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In addition, having multiple paper prototypes enabled us to request feedback on each one, combine the benefits of each, and form an ultimately more user-friendly application interface. Some users noticed that we combined the best of all paper prototypes in designing the computer interface. On the other hand, paper prototypes failed to indicate the complexities of implementation issues - many features we drew up quickly during the paper prototyping stage in fact takes much longer to implement during the computer prototyping stage. For instance, the overlay feature of "Drag and Drop" was easily prototyped using transparencies and highlighters, but required major time commitment to code up in Javavscript/CSS.
If we were to do this project again, we would like to conduct earlier computer prototype user testing, especially with the uploading interface. During GR6 user testing we discovered that there are deficiencies in the current interface that only music directors could spot. Our fellow classmates were not well acquainted with the WMBR workflow, and failed to identify some areas of improvement (such as the FCC obscene word marking feature). Furthermore, we should have, as a team, prioritized our tasks better and made more conscious decisions regarding the design. This would have allowed us to address the most important issues first (uploading, editing), and focus our efforts on components that are central to the purpose of the KaJaM! application.
Finally, we discovered that user testing can be very challenging because users often feel pressured to "do the right thing", rather than identifying usability issues. There were several instances where the user would become withdrawn, uncommunicative, and frustrated that he or she could be not complete the scenario tasks. It was an important cue for us to be more patient with the users, and keep re-assuring them that the problems lie with in our design, and not their competence. Sometimes it's easy to blame mistakes on the user, but we learned to extract lessons from the users in order to improve our interface designWe learned to accept criticism objectively and recognize that "the user is always right".