Evaluation Exercise

We got feedback on our project from another group. They instantly understood the main purpose of our prototype, which is a simple guide for museum visitors. Then when they were asked about our icons, and how apparent their function was. Our load balancing system with the little man shifting colors was simple to understand, when the man was red, it was full and if it was green there were a lot of space in that room. They didn’t understand it instantly, but after a few seconds, they assumed it was representing the amount of people in the room.   

load balancing system.

Most of the evaluation was about adding implementations to the prototype to improve it, for example orientation was an issue, whether you look at the map from a side view or from above; from a bird view. It was very difficult to understand where the view was coming from in the prototypes current state.

These were the things we will have to address:

• Colorblind mode.
• Floor selection (which floor is currently being shown).
• Question mark button (which will show a “help” interface).
• Refresh button (* A refresh button that refreshes the numbers, automatic for screens)
• Symbols (various symbols for popular exhibits, new exhibits etc).
• The “history” of the museum. (At which times is it crowded etc).
• Add a clear way to distinguish between a side and bird view.
• A queue timer to help visitors plan their schedule.
• An intro animation to help with orientation (ties in with the different views).

*  = There will be some differences between the application for mobile phones and the screens at the museum. Screens at the museum are focused on being more automatic with refreshes and so on, but the app needs a refresh button so not unnecessary internet from the user will be taken, since not all museums give out free wifi to their visitors.

The other half of the exercises had us evaluating a fellow groups project. What we were presented with was a quiz app that was meant to the bridge gap between an elderly audience and a younger one through the spirit of competition. In essence the app incorporated a QR-code system wherein one person created a lobby and others could join by scanning a user-generated QR code on the host’s device. The questions were picked by the host and were relevant to the current exhibit.

Our suggestions were generally based on the 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design developed by Jakob Nielsen. Our improvements included a system where the QR codes were not used to host games but to hold information and questions about the museum, thus making a nationwide server for questions (something originally proposed) unnecessary, this made scanning the host QR code unnecessary as other could connect via the museum’s questions directly. This improvement relates to Nielsen’s 6th principle (Recognition rather than recall) as users no longer needed the complex server system along with the difficulty of sharing QR codes.  Our improvements also included general improvements to the layout of the system, in particular the lobby structure, so that using the system became simpler and thus the magnitude of the enjoyment of the user would increase. This is in line with Nilsen’s 8th principle (Aesthetic and minimalist design) as a clear menu helps in  improving the Aesthetic experience of the application.