<div>Thanks Gary, I'll have a look at this. I'm worried that conducting tests with novice users might be inconclusive, given that we are testing schoolchildren. But I am also not an educator. I'd be happy to work with someone with an educational background to put something together that might be suitable as a test for new users.</div>
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<div>For now, though, I'd suggest we stick to our plan to see where it gets us. <br></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Christian<br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 11:20 AM, Gary C Martin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gary@garycmartin.com">gary@garycmartin.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">Hi Christian,<br>
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<div></div>
<div class="h5"><br>On 23 Jan 2010, at 15:01, Christian Marc Schmidt wrote:<br><br>> Hi all:<br>><br>> For our meeting at 10:30pm EST today, I put together a draft of a test protocol (in email body below). Please look it over and feel free to edit or add to. Thanks,<br>
><br>> Christian<br>><br>> --<br>> Sugar Home View Concept Testing<br>> Draft 01/23/10<br>><br>> Goal: Evaluate the Home view for "Resume activity" and "Start new activity" functionality.<br>
> Protocol: Alternate between two builds, one per student: The current build [Build A], which makes "Resume" the default action, and a test build [Build B] making "Start new" the default action.<br>
> Duration: 5 mins per student<br>> Student Profile: Should be a current user (not a first-time user). Age and grade should be recorded, along with duration of overall Sugar experience.<br>><br>> 1. Begin at Home screen after boot up<br>
><br>> 2. Test cognitive model<br>> "Describe what you see in this view."<br>> "What are the symbols in the ring?"<br>> "Describe what each symbol in the ring is."<br>
> "Do you know why the symbols are different colors?"<br>> "What activity did you last work on?"<br>> 3. Test pathways<br>> [Alternate between two pathways, one per student]<br>
><br>> Pathway 1:<br>> "Show how you would go back to the activity you last worked on. Describe what you are doing." [Student shows pathway to resume activity.]<br>> "Now, show what you would do if you wanted to start a new [Write/Draw/Browse, etc.; should be of the same kind] activity. Describe what you are doing." [Student shows pathway to start a new activity of the same kind.]<br>
> "Now, show what you would do if you wanted to start a new [Write/Draw/Browse, etc.; should be a different activity than the current one] activity." [Student shows pathway to start a new activity different from the current activity.]<br>
> Pathway 2:<br>> "Show how you would start a new activity. Describe what you are doing." [Student opens a new activity.]<br>> "Now, show what you would do if you wanted to go back to the activity you last worked on. Describe what you are doing." [Student shows pathway to resume a previous activity.]<br>
> "Now, show what you would do if you wanted to start a new [Write/Draw/Browse, etc.; should be of the same kind] activity. Describe what you are doing."[Student shows pathway to start a new activity of the same kind.]<br>
> 4. General questions<br>> "If you could change anything about Sugar, what would make it easier for you to go back to a previous activity?"<br>> "What would make it easier for you to start a new activity?"<br>
> "Is there anything else about Sugar that you would change?"<br><br></div></div>I know we've drifted from a usability study model, to a focus group model for practical classroom reasons but I though Jakob Nielson's latest article was a timely piece worth a quick read through given we are going to be getting feedback from existing Sugar users.<br>
<br>"Summary: It's more difficult to conduct usability studies with experienced users than with novices, and the improvements are usually smaller. Still, improving expert performance is often worth the effort."<br>
<br> <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/experienced-users.html" target="_blank">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/experienced-users.html</a><br><br>Regards,<br><font color="#888888">--Gary</font></blockquote></div>
<br>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><a href="mailto:anything@christianmarcschmidt.com">anything@christianmarcschmidt.com</a><br>917/ 575 0013<br><br><a href="http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com">http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com</a><br>
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