Overview
The goal of this assignment is to learn how to use low-fidelity prototyping in
the early stages of UI design. You will first build a low-fi prototype and then perform a
simple usability test. You will incorporate the results of the test into design changes in
your prototype for the next assignment.
Requirements
Now that you have had a chance to work with your teammates and develop your
project idea, create a team mission statement that describes your goal for the
project.
Your test will use the three (3) tasks that you turned into scenarios in the last
assignment (unless we ask that you change them). These benchmark tasks should include 1
easy task, 1 moderate task, and 1 hard task. These tasks should give good coverage of your
interface.
Design and construct your low-fidelity prototype. Use the techniques described in the
“Prototyping for Tiny Fingers” paper as a guideline. You may choose to design
your low-fi prototype either on paper or using DENIM.
You will find at least three (3) participants (volunteers who are not in
your group) to work through your benchmark tasks. You shouldn't use friends or other
members of the class. The type of people you use should be based on your task analysis.
Remember it must be voluntary. You should get them to sign an informed consent form saying
the test will be confidential.
Testing Procedure
The participant will be given a short demo of how to work with someone
"playing computer". Do not show them exactly how to perform your tasks. Just
show how the system works in general and give an example of something specific that is
different enough from your tasks.
You should write-up a script of your demo and follow the same script with each
participant. The participant will then be given task directions for the first task that
tells them what they are trying to achieve, not how to do it. When they are
finished, you will give them the directions for the next task and so on. Keep each task on
a separate card.
During the experiment, you should make a log of critical incidents (both positive and
negative events). For example, the user might make a mistake or they might see something
they like and say, "cool". Write it down along with a description of what was
going on. Later you should prioritize these events and assign severity ratings to
the problems.
Each participant will perform all 3 tasks. You will want to keep the data separate for
each task and participant.
Deliverable
You will submit two (2) copies of a printed essay of no more than 6
pages of text in class. You must also put a copy of the essay online. Your essay
should follow the outline below and will be graded using the writing and experimentation
guidelines detailed on the back of this handout.
Introduction and Mission Statement (6 pts)
Briefly introduce the system being evaluated, and state the purpose and rationale
behind the experiment. Then, present your mission statement. As described in
“The Discipline of Teams”, the mission statement should represent the common
purpose and goal of the project. Each member of the team should agree on and be committed
to achieving the mission statement.
Prototype (12 pts)
Describe your prototype. Reference sketches of the interface screens in your
description. Finally, take one picture (for a paper prototype) or screenshot (of a DENIM
prototype) of the entire system with all of its elements laid out.
Method (12 pts)
Describe the participants in the experiment and how they were selected. Also
describe the testing environment and how the prototype and any other equipment were set
up.
Describe some details of your testing procedure. This should include the roles of each
member of the team. To prepare for the experiment, you should assign team members to the
different tasks (i.e., computer, facilitator, etc.) and practice with someone playing the
participant.
The test measures detail what you looked for or measured during the experiment. You should
concentrate on process data (i.e., what is happening in the big picture) in addition to
bottom-line data (i.e., time or # of errors).
Results (12 pts)
Summarize the results of the experiment from your process data.
Discussion (12 pts)
Discuss your results. What did you learn from the experiment? How will the
results change the design of your interface? Was there anything that the experiment could not
reveal?
Appendix
The appendix should include copies of all materials involved in the
experiment. This includes your consent form, demo script, and any instructions or task
descriptions you handed out or read out loud to your participants.
Finally, it should include all the raw process data you gathered during the
experiment. Merge the critical incidents logged by the observers and list them here.
The appendix materials and screen shots do not count in your 6 page total.