deskdash GR3 Paper Prototyping

User Testing Briefing

Welcome and thanks for stopping by. I’m <EXPERIMENT LEADER NAME> and this is <OBSERVER NAME> and we’d like to have your help to evaluate our proposed user interface. It’s for a system designed to help MIT dorm desk workers with their commons tasks. Today you will be a desk worker and we’ll guide you through a couple of tasks and scenarios that desk workers commonly face. Before we start, we’d like to remind you that your participation in this evaluation is completely voluntary and you may stop at any time. Any problems you encounter are not your fault, they are solely the interface’s, and we need your help to find them. I’ll am the experiment leader and <OBSERVER NAME> is the observer. This means I’ll prompt you tasks and try to answer your questions the best I can and <OBSERVER NAME> will be watching and taking notes for me. We’d like you to think out loud as much as possible to help us get an idea of your thought processes as you explore and use our interface.

Scenario Tasks

Task 1

Log in to deskdash using the following login information and check to see if there are any pressing matters since the last time you worked.

Task 2

The UPS delivery man just delivered a package with the following address fields:

From:

To:

The dorm you are working at sorts packages according to the first letter of the recipient's last name as follows:

Register this package according to the dorm's sorting method.

Task 3

Alyssa P Hacker would like to borrow the dorm's vacuum cleaner. Check it out for her.

Task 4

Ben Bitdiddle arrives at desk and asks for his package and the movie The Lion King. Check out his package and The Lion King.

Task 4.5 (only used during the second iteration of testing)

The bathroom in the lobby is supposed to be painted on Monday but the painters just called and said they can't make it until Tuesday. Make sure the other deskworkers know about this change.

Task 4.55 (only used during the second iteration of testing)

Earlier you registered a package for Alyssa P Hacker but it was actually for Alyssa P Smacker. Fix this.

Task 5

Logout of deskdash.

User Testing Round 1 Prototype Photos

These figures reflect the design of deskdash during the initial round of user testing:

Fig 1. Log in screen

Fig 2. Home screen

Fig 3. Packages screen

Fig 4. Items screen

Fig 5. Searching for "Harry Potter and the Deathly"

Fig. 6 Checking out an item

User Testing Round 1 Observations

• "I wish the system knew which bin the package was supposed to go in and autopopulated the field as soon as I typed the recipient's name"
• Users weren’t fully comfortable using the sidebar at first because they were new to the system---they said they preferred to return to the homepage where every button had a caption, but that they would use the sidebar once they got used to the system.
• Every tester tried to add the vacuum cleaner to the system instead of making a note
  • Some users tried to click at the bottom of the spreadsheet to add a new row
• “I wish I could edit a pre-existing package or item”
• many testers typed room numbers of package recipients into the location field instead of bin numbers

User Testing Round 2 Prototype Photos

These figures reflect the design of deskdash during the second round of user testing:

User Testing Round 2 Observations

• "Why is the button to pick up a package marked 'check out'? It's not like they're going to check it back in. It should say 'pick up.'"
• Testers didn't like the pop up modal dialog upon login that told them they had new notes. They wanted a nonintrusive notification like on facebook.
• One tester suggested that we notify deskworkerd of added calendar events in addition to new notes
• During task 4.55 multiple testers checked out the incorrectly addressed package and then registered a new package with the correct name. Afterward testers suggested an edit button on every row.
• Testers liked the sidebar icons and the but buttons with pictures on them
• Testers wondered why the search bar was so prominent and big
• Testers like the specialized search bars on each page and were glad there wasn't an omni search bar on every page
•  

Usability problems you discovered from the testing. Describe what users did, but don't record users' names. Record these as a series of high-level takeaways, focusing on the usability problems you saw, rather than what each participant did. For instance, you might describe how you had some learnability issues with your prototype, as evidenced by users B and C clicking all of the menus to try to find option X.

Prototype Iteration

You did two rounds of paper prototyping. Describe how your prototype changed between those two rounds.

Usability problems you discovered from the testing. Describe what users did, but don't record users' names. Record these as a series of high-level takeaways, focusing on the usability problems you saw, rather than what each participant did. For instance, you might describe how you had some learnability issues with your prototype, as evidenced by users B and C clicking all of the menus to try to find option X.

Prototype Iteration

You did two rounds of paper prototyping. Describe how your prototype changed between those two rounds.