For today’s class, Kyle presented us with additional ways we can cater and design towards our users through studying their behavior, actions and motives when interacting with our work. As I have mentioned before, as a designer we must be aware that we are not designing for ourselves, rather we are designing for a collective group of specific people.
So before we begin, what is usability testing?
Usability testing is the assessment of a product by testing it on our targeted group. As I have said above, this means we have to observe their comments and behaviors while interacting with our product. For example, this can be seen as simply navigating the UI/app – Was it tricky? Did they navigate through it the way the designer intended?
Why do we do this?
Usability testing is not only vital for the functionality of the product itself but also for interfaces. The art of studying human behavior within a product is becoming increasingly ever common in today’s market and as UX/IXD designers this is vital for our intended roles as it can help us understand a number of criteria to better understand. Examples of this are:
Longevity – Helps designers see how users navigate their app in a period of time.
Navigational structure – Similar to above, this shows how a user navigates their product in the way the designer has intended.
Playtesters – Usability testing is also similar to quality assurance teams (without the realization that they are doing so.) This can be good to see if there are any errors in the product.
Better overall product – Overall, studying how your app has interacted with the intended audience allows for a better-refined experience.
So how can I implement usability testing in my work?
There are many ways to implement usability testing in my work as I am catering to kids (10-8) with ADHD. The environment where it is taking place is just as important as anything, so I should take my assessments in a relaxed and peaceful setting with no obstacles or distractions. The participants shouldn’t know that I am assessing them as this can create biases or distractions in itself.
Something as simple as getting them to interact with my product then asking a few basic/short questions is sufficient enough for this test. Kyle has suggested a few ways we can note down their responses such as pen and paper/voice recordings/video recordings.
Task Scenarios
Task scenarios are the formulation of activities or tasks that paths the way for the participant to give feedback on your product. For a better understanding, this feedback is not asking the participant to do a certain task, instead, they are directing them into that area to ask why they are doing that task.
Before actually implementing these features I must set the scenarios myself by looking at the most important features on my app.
For example, the most important features of my app would be (in order):
- Element Stories
- Playing mini-games
- Creating a custom element
Once the goals are set I need to understand how I will question them on these sectors of my app. For example, I could to the participant, “Find more atom points to create your character.” – This scenario is good as it doesn’t directly direct them to the task at hand, instead they have to find out themselves how to get atom points (currency). From here you can study their behaviors, motives and actions to get to the end goal.
When setting a good task scenario I have to ensure that the task being described is realistic and not too complicated for my participants. However, I should avoid giving clues and providing the steps towards the goal as this can corrupt the test through my influence. Additionally, I would need to make the tasks actionable.
The Tests – The Participants
When communicating with the participants I must ensure that:
Maturity – I must be mindful of the participant’s age range. This means I have to adapt and vocally speak to them in a language that is easy for them to understand.
Understand – Repeating the question is okay, this ensures that participants understand what is being asked of them. This is even more so relevant with children as they can get confused and frustrated easily.
Captivate – Ensure the participant don’t become bored or lose their concentration as this can disrupt the test. A way to combat this is to host a range of fun visual activities.
Comfortable – Ensure the participant is comfortable, this may mean monitoring their behavior to check signs of frustration or confusion. Timing can also play a part – after school, they can be tired? Weekends are preferable.
What I have learned?
I found today’s class an extremely interesting way of refining and testing my products to gain a better understanding of who we are catering to. It was filled with tips on conducting and implementing myself and discussed the fragile user testing (especially for children) that I have to be aware of.
What’s next?
I will now begin to start recruiting possible participants for my user testing my app. Preferably I should test the kids themselves, however, if forever reason they are not available a guardian would do perfectly fine. As of right now, I have got a few ideas such as possibly interviewing nephew/nieces or creating a google form to get feedback from parents/guardians.