Prototype Testing - Maureen's Walkthrough

Here are the results from our prototype walkthrough with Maureen, based on general points mentioned and performance during the scenarios given.

General

• Maureen had trouble both using the stylus due to her arthritis and placing it in the storage compartment on the side. She suggested that the stylus should be larger and easier to remove and put away.
• When we first explained the device, Maureen got excited about it, but for a different purpose to what was intended: "I'm always getting into silly situations where I'd need to call someone, like just the other day, the stairlift stopped midway and I was all alone in the house..."
  

Inputting and Logging Weight Information using the Touch Screen

• This was the first task, and so Maureen was not sure what to do at first. However, she was very inquisitive, and once she had read the instructions she knew what to do, and pressed "Add Info".
• Once on the input screen, she asked what it meant by "write". We showed her that she could scribble text on the screen, and she knew she could write what she wanted.
• She spelt "weight" wrong the first time, and we had not defined any form of error message to recover.
• She didn't want us looking as she put her weight in, but she did it fine.
• "Added, where?" It wasn't clear to Maureen where the information had been stored, as it wasn't visible on the screen.

Viewing Weight Input

• "Do I do this the same way as before?" Maureen was starting to get the hang of the navigation.
• "The writings a bit small, I'll have to change my glasses" We showed Maureen how to zoom in on text, she was impressed.
• Maureen pressed the send button on one of the pieces of information by mistake. Initially she panicked, but after she looked at the confirmation screen she pressed "No - Go Back".

Modify the Date and Time

• "Do I go to Add Info?" The wording of the task and the main buttons confused Maureen, it was not obvious that the date and time settings would be in the "Settings" section (although the instructions did mention it, she wanted to figure it out on her own). Eventually she tries "Settings", and sees the option.
• She writes the date as "18th March 2007", and the time as "2:16". The date on the confirmation screen was not displayed in the same format, so it took longer for her to figure it out. Also, AM or PM was not specified, and no consideration for this was taken by the device.
• "Did it do it?" There was no notifiation screen like with adding info, which confused Maureen.

Access Messages and View an Unsent Message

• "This one's easy!" Maureen pressed the right button immediately.
• Maureen tried the same method for zooming in worked successfully.
• Maureen pressed "delete" by accident, but the confirmation screen appeared like before, and she knew what to do.
• Views a message successfully - "This ain't my doctor!"

Set off the Watch Emergency Alarm

• "Looks like I'll have to read the instructions."
• Maureen set the alarm off after reading the instructions, but panicked as she hadn't read how to turn it off. She has to read through the instructions while the alarm is going off, and eventually finds how to do it. However, she mistakenly presses the button too many times, which activates the emergency phone call feature. At this point we had to step in and sort it out.

Call the Emergency Services using the Watch

• "Did it work?" After Maureen pushed the button, there was no indication that the watch was actually making the call.

Turn On/Off Security

• "But I don't have security" We explained to her that it was just for testing, and that she could have a security system installed if she wanted to when the system was finished, but she was reluctant to this idea.
• "I remember that in settings!" Maureen goes straight into the Settings section to find the security part. She presses the right button ("Turn On" instead of "Edit"), and presses "Yes" at the confirmation.
  
• "I can't see what I'm writing" To protect password security, the users writing isn't displayed when entering the password. However, this caused Maureen to make many mistakes.

Evaluation

Overall, Maureen did fairly well with the system. Her main problems were with the stylus and the watch, and also she tended not to read instructions. Some potential improvements based on this walkthrough:

• Extend the watch to be able to make calls to other people in a less serious emergency (e.g. a family member).
• Make the stylus larger and easier to place in the device.
• The security system was not popular, removing it is a possibility.
• Make some of the functions only mentioned in instructions (e.g. zooming in, reading text, etc) more explicit.
• We need to handle erroneous conditions and provide the user the means to recover from them.
• Change some of the wording of buttons.