Wednesday 11 November 2015

Prototype 3: Testing Session Results

Since I missed the testing session on Monday - was doing my best to get on top of my exam on Maths on Tuesday - had to arrange my own testing session with friends/family. 

I had a total of 6 testers/3 pairs of people.






The two hypothesis that I had were: 
  1. 2 people or kids will find a way to self-organize to get the correct answers to the questions asked
  2. In pairs people will enjoy playing the game more than if they were to play alone. 
Both hypothesis were correct. People did enjoy playing as a team more than playing on their own. From my observations - somebody would take a leading role and say - who has to do what:
  •  "You step on 9, I'll step on 1" and this is how we'll do that
The other person would follow the instructions. 

When playing on their own - one of the participants was a 6 y.o. girl - she had no difficulties figuring out how to play the game at all. 

Here are the comments from test participants: 






100% of participants preferred to play as a team/with a friend more - it was more fun for them.

Test Limitations: 
  • most of test participants were adults, this is a limitation
  • occasionally some of the buttons wouldn't work - that's technology limitations
I do think that the game is successful, useful and, perhaps, could even be successfully built and released to the general public.






Saturday 7 November 2015

Interactive Prototype 3: Description

Physical prototype for game MathsFun fully simulates the game. MathsFun is an interactive game that makes it fun for kids to learn basic Maths skills. The concept of the game did not change and is available in this post. To make the game even more fun - I made the game social so that it can be played by 2 kids simultaneously.

Hypothesis 1: 
  • 2 people (or kids) playing the game will find a way to self-organize to get the correct answers to the questions asked 
Pass/Fail: Most people got their questions right. When they don't get their questions - they are just fooling around intentionally.

Hypothesis 2: 
  • In pairs people will enjoy the game more than if they were to play alone. 
Pass/Fail: Will be tested in the form of close-ended question by users doing self-reporting. If users report that they enjoyed the game more when playing together - this would mean that the hypothesis is right. Optionally - I could do 2 rounds of testing - 1. test as 2 people then 2. test with the same testers as 1 person - and then do self-reporting.

A complete survey is available here: Game Survey



Makey-Makey Inputs Structure:
When a user types W - in fact - it means 0. Change from numbers to letters is necessary to make the prototype work with Makey-Makey.

Here is the basic input structure to make it work on Makey-Makey:
W -> 0
A - > 1
S ->  2
D -> 3
F -> 4
G -> 5
Up -> 6
Down -> 7
Left -> 8
Right -> 9 

Game Logic:
Assume the question is how much is 11 + 4 and the correct answer is 15.
- Wait for 1 user to stand on 1... 
- Wait for 2nd user to stand on 5... 

If a user stands on 1 - and then on 5 - the answer is correct or stands on 5 - then on 1 - the answer is correct.
If a user stands on a wrong answer - "Zero" the results, say - wrong answer.

Since 2 people cannot stand on 2 numbers simultaneously, during the testing process I will be providing users with instructions. 

Materials Used 
- cardboard - foil- wires- glue :-) - Makey-Makey

Final Look & Feel









Testing Process
1. Invite 2 participants to test the game.
2. Give background information: the game is for kids to help them learn Maths. When answering questions - one person has to push on one number, another person has to push another number.
3. Ask them to start the game and play 1 round. Observe participants and take notes.
4. Offer 1 participant to play on their own. 
5. Ask 1st participant to fill out a survey. 
6. Offer 2nd participant to play on their own.
7. Ask 2nd participant to fill out a survey.