Group F1 - User Testing

Usability testing is known as User Testing to evaluating a product or service by testing it with representative users. Typically, during a test, participants will try to complete typical tasks while observers watch, listen and take notes.

Goal:
To collect the qualitative data from the users thus identify the problems within.

Types of User Testing:

• Moderated user testing:

The moderator guide and observe the participants throughout the process

• Unmoderated user testing

The moderator doesn't guide the participant throughout the process

Variations of User Testing:

• Hallway testing

Pick participant randomly around the area for testing

• Remote user testing

Participants are pick from out of the country or rural areas

• Expert view

Hired experts that have knowledge about the product to test

• Automated expert review

Using scripted programs to test out the product

• A/B Testing

The participant will test which version of the product is better

Advantages of User Testing:

• Cost

Effective usability testing does not require a formal usability lab for testing

• Fast Implementation

The procedure is quick and easy

• Amount of testing you can afford

An indirect second benefit of the reduced cost is that you can afford to do much more testing, testing of your existing site, your proposed solution (at multiple stages) and your final product

• Comfort factor

Users are participating in the testing in a more natural, real-world environment, where they feel more comfortable and are more likely to be themselves

Disadvantages of User Testing:

• Testing Junkies

Testing junkies are there just for the cash and take a number of tests

• Trouble with finding an accurate audience

• Security (mostly remote usability testing)

Is hard for the moderator to get an accurate data when your own participant is anonymous

• Body Language (mostly remote usability testing)

Testers quite often come from a psychology background and can learn a lot from interpreting a participant's body language. This is lost altogether with online testing

• Remoteness (mostly remote usability testing)

It's hard to hand somebody a physical handout or flyer and ask them to go online and do what they would normally do in the real world if they're halfway around the world in a different country

Week 5 Watching Avatar Movie

1) In Intensive Interviewing, the person giving the information is called an ‘informant’. Name the ‘informant’ in the movie and explain how he/she shares information with the researcher. 

The informant is Jake Sully, He joins the Avatar program because his twin brother died, and they wanted to replace Jake because they have similar genetic. Jake will receive a lot of money to fixed his leg by finish the mission to get the 'unobtanium' minerals at Hometree from Na'vi. By doing that, Jake need to befriend with the Na'vi first and befriend with them by learning their culture and way of living at Hometree. By knowing how Jake is doing on his mission, every night he will do log post of how he is learning day by day with Na'vi and telling the location of Hometree more exact. At first, he just wanted to finish his mission but later he falls in love with Neytiri and helps the Na'vi people to defeat the sky people together with Jake, Max, Norm. and Trudy.

In Field Studies, there are four (4) types of researchers. Overt Participant Observer, Overt Non-Participant Observer, Covert Participant Observer and Covert Non-Participant Observer. 

Overt Participant Observer

Researcher watching Jake videos to know his status and what he is doing in the Hometree with Na'vi people.

Overt Non-Participant ObserverResearcher joining the group he studying and known by his/her status.

Covert Participant ObserverThe researcher not joining in the group while studying, but the status is unknown to the group.

Covert Non-Participate Observer

The researcher studying while not participating in the group, and his status is also not known to the group.

2) The researchers in the movie are overt observers. Name the character that is a participant observer and the one that is a non-participant observer. Describe how both of them collect information. Field Studies is a combination of emic and etic research. 

Jake Sully is the Participant Observer. He learns the Na'vi way of living and gives the information to the Private security force.

Dr. Grace Augustine is the Non-Participant Observer. She collects information and researchers their culture and way of living by educating the Na'vi and learn their language. She does not support the colonel action of burning the Hometree and kill a lot of Na'vi that gets in his way of getting the minerals.

3) In the movie, describe the kind of information gathered that can be constituted as emic/etic data
Emic dataEmic is the insider view, it focused on their bond with the creatures and Eywa, their god, and understanding their way of life in the Hometree of how they talk, hunting, learning their culture, pray for Eywa, their god, bonding with their fated one, etc. Like when they are hunting the creatures, they will kill and pray for their souls to be with Eywa. When they died, they believe that their souls join with Eywa and soon will be reborn again.

Eitc data

Etic is the outsider view, focus from local observations. Both Jake and Dr. Grace learn about Na'vi culture and way of living and their own world and knowing the situation of both sides.

Research

1. Formative Research:

- Formative research helps you guiding the process by asking friends for advises and opinions for the project. The research can contain a lot of information base on the topic of the project.

- Planning with the clients for information that they wanted and needed to be a better understanding of the project.
- Teachers are allowed to examine the previous works and project to teach students what they are lacking.
- A summative assessment carried out at the end of the project to decide what made a successful or failure project. Whether it should be adopted by or changes for improvement.
- To understand your competitors of strength, weakness, and target business but also understanding your own profit and loss. From that point, you can earn profits between you and your competitors, thus, you need to plan ahead to gain your own profit.
- By doing that, you can avoid their bad assumptions, position effectively, improve your offering, and plan market entry. However, if the data is wrong or incomplete, it can give a bad reputation to the company. It also takes a lot of time to consume the data because the traditional competitors give many different choices of product and services.
- My conclusion is understanding both of the competitors and your own strengths and weakness so that you can use the previous information to help you in the future.

2. Persona:

  Target audience profiling is to set the persona and give them characteristic to the audience so that it is much easier to make them in sorting for each group. so that they could focus more on selling different products for various audiences. In the end, I prefer to collect many information and research before start doing the project. It is because the process is more simple and easy to change if the project needs any changes.

'Itasha'

Itasha (痛車, literally "painful car"), is a Japanese term for an otaku fad of individuals decorating the bodies of their cars with fictional characters of anime, manga, or video games (especially bishoujo game or eroge). These characters are predominately "cute" female. The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. Automobiles are called itasha, while similar motorcycles and bicycles are called itansha (痛単車) and itachari (痛チャリ), respectively. The cars are seen prominently in places such as Akihabara (Tokyo), Nipponbashi (Osaka), or Oosu (Nagoya).

'Akihabara Anime'

Akihabara is sacred ground for Japan’s famous “otaku” (anime and video game fan) culture. The Tokyo Anime Center is located in Akihabara UDX, the core facility inside Akihabara Crossfield that serves a central role in the area.  Limited-time exhibitions will take place in the main space inside the centre, creating a PR booth that mainly features a large monitor showing popular movies and other offerings. Other monitors are placed at various locations to show the newest anime-related information from Japan. In addition, charity “mini concerts” are held in the recording studio inside the center, and anime charity auctions are held in the event space with unique items from anime-related companies. 

'Maid Cafes'

Maid cafes are cosplay themed restaurants where guests are served by waitresses that are typically dressed as French maids. In addition to serving food, the maids engage in conversation and games with the customers and treat them with the care and respectful language due to the master of a house. Maid cafes are popular with both men and women, especially men that are crazy with maids like Otaku.

'Akihabara'

Akihabara (秋葉原), also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is a district in central Tokyo that is famous for its many electronics shops. In more recent years, Akihabara has gained recognition as the centre of Japan's otaku (diehard fan) culture, and many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga are now dispersed among the electronic stores in the district.