h1. ElderConnect
Connecting family members via the web.
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h2. GR3 - Paper Prototyping
h3. Prototype photos
| !DSC02667.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Main Screen{center} | !DSC02668.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Adding a contact{center} | !DSC02669.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Adding a contact (closeup){center}\\ |
| !DSC02670.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Contact added{center}\\ | !DSC02671.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Choices after clicking an Offline contact{center}\\ | !DSC02672.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Further choices after clicking Leave Message{center}\\ |
| !DSC02673.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Leaving a Voice Message{center}\\ | !DSC02674.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Message Sent\!{center}\\ | !DSC02675.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}New Mail notification{center}\\ |
| !DSC02676.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Showing a received message{center}\\ | !DSC02677.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Lily is online{center}\\ | !DSC02678.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Options after clicking an Online person{center}\\ |
| !DSC02679.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Calling Lily... Ring Ring~~{center}\\ | !DSC02680.jpg|width=330|thumbnail!\\
{center}Video chat\!{center}\\ | |
h3. Briefing
Here is the briefing we gave to users:
{quote}Purpose of application: To connect the elderly with their younger family members
- You are a grandparent named Harry.
- You are a native English speaker, but you have trouble typing and you are somewhat unfamiliar with using computers.
- Your granddaughter is Lily, a college student in California.
- This is your home computer, and it is the computer you use to go online. Assume webcam and microphone come with the computer, ready to use.
- Pretend Lily calls you one day and asks you to add her as a contact on ElderConnect so that you can stay in contact and chat sometimes.{quote}
h3. Scenario Tasks.
Here are the tasks we gave to users, one after another.
{quote}
Task 1: Lily calls you and asks you to add her as a contact by dialing the number 721-4146.
Task 2: One day later, you want to send Lily a message.
Task 3: A few days later, you go on ElderConnect again. You want to call Lily.{quote}
h3. Observations from Wednesday's Testing (Round 1)
Total number of users tested: 5 (Address Book: 3, Phone Metaphor: 1, Action wheel: 1)
We built and tested all three prototypes to get a more holistic comparison between the three designs.
h4. User testing descriptions
h5. Address Book Metaphor Prototype
- Phone
-* During the add-contact task, users were uncomfortable with the fact that the phone call actually went through to the granddaughter. Some expressed that “Add contact” should feel different from a normal phone call, and should allow them to hit an “OK”-like button to confirm before the request is sent.
-* Lacks a “send” button. old dial-tone phones with no numerical feedback do automatically start dialing, but since our display looks like a cell phone that displays numbers, it should be consistent with cell phones having a “Send” button.
-* No way to delete one digit at a time. This is poor safety for the elderly who may make errors while entering digits. Having no digit-backspace also threatens efficiency; the user would need to completely start over if he/she makes any mistake.
-* Lacks an “end call” button. This was simply an oversight on our part.
-* Not a real cell-phone number (only 6-digits long).
-* User not sure if * and # keys are necessary since they are never used when dialing a phone number.
- Mail
-* Yellow mail icon misconstrued to be a “compose mail” button.
-* “You’ve got mail” icon being inside the address book seemed to be inconsistent with the address book metaphor; normal address books don’t have mail-receiving functionality inside. User suggested to put the inbox in a corner of the browser instead rather than associating each mail icon with a particular contact.
-* Can’t hear message playback or see previously sent/received messages again.
- Options/Widgets
-* No way for grandparent to write an email, yet receives emails from grandchild. Makes user feel somewhat mistreated.
-* Doesn’t make sense for “call” and “send voicemail” to be two diverging options. Normally the caller would call and, if the recipient doesn’t answer, the caller would leave a voicemail.
-* Call/Send Voicemail screen: user wondered why both options were shown even though the contact was not online.
-* Need video vs. audio option
-* No way to send a video message.
-* User said that it may feel more like an address book if the user can fill in the details right on the book instead of on a popup. So maybe clicking on Add Contact will turn that entry into some text fields.
h5. Phone Metaphor Prototype
- Phone:
-* There is no end call button.
-* No way to confirm that the phone number is correct because it automatically dials.
- Mail:
-* User did not associate “leave a message” with “send a voicemail.” Strong association between “leave a message” and textual message.
-* No way to review a previously received message again.
- “Call” and “Message” are currently either-or options. Would like the option to both call or send message even when the recipient is online.
- Immediate start of message recording was a bit startling.
h5. Voice Search / Action Wheel
- Circular action wheel:
-* Circular selection momentarily confused user because it does not look like normal button options. However, user understood that they were probably buttons after thinking for a brief moment.
-* User did not know what what voicemail icon stood for.
-* User thought the X over the phone meant “end call” instead of “calling is not an option.”
- No functionality to delete a contact.
h4. Feedback summary
Inconsistency with Expectations:
- Having a phone actually dial the recipient during the “add contact” task was disorienting to users.
- The reason for having “call” vs. “send voicemail” options is not intuitive. Used to leaving voicemail as a failed call attempt, rather than an upfront option.
- Many users were so caught up in recording their voice messages that they forgot to click “Done” until they realized they needed to do something.
- Users wanted the option to send a text message, not only voice messages.
- Letter icon was ambiguous to users (compose mail vs. receive mail).
- (Phone metaphor prototype) No user attempted to punch numbers into the phone to dial the recipient.
