Capstone Testing Results

Earlier today, we had nine people test our project and fill out the questionnaire I handed them. The physical touch-screen part was not quite working as it should be, but we had a mock-up that had mostly the same effect. Instead of "touching" the screen, the user would shine infrared LEDs onto the screen. The first three questions ask for a rating between one and ten (one being the worst, and ten the best), and the averages of all those are below. The fourth question is in regards to "unusual objects" that I hid in the animation and did not tell the testers about beforehand. The last question asked for additional comments. The other questions had a comments section as well, and I selected a few from each question to post below.

1.) How was your overall experience with the project? 8.7

"The longer I used it the more details I observed. I love that I did not get bored or figure it out right away." Jolene B., New Media

"I've never seen anything like it I believe, it's a very interesting concept." Cameron M., Biology

"There needs to be more physical relationship to the work, this will obviously be remedied when they implement the touch screen part to the project." Brian M., New Media

2.) How would you rate the touch-screen interface? 8.3

"The way it worked was neat, it might have been more fun to actually touch it. The LEDs were slow to go through layers, but the effects of different light sources were fun to see." Alexandra S., Biology

"The touch-screen portion still in developmental stage, yet so far, wand-type interface is very effective." Brandon H., Chemistry

3.) How would you rate the animation? 8.1

"It was really neat and it looked great." Lily O., New Media

"The animation seems really well done, and the fact that there are multiple levels of the animation that are burned through makes the piece that much better." Brian M., New Media

4.) Did you find any unusual objects? If so, how many?

*This question had some mixed results. Some people did not notice any of the objects I hid (or they did, and didn't think of them as "unusual"), while others saw a varying amount of objects. On the questionnaire, I had a range of 1-10 items, even though I only hid five objects. Two people found all five objects. One person circled "seven", which makes me wonder if she either miscounted (which would make sense, as I gave no one any warning about the hidden objects), or saw objects that she deemed "unusual" that were supposed to be there.

"...I did not realize finding the objects was the goal right away, but I think that's because I was excited about the wand and burning things." Jolene B., New Media

"[I did not find any objects because] I spent my time writing neat things on the screen instead." Thomas W., Molecular Biology

5.) Additional comments?

"Wireframe on bottom looks more interesting and dramatic." Thomas W., Molecular Biology

"Perhaps make it more sensitive so that the last layer can be found easier and doesn't take as much time waiting, it'd be a little more interactive that way. Also perhaps start with the actual animation not the wireframe as that's more like uncovering and 'discovering' things and fits with the theme better." Mary G., Biology

"Interesting concept. Great animations and sound effects." Kevin M., New Media