GR3 Paper Prototyping

Prototype Photos

First iteration of prototype (prior to all user testing):

Briefing

• Our website will provide a space where you and other people can work on sewing projects together online
• You can create an account to become a part of the online Sew Together community
• You can create groups called "sewalongs" that will have meetings where you and the other group members meet online to work on a sewing project together
• You can browse through and join ongoing sewalongs to find a group and project that's right for you
• Remember that if you have trouble completing a task, that indicates that there is a problem with the interface, not with you
• You can stop the test at any time

Scenario Tasks

1. Find a cheap and easy project
2. Find the list of materials for this project and where you can buy them
3. Read through the steps for sewing this project
4. Look up techniques required for this project
5. You accidentally sewed the top of the pouch together. Figure out how to fix it.

Observations

From the first iteration:

User 1:

• Unnecessary tutorial
• Create account quick and simple
• Seemed to like the diary idea (the one option on dashboard that needed the tutorial to tell what it is)
• Fancy!
• Thought initially that project type would have "cheap and easy" but said it makes sense once he opened it up
• Send button is hard to see in chat
• How do "tips" relate to step? 
• A lot of screens
• Slow

User 2:

• Password should get starred out in register screen
• Location is confusing -- give example instead (for example, Cambrige, MA) (city, state)
• About me: people talk about sewing
• Tutorial thing not obviously a tutorial, confuses users-- have option to click out of tutorial
• Not sure if need to find one that begins today-- does not realize you need to click on one in the future. Because you need to prepare etc. couldn't figure out ended vs ongoing vs etc.??
• Tabs are not as visible?
• Users automatically go to chat to say "Hi," instead of talking to video
• Comments: - top of the screen is not tabs, so navigation was a bit confusing - is sewalong pouch project or group name? - not sure how much having tutorials help

User 3:

• Skipping stuff after a certain point in tutorial
• People get really confused about sew-along and chronology of things first time around (search/filter makes sense though)
• Tasks were too leading (e.g. "join lounge")
• Did not talk to video, default to chat
• Give option to exit current anything-- forcing person to go to .. etc.
• Passively push users through, instead of being so aggressively pushy?
• Have option to cancel registration
• Option to skip tutorial

From the second iteration:

User 4 

• Pulled down all filters immediately (include an expand all option)
• Not sure what counts as a cheap project?
• Picked "Lounge" to go to chat, but was unsure-- probably by process of elimination
• Went fo filter for needle quickly
• Not sure if filter was same as search
• Almost went to "About" for chat - not sure what online chat was or what lounge was

User 5:

• Went to "My Account" and had difficulty finding cheap and easy project from menu
• Clicked on bunny sewalong without filtering or anything
• "It ended why is it still on the search page" (didn't understand why we brought up completed projects in search)
• Went back then clicked on the pouch sewalong because it was easy
• Saw list of materials on "About" page and said would use google to find where to buy them
• Searched for "how to remove stitches" on "Sewing Help" page
• Clicked on "Friends" on dashboard because he wanted to ask them for help
• Used google to find where to buy materials instead of finding it on the instructions page

User 6:

• Had no trouble with registering and finding where to search for sewalong
• Chose "Cute skirt" even though difficulty was three stars
• Thought he had to join an ongoing sewalong
• Went to dashboard to try to find where to buy materials
• Went to "Sewing Help > Materials filter" to try to find where to buy materials
• Tab titles too small
• Was surprised to find "Where to buy" button in "Instructions" tab
• Thought there were too many steps/screens to go through to do task 4. Suggested we do something in place as opposed to following a link trail.
• Wants "Where to buy" button on "About" tab next to list of materials
• Wanted Ongoing to clearly be marked as not allowed to be joined/as opposed since there is confusion with Upcoming
• Did not find help page useful. Suggested we have everything in instructions (or wherever relevant)

Prototype Iteration

Changes made to prototype between rounds 1 and 2 of paper prototyping:

• Got rid of dashboard tutorial
• Added a "Sewalong Status" filter to sewalong search page
• Added "expand all" button for filters on sewalong search page
• Changed sewalong status name for completed sewalongs from "Finished" to "Completed" (not sure if this was before or after first round of user testing)
• Changed names of icons on dashboard ("Review Future Sewalongs" -> "Review Ongoing and Upcoming Sewalongs", "Review Past Sewalongs" -> "Review Completed Sewalongs", "Help" -> "Sewing Help")
• Changed names of tabs on sewalong page ("General" -> "About", "Resources" -> "Instructions")
• Added "Additional Help" to go along with "Tips" and "Alerts" for the steps on instructions page (not sure if this was before or after first round of user testing)