environment

Stakeholders – First Client Meeting

Client Meeting 11/10/2017

Throughout the meeting we address a number questions and highlighted areas we need to further research. This will be done through a meeting with the direct client and youth council members. We have also outlined that secondary research such as previous council minutes, youth data for the local area and the comparison of North Tyneside council and others in the country that have been successful regarding similar issues would be beneficial. A key component that as a group we feel we now clearly understand who the stake holders ae and the level of importance within each of those.

Long Term Purpose:

  • Youth feeling apart of the council and the decisions made
  • UN Convention (children should be involved in decisions that impact them)
  • Engaging the youth in matter locally
  • North Tyneside leading the way for encouraging youth to be involved
  • Participating at younger age has long term benefits
  • Encourages involvement in other aspects of life (eg. Political)

Environmental Challenges:

  • The progress as be so far limited
  • Cleaner streets
  • Recycling issues
  • Physically looking after the street scape
  • Energy saving
  • Improving the area and how that reflects and improves self-image and pride of a community

Why are you doing this project?

  • Being youth ourselves we can engage on a better level and understand why those involved want to be heard with their concerns
  • Environment is an element in this council that is currently lacking but a major issue both locally, nationally and globally

What Stakeholders are in the brief?

  • North Tyneside Council
  • Mayor
  • Youth Council
  • Youth Mayor
  • The community

What collaborative exchanges are challenging for them currently?

  • Youth council is only presenting their ideas and concerns in basics forms such as hand drawn images therefore hard to convey this seriousness to the council

What do they want to solve together?

  • Yet to know will follow up directly after a meeting with the youth council directly

Short Term Goals (week 5)

  • Meet the youth council
  • Talk to Julia (direct contact for project)
  • Outline what digital method would be most effective
  • Find out the main issues that the youth council wants to the change. Find out if these changes would have to go to a planning process?
  • Address if we are aiming to provide a solution to one main issue or multiple

Long Term Goals (week 12)

  • Provide a digital method that allows young people to present their ideas or concerns in a way that adults will take the information seriously (eg. statistical evidence)
  • Ensure the youth council feels the method we design will be useful long term
  • Allow the digital method to be used to engage people in multiple issues that directly affect them within their council