Consistency with Expectations:
- All users correctly clicked on the phone digits to dial the phone - understood that the interface was mimicking a phone.
- All users clicked on the recipient to initiate communication with the recipient. Some noted that they did so because it was the only thing to click on.
- Users used the X’s in the upper right corner of layovers to exit out of the layover or to undo the selection. This was as we had hoped/expected.
- Users clicked the “Cancel” and “End call” buttons correctly.
- When mailbox icon was in upper right corner of the browser, all users knew to click there for mail.
- Users noticed the address book metaphor.
Positive and Meta-feedback:
- Users remarked liking the simplicity of the interface (aside from the call vs. messaging options confusion)
- Users expressed some degree of amusement/excitement over recording a voice message and talking over webcam. The excitement may be partly a result of feeling nervous, but users seemed on the whole happy and played along with the voice-recording/webcam components of the study.
- One user (playing the Grandparent) remarked over webcam: “It’s nice to see your face!” This remark suggests that college-aged students assume and are aware of the notion that their grandparents would like to see them more often.
h3. Changes for Round 2
We decided to continue with only the Address Book Metaphor design.
Flow:
- To address all the communication-option confusion, change to the following flow hierarchy.
-* If online: see call vs. send message →
-** If click into messages: see 3 options (voice message, email, video message)
-* If offline: goes directly to the 3 message options (voice message, email, video message)
Phone changes:
- Make “Add” button so that user has control over when phone starts connecting during Add Contact task.
- Show “End call” button once user and recipient have connected live, during Call task.
- Add back-arrow icon to allow deletion of 1 digit at a time.
- Make sure phone number is 7 digits long.
Receiving Mail:
- Change mail icon to mailbox icon. May want to try mailbox on yellow paper.
- Place mail icon in upper right of browser, representing mail from all contacts rather than from individual contacts.
Voice Mail:
- change wording from “voice mail” to “voice message” so that it is not confused with real-world voice-mail recording when the recipient does not pick up
- perhaps change icon from a tape to a person speaking
h3. Observations from Friday's Testing (Round 2)
Four users tested against the updated Address Book Metaphor prototype.
h4. User testing descriptions
h5. User 1
Observations:
- User expressed discomfort with the name “ElderConnect”; feels the name points out his old age
- Yellow mailbox with mail flying out was effective in signaling to user to that something has changed. User was highly tempted to click on the mailbox once it changed.
- User thought contact buttons led to profiles rather than actionables; user attributed this thought to the “Address Book” metaphor which usually does not contain actionable items
- User had trouble recording a video message because there was no way to initiate the recording.
- User remarked that the interface makes it “easy to recover” from errors
Feedback:
- It is unfortunately missing from our notes.
h5. User 2
Observations:
- User attempts to click "Call" even when it is disabled.
- User asked "What kind of message?" during the second task after seeing the message type choices.
- Mailbox was effective for signifying that the user has a message. User discovered the change from closed to open mailbox.
- Regarding the voice message controls:
-* User speaks “Good Job” without clicking on Record.
-* User tries again, but clicks Play, and “Good Job” and Send.
-* Third time, clicks Record, “Good job” and Send.
-* There's a serious mode error in this interface.
- Video call interface operated correctly.
Feedback:
- The voice message interface is very confusing. User interpreted "Play" as "Start".
-* User suggests "Repeat" instead of "Play" button.
- User thinks that the disabled "Call" button is not a problem and that he simply made a mistake.
h5. User 3
Observations:
- “Big plus sign” for adding a contact was effective, user clicked appropriately.
- Options available after choosing to “Leave Message” confused user. Needs to be more intuitive.
- Video message interface should provide more feedback and/or control. User looked for a “Ready” button to start leaving his/her message.
- Video call interface was operated correctly.
- Once again, user experienced a mode error with the voice recording interface. User wasn't sure whether the interface was already recording.
- The user thought the Record button was a Stop button.
Feedback:
- When asked "Do you think you prefer it starts recording right away or press a button?" (regarding voice message), user prefers pressing a button.
- When asked "Do you want to hear your own message?", the user says yes.
- Blank entries in the address book should be transparent.
- Maybe make "Add Contact" be in the upper left corner.
- Change the name of the app.
- Change "Address Book" to a different name so the user feels like clicking the contact can yield some options.
h5. User 4 (Our TA)
Observations:
- User offended by the name ElderConnect.
- User says "So many options!" after seeing the three message types.
- During the third task, user sees the mail icon, but was not sure whether it was the same icon was before. Nevertheless he tapped it.
- When replying to a message, the user expected that simply calling the sender would be a clearly available action, given that the sender is online.
- User wonders whether he can send a message either by clicking the user or clicking the mail icon.
- Voice message interface operated correctly.
- Video call interface operated correctly.
Feedback:
- User: "What happens if I tapped mail?"
-* We haven't implemented this but we might say No Mail.
-* User suggests maybe we should put text on the mailbox such as the number of mails or "No Mail".
- User: "You have two separate loci on the starting point. One is the user - people centric, and the other is the mail icon - task centric."
-* We used to put mail beside person. But people got confused.
-* We also used envelope, but that turned out confusing, so we changed to a mailbox.
- User: "I guess there'll be arrows for flipping pages?"
-* Yes we will.
- User likes the fact there is no history, so there are only two things to do in the main interface. |