Paper Prototype (First Iteration)
< insert pics here! :) >
Briefing
Thanks for agreeing to help us out! What you see here is part of a project we’re working on for the User Interface Design class (6.813). Today, you’ll be helping us test a new system for keeping track of outsanding expenses among friends and acquaintances. This system, called PennyPincher, is a means of recording and monitoring transactions among individuals and groups. We’re testing particular parts of the system which allows you to post new transactions to declare that someone owes you money, dispute a transaction you think is incorrect, and view a history of all transactions you’ve been a part of.
Here’s how it’s going to work: We're going to present you with a paper prototype of the mobile web app, which is fairly rough representation of what the mobile site might look after we build it, but on a much larger scale. Depending on the type of mobile phone you are on, the stylus will be your mouse or your finger (for touchscreen phones). We'll give you a few short tasks and ask you to try to execute them on this "web app". As you click on things, We’ll physically change the website to respond to your actions. Let me briefly introduce you to our team. My name is ___, and this is ____ and ___. After we get started I'll be controlling the "computer" and they're going to be taking notes to identify areas where we need to fix our system.
Also, keep in mind that we're testing the computer system and design, we're not testing you. The system is at an early stage of development and is likely to have problems that might make it hard to use, so we need your help to find those problems. Please feel free to think out loud to help us understand your thought process, too! Your test results will be completely confidential, and you can stop at any time you want. Do you have any questions we can answer before we begin?
Scenario Tasks
Task 1: Adding a transaction
(Version A)
You went to lunch with a friend, Joey, and since he was short cash, you had to foot the bill (which you have decided to split evenly).
You want to add a transaction that shows that Joey owes you.
(Version B)
You went to lunch with a couple of friends, Karen and John, and since they were both short of cash, you had to foot the bill (which you all have decided to split evenly).
You want to add a transaction that shows that Joey and Susie owe you.
(Version C)
You went to lunch with a couple of friends, Joey and Susie, and since they were both short of cash, you had to foot the bill. It came out to $60. Karen insists she pay $40 since she ordered a courmet entree. John just got a soda so he owes $5.
You want to add a SINGLE transaction that shows Karen and John owe you the correct amounts. (Note, you will be financially responsible for the remainder)
Task 2: Dispute a transaction
You believe that one of your friends, John, mistakenly thinks you owe money and has posted an incorrect $10 charge for lunch at UBurger, when in actuality, you've already payed him back.
You want to dispute the $10 transaction that John has made.
Task 3: View summary page and individual history
You want to see a full list of people with whom you have made transactions with. After, you want to view all of the transactions made with Adam.
Observations
The following observations are notes that we took during the user testing
User 1
Task 1A (Scroll Interface)
- User had some difficulty with this Task since he found the home page to be a bit confusing.
- User kept on looking at the sections that drop down and list the current transactions instead of looking at the three main action buttons at the top.
- After some trial and error, the User finally figured out to press the add button.
- User added other users into the transaction pretty swiftly and quickly.
- User was confused about the "include me" button, since had mentally subtracted himself out of the total bill amount.
- User had little to no trouble on the transaction page and understood what "custom" and "even split" meant in terms of the application.
- User did complete the task successfully, but had hiccups throughout the entire process.
Task 1B (Search Interface)
- User did not have issues with the search interface and the process went smoothly considering that the user had figured out how to do the task already.
Task 1B - User had much less difficulty on this task because he user had now figured out how the system works.
- Overall process was pretty smooth and user didn't make any errors.
Task 2
- User had to think for a little while on the home page before he realized that the "red" and "green" sections provided drop down menus.
- User figured out how to get to a page that displays all of his transactions with Joey pretty quickly after he discovered the dropdown.
- User finds the transaction that he does not agree with and disputes it with ease and no confusion.
- User now tries to go back to the home screen. He hesitates for a split second, but quickly realizes that the "Penny Pincher" logo is also a link to the home page.
- Overall process was pretty smooth once the user discovered the dropdown menu.
Task 3
- User presses the calendar action button at the top with no problem.
- User clicks Karen and finishes the task easily.
Overall Comments
- User was displeased with the front page layout because he just found it jarring and confusing.
- User was completely confused by the +/- notation for money owed to you and money you owe. Had some major issues figuring out and feels there could be a better notation for it.
- Besides these main problems, User found the tasks to be intuitive and easy to use overall.
User 2
Task 1A (Scroll Interface)
- User had no issues with this task and performed it as if he designed the application himself.
Task 1A (Scroll Interface)
- User had no issues with this task as well. Search and autocomplete were intuitive to the user.
Task 1B - User once again had no issues with this task. He performed it without any trial and error.
Task 2
- User had no issues completing the task at hand and performs the dispute action without trial and error.
- After completing the task, the user tried to go back to the home page but had some trouble.
- User was unsure of if there was a back button or any sort of method to go back. However, he manages to discover the Penny Pincher logo/link to go back to the home page within 2-3 seconds.
Task 3
- User completed this task with no trial and error
Overall Comments
- Home Page
- User didn't like the overall position label (the total amount you are in the red or green).
- User felt like the overall position could have been the last transaction and recommended that a label like "Balance" would definitely help the user understand what it actually means.
- User also wanted the overall balance to be color coded.
- User didn't like the arrow icon for drop down menu. User felt like it could be a play button and was therefore a bit confused.
- User liked the drop-down idea and felt it was a good way to get around having less screen space on a phone.
- User felt like the icon for viewing all transaction kind of looked like a calendar; suggests putting the rings on the side and not the top
- List of Transactions
- User felt that the +/- was confusing. He feels that color coding values with red and green is much more intuitive and should be done throughout the application.
- Scrolling Interface vs Search Interface
- User liked the very clear scroll interface to find usernames to add to transactions.
- User did not like the include me option and felt like it could be confusing to some users.
- User recommended that we move the include me option into the names section of the interface (closer to the bottom) instead of where we had it (closer to the top).
- User preferred the search interface over the scrolling interface due the fact that long list of names can be very painful to scroll through .
- Splitting of Money
- User understands the "custom" and "even split" options.
- User brings up a concern with custom splits and mental mathematics
- What if the users are splitting something more complicated than even integers?
- Suggests that we have some sort of recommendation when there is only one person left.
- Example
- Total = $68.47 for three people
- First person: User puts in $20 dollars
- Second person: User puts in $25 dollars
- Third person: User gets recommended by the system to put $23.47 dollars.
- Example