WEEK 10
PROJECT PROGRESS
10.1 Research on usability test
After done last week's project & time planning as well as some understanding of prototypes and usability objectives, I decided to do deeper research on usability test, starting from what is a usability test, what is the steps of usability test, the benefits of usability test and types of usability test.
What is Usability Test
A usability test is a task to get a group of representative users to use and interact with our product (can be apps, websites, products, and many more). It is to see how easy to use our product by the users or if the users encounter problems and experience any confusion. We need to observe and analyze the users' behavior and reaction while carrying out the usability test. If many people encounter similar problems, it means there are some issues we need to fix it. It is also usually conducted repeatedly for few times until the product's release. (Interaction Design Foundation, 2021)
Steps of Usability Test
1. Planning
- Ask myself what aspect/thing I want to test
- How I conduct the test
2. Set user tasks
- Prioritize the most important tasks to meet objectives
- define tasks with realistic goals
- let the users use it on their own rather than direct them with instructions
3. Recruit testers
- know who is my target users for testing
- use screening questionnaires (exp: google forms)
4. Moderate testing
- observe user's behavior and interactions while testing the product
- record the usability test
- ask the users to give comments on how they feel about the product
- this can check whether what I think users can do with my design match with what the test users show?
(Interaction Design Foundation, 2021)
Benefits of Usability Test
- identify the problems before code the product out
- the earlier the issues identified and fixed, the less expensive the fixes fees and time
- Identify if participants able to complete specified tasks successfully?
- Identify how long it takes the users to complete specified tasks
- Find out how satisfied the test users with our product
- Find out what changes that required to improve the user performance
- Analyze the performance and see if it meets my usability objectives
(Affairs, 2020)
Usability Test Methods
After some research, I also found that there are not only one method to conduct the usability test. Instead, there are 3 types of methods to carry out the usability test :
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10.2 Research on websites that available to do carry out usability test
After understands more about usability tests, I decided to search for some websites to conduct my usability test. The reason I consider using some website to help me out in my usability test is that my target users contain 2 types, which is the disabled people group and the employer's group. There will be no problems with the employer's group to conduct the test, however, it is quite a challenge for me to find disabled people to test out my app. It is because in Malaysia, it is quite a challenge to reach out the disabled people to test something, and meanwhile during the Covid pandemic and lockdown in Malaysia, I only can reach them online (message or email) through some organizations but they usually seldom give replies. Below is some message I've been sending out for conducting some research during the first assignment but was being seen.
Therefore, I did some research on platforms or websites that could convenient my usability test process. Below are the websites that I found is more suitable for my situation on the usability test, where some of the usability test websites could let me choose my testing user's demographics, locations, specific requirements and many more.
[R&D] w10 - Usability Test Website Research by CHAO CI XIN on Scribd
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10.3 Low fidelity prototype progress (in Adobe XD)
After having more research on the usability test and platform for the usability test, I work on the low fidelity prototype by linking all the wireframes. I used Adobe XD to do the prototype.
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10.4 Discussion & research on my project's core feature able to prototype it out or not
While doing the prototype, I faced some confussion on the execution of my app core feature which is the "Speech to text, screen reader, sign language and easy mode". The part that I'm having issue and doubt is that I can't embeded or make the prototype of speech to text and screen reader, which it is too big and too much work for me to make all of it. However, the sign language and easy mode is possible to execute with prototype by just showing the concept of how it works when press the button to activate the "sign language and easy mode". The idea to make the sign language works in prototype is that I create a few screens that will appear a small box showing it's the sign language when activate the "sign language feature". As for the easy mode, the idea is to make a few screens' icon, text become larger on the prototype. Therefore, I have some discussion about the issue and confusion I faced (that I have research on the speech to text and screen reader features is impossible to make it on the prototype in current situation).
After having few rounds of brainstorming and research, I found that Adobe XD still might possible to make "speech to text" prototype? But for the screen reader will be hard to execute in prototype. However, I still don't want to give up on the "screen reader feature", hence I did some research on how blind people use apps or phone. Moreover, I'm pretending myself as a blind people too to experiment how usually blind people use phone. After experiment to be a blind while using phone, I really felt appreciate with what I have now, because I really felt very hard and getting impatient while experiment with the "screen reader" accessibility in phone. However after experiment with the "screen reader" feature in phone, I decide to stick with the suggestions that change the target audience from blind people to partially blind people where it is a too big project where it will need factory technology if need to execute the screen reader feature on prototype in the current situation. Below are the video I'm pretending a blind to experiment with the screen reader feature.
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10.5 Issue faced
Unfortunately, during the process when I'm working on the low-fidelity prototype in Adobe XD, my laptop suddenly crash which makes my files and progress gone. However, luckily I've saved some of the screens as jpg before so I'm thinking if I can use jpg to do the prototype in Invision. Instead of waiting for the laptop to be sent for repair, I tried to research on other platforms that allow me to do my low fidelity prototype. After some research as well as trial and error, I found that Invision Studio does not allow me to use my jpg to make the prototype, because there are many components I need to link to other screens, but however due to it's jpg version, so I'm unable to make it and search for other platforms as a backup. Meanwhile, while trying hard to contact the technical person introduced by a friend, I decided to ask the technical expert to help me install a newer version of Adobe XD too because my previous version doesn't allow me to make any animations or transitions.
Besides, due to it's Saturday, I'm unable to apply to go back to campus. Therefore, I plan to apply to go back to campus from the Student Service Department on coming Monday.
Below are some research and comparison on the platform that allows me and suits me to do my low fidelity prototype.
[R&D] w10 - Software Comparison by CHAO CI XIN on Scribd
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References
Interaction Design Foundation, 2021. What is Usability Testing?. [online] The Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: <https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/usability-testing> [Accessed 11 March 2021].
Affairs, A., 2020. Usability Testing | Usability.gov. [online] Usability.gov. Available at: <https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/usability-testing.html> [Accessed 11 March 2021].
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