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Users will test the prototype and carry out some typical tasks. You will observe the process and take notes. Others can and should observe as well. In this case you can concentrate better on facilitating the test and make it a good experience for the user. | Users will test the prototype and carry out some typical tasks. You will observe the process and take notes. Others can and should observe as well. In this case you can concentrate better on facilitating the test and make it a good experience for the user. | ||
===Choosing a task=== | ===Choosing a task=== | ||
So what shall your testers do with the Prototype? You need to give them some tasks they are going to do. So you should follow some simple steps: | So what shall your testers do with the Prototype? You need to give them some tasks they are going to do. So you should follow some simple steps: | ||
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Now as you now what you want to test and how you make this clear to the user, you can build your prototype. It needs to simulate the situations that can occur when the participants do the task you gave them. So at least you need to cover the possibilities to resolve the task and some sideways that don't lead to the task's solution. Otherwise the Participant will try to interact and your prototype will not be up to responding and "crashes". | Now as you now what you want to test and how you make this clear to the user, you can build your prototype. It needs to simulate the situations that can occur when the participants do the task you gave them. So at least you need to cover the possibilities to resolve the task and some sideways that don't lead to the task's solution. Otherwise the Participant will try to interact and your prototype will not be up to responding and "crashes". | ||
I | I recommend to build your prototype in paper. It may sound strange but it is easily done, costs almost nothing and usually has good results. The basic principle is to mock up the Interface using paper and some other stuff thats probably in your office. | ||
The interaction is simulated by manually changing parts of the paper-Interface. E.g. You draw a dialogue box on paper and place it over the rest of the interface if the user triggers the action that shall make it appear. Or if a "link" is clicked you change all parts of the site that are supposed to be different from the old one. | The interaction is simulated by manually changing parts of the paper-Interface. E.g. You draw a dialogue box on paper and place it over the rest of the interface if the user triggers the action that shall make it appear. Or if a "link" is clicked you change all parts of the site that are supposed to be different from the old one. | ||
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[[File:PaperPrototyping_Materialien.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Almost everything is in your office already]] | [[File:PaperPrototyping_Materialien.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Almost everything is in your office already]] | ||
*'''Paper itself''': The core material. You can draw your interface on it, you can apply glue, sellotape etc. and you can stack it and have e.g. consitent background and changing parts like dialogue boxes oir sitebars. Not to mention that it is very cheap. So it is no problem to restart or apply changes. | *'''Paper itself''': The core material. You can draw your interface on it, you can apply glue, sellotape etc. and you can stack it and have e.g. consitent background and changing parts like dialogue boxes oir sitebars. Not to mention that it is very cheap. So it is no problem to restart or apply changes. | ||
*'''pens''': You need them to draw your Interface | *'''pens''': You need them to draw your Interface. | ||
*'''Sellotape''':Useful for taping pieces together or to create parts of the interface you can write on with wipable pens | *'''Sellotape''':Useful for taping pieces together or to create parts of the interface you can write on with wipable pens. | ||
*'''Transparency Foil:''' | *'''Transparency Foil:''' Useful if the writing/sketching area for the user needs to be bigger. Can be put on top of the rest of the interface. | ||
*'''wipable Pens:''' They need to be applied on sellotape or foil and are always needed if the interface demands text input. They are as well great for changing parts of the interface. There are dry-wipable and wet-wipable. For the most cases, the latter are better, since they are not wiped of in the testing process as long as you don't do it by purpose using a slighly wet cloth or something like this | *'''wipable Pens:''' They need to be applied on sellotape or foil and are always needed if the interface demands text input. They are as well great for changing parts of the interface. There are dry-wipable and wet-wipable. For the most cases, the latter are better, since they are not wiped of in the testing process as long as you don't do it by purpose using a slighly wet cloth or something like this. | ||
*'''Restickable Glue:''' | *'''Restickable Glue:''' Make a piece of paper restickable – like post-its, so You can temporarily fixate elements and prevent them from moving. This is very useful. You probably need to order them. Costs ~1,50€ and are worth the money. | ||
====Ressources==== | ====Ressources==== | ||
* A List Apart on [http://www.alistapart.com/articles/paperprototyping/ paper-prototyping] | * A List Apart on [http://www.alistapart.com/articles/paperprototyping/ paper-prototyping] | ||
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</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
To make your prototype Interactive you need | To make your prototype Interactive you need an other person as "computer" who is familiar with the interface and changes the prototype according to the users interactions. Don't try to do a test alone: To change the screens, write notes and communicate with the user will not work in one time. | ||
The users interacts with the paper-prototype by using their fingers like the mouse cursor: If they tap an element this has the results of a mouse click, and the computer changes the interface accordingly. If you have special input modes e.g. right click you can tell the user that this can be told to the computer ("now I right-click") If you need text input you should give the user the possibility for text input via a non-permanent-marker. | The users interacts with the paper-prototype by using their fingers like the mouse cursor: If they tap an element this has the results of a mouse click, and the computer changes the interface accordingly. If you have special input modes e.g. right click you can tell the user that this can be told to the computer ("now I right-click") If you need text input you should give the user the possibility for text input via a non-permanent-marker. | ||
===getting people=== | |||
Getting people for your testing will be similar to the interview process. It is generally easier to tell the people what you actually want from them: "try out stuff" sounds more graspable than "being interviewed about... stuff" | |||
Similar to the interviews as well is that you can do a person-to-person testing using any prototyping technique. In this case you need to ask friends, fellow students etc. to recruit people. | |||
If you have a coded prototype you can acquire participants via your blog, twitter, facebook or mailing list as well and do the testing remotely via screensharing. This can make it easier to find participants especially if you work as part of a open source project that is mainly working in collaboration via the web. | |||
To have meaningful testing results you should recruit people belonging to your targeted user group. Some products have a big user group: a TV-remote-control can be used by all sorts of people so gather a diverse group. But if your product is a source code editor you should recruit developers. | |||
===Brief Participants=== | ===Brief Participants=== | ||
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===Conducting the actual test=== | ===Conducting the actual test=== | ||
Now, as you are finished building the prototype you need, you can finally do the actual test! | Now, as you are finished building the prototype you need, you can finally do the actual test! | ||
The user interacts with the paper prototype while the computer changes it according to their interactions. The computer should only react on appropriate input. It does not trigger an action if a user only tells what he likes to do e.g. "I'd trigger the move function" - even if it seems perfectly clear what the user might want to do. | |||
As with the interviews there are some things you and others who observe should avoid. Brief all observers in this and tell that you are going to take care of dealing with the user - so you have clear roles and nobody, especially not the user, gets confused. | As with the interviews there are some things you and others who observe should avoid. Brief all observers in this and tell that you are going to take care of dealing with the user - so you have clear roles and nobody, especially not the user, gets confused. | ||