Week 6 Improvement

User Testing

Inspired by feedback, this week our group started to test our prototype among people from different backgrounds. Below are my cases.

• User 1 (Age Group: 20-25): Xuan Feng is studying Fashion in RCA, as a game enthusiast, he was excited with the 3d scenario and rapidly got the whole concept. After wandering around for 5 minutes, he commented that our setting was too blank and gave us a lot of aesthetic advice. He also thought we could design more complex puzzles and target younger audiences.

• User 2 (Age Group: 20-25): Charlotte is a painter who spends a considerable amount of time living in different areas of Europe. She loves Asian cultures and appreciated our idea of the Silk Road. However, she didn't think she learned much knowledge about cultural differences in this scene and believed that this was where we needed to improve the most.

• User 3 (Age Group: 30-40): Tinisha as an English teacher without any design background spent a while getting used to the platform. She said it was the first time she visited a museum in such a playful way and encouraged us to embed more interactive exhibits in the scene.

Figure 1: I was testing the Silk Road demo with Tinisha, Charlotte and Xuan Feng

Feedback Summary

We shared our gains within the group, and organized the notes in the different age groups (Figure 2) and sorted them into 4 aspects that we can improve (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Notes organized in age groups by team

According to feedback, we summarized the issues that existed at the time:1) The scene needs more objects and descriptions to enhance the meaning of the visit; 2) The journey requires visual guidances to experience all the interactions; 3) A holistic introduction is necessary for explaining the purpose of the journey

Figure 3: Notes organized in 4 areas by team

Optimisation

Based on feedback, we optimised the scene for a better experience, responding to issue 1, we added objects in the scene and attached a concise description of each one with a link to the V&A introductory page or interaction website (Figure 4); responding to issue 2, we redesigned the notice board with clearer floor plans and arrows (Figure 5); responding to issue 3, I thought a complete map of the Silk Road helps users to intuitively understand the context (Figure 6)

Figure 4: Educational contents in China and India, designed by Sylvester and Svaney

Figure 5: Visual guidance in China and India, designed by Sylvester, Ines and Svaney

Figure 6: Silk Road map, designed by Svaney

Challenges

Through 4 weeks of exploration, we have obtained a basic understanding of the Mozilla platform and have learned additional skills for future use. A number of models have been built gradually (Figure 7), and we managed to improve our productivity through self-study and group communication, but of course, we also encountered lots of difficulties. For example, the file got so big by the end that it made my laptop very heavy (brilliant Sylvester finally compressed the project!), thus I booked the LCC digital space's Alienware PC (Figure 8) for smooth operation and academic tutorials for the suggestion, which were all really helpful.

Figure 7: Different versions of the prototype, done by Ines, Sylvester and Svaney

Figure 8: I was using uni's PC for 3d modelling

Presentation & Reflection

John and Al appreciated our workload, some of participants also tried our prototype. At this stage towards the end of the project, they suggested, we may need to focus on how to present our concepts, or interactions, or ambitions rather than adds more tasks for ourselves.

The user testing sessions really helped us to identify many overlooked defects and find more potential design details, rather than a test, I prefer to call it participatory design, involving users in the design process always allows designers to empathise and reflect.