Playtesting - Final Project Step 3
Last week we playtested our idea with our pcomp class using a paper prototype and our breadboard which had 4 potentiometers controlling R, G, B, and brightness on a small neo-pixel strip.
Paper Prototype:
Our main questions were:
Is it better to use images or words for the thing that the user/controller are working towards?
Is it hard or frustrating to not be able to control everything?
Is the control panel the right proportions?
How is the proportion of the light wall?
Is the light wall a good blocker?
Are there enough/too many neopixels on the paper proto?
Can the user/controller hear each other?
For each of the playtesters I had them pick and image or word that they would reduce into a specific color, they would have to agree on the image/word and color with their partner. Then one person would choose to be the controller and the other would be the user. They would sit on opposite sides of the table with the paper proto light-wall and control panel between them. The controller would then begin manipulating the potentiometers and the user would call out the changes. They would work together until they got to the color they had decided on. I would then remove the paper proto wall and ask them the questions I listed above about their experience.
Findings:
Prompts words vs images:
In my class our of ~8 groups only 1 group chose a word instead of an image. In Sydney’s class, however, she had the opposite experience and she received really strong feedback that we should use words as prompts rather than images because people felt much more comfortable reflecting openly about the emotional & color value of a word rather than an image which they were reflecting on in a non-open ended way (they were picking a color they saw in the images “lets use orange like the background”. We thought of a new way to have the user and controller agree on a word rather than a book with a pedestal we want to make a wall with tags and words.
From my class I heard that paintings that had larger areas of color (Rothko, Hilma Af Klimt, Nina Chanel Abney, Roy Lichtenstein rather than Cezanne or Kandinsky) were easier to reduce into singular colors.
I was surprised by how few people were choosing the color that emotional fit the painting — rather people were picking colors that they saw a lot of in a painting.
User experience:
Most controllers said it was necessary or important for their panel to be giving them feedback (by lighting up). We are still going to use the light ability on the NeoTrellis for making pixel selections.
Non of the groups found the experience frustrating in the long run. They did say that at the beginning they when they weren’t sure how the communication was going to work they were a little bit anxious.
Design:
Our classmates liked the size of the control panel. There were a couple comments that the button pad was too small. We agree with this but the capability of the NeoTrellis button pad is something we really want to hold on to so were are going to keep using the NeoTrellis even if the buttons are a little too close and too small.
The size of the light board did a good job blocking the user and the controller.
We ran into a problem with sound. Our user and controller were sitting pretty close together with the light wall in between them but when the project if finished the user probably wont want to sit that close because the light wall will be so bright. …. We are thinking about how to make sure that the contoller and the user dont need to shout to hear eachother, this is supposed to be an intimate experience, not one where you have to feel uncomfortable and raise your voice. We are thinking of introducing an intercom of some sort - a telephone? Speaking tube?
New Design Drawing:
