User Testing

When user testing it’s important to consider both primary and secondary research methods. Primary methods of research refer to research that we collect ourselves such as surveys, focus groups, interviews and analytics. Secondary methods of research refer to market research that has already been collected and compiled such as public information from libraries and government departments, commercial resources, and academic research from colleges and universities. The reason user testing is so important is because it allows the designer to pinpoint areas in the design that need improvement. Often designers assume they understand what their consumer wants but through user testing consumers may provide insight into areas of design you would have not initially considered. This process ensures that you are in fact making a product that your consumer wants and finds valuable.

Survey Reflections

After having StitchKit’s survey completed by the rest of the class our team was able to compare what was working and what wasn’t working. We were then able to address these concerns. Our team went on to re-asses our pricing model, options that we are providing our consumer base, and how we can make our product more appealing to the beginner DIYer. This process also allowed us to establish a sense of demand and expectation that our team may not have understood before moving forward with the live selling event.

Bad User Interface / Experience Design

An example of bad user experience design can be found in the Xbox One’s Kinect 2.0 navigation. While the new Kinect 2.0 sensor is much more responsive in comparison to the original Kinect sensor found on the Xbox 360, there are still some fundamentals flaws in it’s design that make the user experience less than desirable. The Xbox One’s voice commands work off of using the keyword “Xbox” to initiate actions, followed by your desired outcome. (“Xbox, go to Netflix) The problem however, is that Xbox One designed a “shortcut” menu that will overlay itself over top of your current screen when you use the necessary keyword “Xbox” to initiate an action. While it is meant to give the user speedy options like “Xbox, go to friends list” often it makes the original screen you were trying to navigate inaccessible simply because you didn’t say “Xbox, Play Forza Motorsport 5” fast enough.