Research Plan/Testing

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Name of site/product:

Really cool new app—the breaks

Study goals:

I want to know if people can use the app to complete a few simple interactions.

Research questions:

  • Are the navigation buttons easy to understand?

  • What are people expecting the navigation areas to be?

  • Are the names of the sections informative?

  • Why do people listen to music online?

  • When do people shop online/stream music online, and when do they shop IRL/listen to IRL music that is not streaming?

  • How do people find new music online? When would one buy that on vinyl?

Methodology:

I will ask three coworkers questions about using my app prototype from last week. I will have them use my laptop. They are all individuals who like music and understand prototypes. I will ask the users to complete simple tasks on my app. I will also ask more broad questions to know how people might use the app if I make changes.

Participant profiles:

These people are all coworkers that are my friends. They have experience with prototyping and are music fans.

Tasks:

I will ask three coworkers to do the following:

  • Find the album Low - Double Negative and 'listen' to it.

  • Find the album Low - Double Negative and 'purchase' it.

  • Find the album Low - Double Negative and 'read about it.'

Script:

Hello. I am Whitney. I know you from work. I am in a UX class. I made this prototype for it. The idea was to combine a few different kinds of music apps into one all-in-one app. On this app, you can stream music, read about music, and purchase albums that you want to own at a reasonable price.

Here is the prototype.

  • Can you use it to find the album Low - Double Negative and stream it?

  • Can you use it to find the same album and read about it?

  • Can you use it to find the same album and purchase it on vinyl?

  • Do the navigation buttons make sense to you?

  • What is this prototype missing?

  • Do you purchase music?

  • When do you stream something, and when do you buy it?

  • When do you read about music?

Thank you. 

Findings:

I interviewed three people using the script above. It was mainly an excellent experience. Any reason that it was not, I would chalk up to my lack of knowledge and the fact that the app is still very half-baked.

Person 1:

They were quickly able to do the tasks I arranged but needed clarification about the distinction between the house, the menu, and the record in the navigation. They also hated the menu since it didn't do anything. Spoiler alert: I fixed this problem! Also, this person does not buy vinyl at all but loved being able to read and stream in the same service.

Person 2:

This person was also able to accomplish the tasks set out. They had to ask what the nav meant. I need titles for those. Also, they didn't understand the menu options. They loved buying vinyl and excellent deals from the app where you could stream and read reviews, news, etc. YAY!

Person 3:

This person didn't like my app's bad name. I agree with them. I might need a new one. They mostly got the nav but suggested titles (#fixed). They also had a lot of crazy ideas, like a digital/physical record collection like the one on Discogs and a way to play vinyl from your phone, like SONOS. And… I agree. Both of those ideas would be rad.