i300 HCI/Interaction Design • Spring 2015 (Mitchell section): Project 3.1. Pilot Usability Study Interim Assignment Hints

Based on questions that arose in class with the teams yesterday here's a few additional hints that might help you complete the interim pilot usability study due on Tuesday.

First to reiterate key aspects of the assignment:

What's due on Tuesday, 10 March at 12:01 am through Oncourse Assignments?

3.1. Pilot usability test of website and app by a single subject

In other words, you will choose a person to engage in certain specified tasks on the website and app of the same company/entity/organization.

What is to be included in your interim project submission?

Title and subtitle and the following aspects of the Case Study:

Method:
The method you are using is a simplified version of the process Steve Krug sets out in the resources linked to from the Project Brief. The six steps he identifies (with the approximate time for each) are:

Welcome (4 minutes)
The questions (2 minutes)
The Home page tour (3 minutes)
The tasks (35 minutes)
Probing (5 minutes)
Wrapping up (5 minutes)

Process:
This is how your team actually went about the study. What site/app did you choose? Why? Who was your first subject? What is his/her demographic background (age? techy or novice user? etc.). How long did the studies take? Each team needs to detail how they applied the six stages of a usability study and use this as a framework for presenting your findings.

In particular you want to specify the scenarios you are having the user engage in. While you want people to complete a single, specified task on both the website and app you also want to ensure that the task has adequate complexity. In general have three aspects of the task, or three scenarios, e.g. registering as a user, shopping for and evaluating an item, and placing it in a wish-list, would be appropriate.

Background on the User Interfaces:
Include annotated screen shots of the key pages, identifying their primary elements.

Website Mode:
Present, step-by-step, the stages of doing a significant action through the website, e.g. making a purchase. What inputs do your subjects make? What feedback are they given by the site, step-by-step? How do they know when the action is complete? What information are they given to let them know? What works well for them? What confuses them? Present a flow chart of the actions taken and the associated feedback from the site.

It may be helpful to record the whole interaction on the site using Jing, or another program that allows you to record a video with sound of everything taking place on the screen during the interaction. The video can then be used as a resource and a table produced with descriptions and annotated screenshots showing the key aspects of the interaction and/or the video itself could be edited and annotated to provide a digest of the key interactions.

App Mode:
Present, step-by-step, the stages of doing a significant action through the app, e.g. making a purchase. What inputs do your subjects make? What feedback are they given, step-by-step? How do they know when the action is complete? What information are they given? What works well for them? What confuses them? Present a flow chart of the actions taken and the associated feedback from the app.

It may be helpful to record the who interaction on the app using one of the programs discussed in the links below. The video can then be used as a resource and a table produced with descriptions and annotated screenshots showing the key aspects of the interaction and/or the video itself could be edited and annotated to provide a digest of the key interactions.

Findings:
Findings are not due as part of this interim assignment but you might find it useful to go ahead and reflect on the similarities and differences in the functionality of the two modes, as well as on what you learned from engaging in User Testing itself.

Potentially Helpful Links re: Screen Recording Software:

User Recording Software: