Usability+Test+-+Maryland+Matters


 * __Maryland Matters __ **

Tammy Tran (ttran125@umd.edu) Ian King (iking@terpmail.umd.edu) Taylor Lovett (admin@taylorlovett.com) Rahul Monga (rahulm5000@gmail.com)

**Usability Test Plan** Several UMD students from various backgrounds were asked to participate in a usability test for this software by performing a list of assigned tasks (as defined in our User Needs assessment). In order to present diversity in the population of test subjects, the selected students included males and females, undergraduates and graduates, and each from a different major. The list of tasks tested were as followed: The following document that was given to each test subject included a //pre-test//, a list of basic tasks, followed by a //post-test//:
 * 1) Registering for a //Maryland Matters// account
 * 2) Searching for a survey
 * 3) Vote/participate in a survey
 * 4) Comment on a survey
 * 5) Manage one’s activities (i.e. Keeping track on created surveys, keeping track of participated surveys, editing one’s account information)
 * 6) Create a new survey
 * 7) Manage a created survey (i.e. editing, deleting, deploying and undeploying)

The following sequence of screen shots illustrates the screens the test subjects saw while performing their usability test: **Step 2: User needed to fill out the following registration form, then click "Create Account"** || **Step 2: User can fill out the search box to be able to search for a survey via any keyword and filter results by four pre-selected categories/keywords.** || **Step 2: Fill out the survey form and click the "Vote" button to submit your vote.** || || **Step 2: Fill out the following and click the "Save" button to save changes or the "Deploy" button to make survey public. To add response options, click "Add Response Question" link (Note typo: should be "Add Response Option") and to add survey questions, click "Add Survey Question" link.** ||
 * Usability Test Result **
 * **Tasks** || **Screenshots** ||
 * **1. Register for an account** || ** Step 1: To begin registration, user needed to click on the "Register" link [[image:Register1.png width="800" height="449"]]**
 * **2. Search for a survey** || ** Step 1: The user can view most popular (most participated) or most recently created surveys on the homepage, otherwise, the user can click on the "Search" link to search for other surveys. [[image:Search1.png width="800" height="449"]]**
 * **3. Participate in a survey** || **Step 1: Click on the "Participate in Survey" link to participate in the selected survey.** [[image:Vote1.png width="800" height="449"]]
 * **4. Comment on a survey** || **Step 1: Type a comment into the comment box and click "Post" to submit/post your comment.** [[image:Comment1.png width="800" height="449"]] ||
 * **5. Manage one’s activities** || **Step 1: Click on the "manage your account" link to display this page to view your created surveys and participated surveys. To edit account information, click on the "Edit My Account" link.**[[image:Manage_Acct1.png width="800" height="449"]]
 * Step 2: To edit account information, fill out the following form and click the "Submit" button. **
 * **6. Create a new survey** || **Step 1: To create a new survey, click on the "Create New Survey" button.**
 * **7. Manage a created survey** || **Step 1: To edit, delete, deploy or undeploy a created survey, click on the "Edit", "Delete", "Deploy" or "Undeploy" link.** [[image:Manage_survey1.png width="800" height="449"]] ||

The following table gives a short description of the test subject and a document of the actual test subjects’ submissions after performing the usability test: Overall, the test subjects were able to perform all the assigned tasks with various levels of difficulty. The general consensus of the overall look and feel of the software was described as "simple", "easy", "convenient", "straightforward", and fairly "intuitive". Registering for an account and commenting on a survey were ranked as the easiest performed task, closely followed by searching for a survey and participating in a survey. Unfortunately, there were certain tasks/features that were not favorable to any of the test subjects, including the create a survey feature, the size of the comment box, and the design/layout of the survey participation page. According to all four test subjects, the create a survey task should include a "preview" feature to allow the user to approve of the overall look and layout of the survey before deployment. In addition, all four test subjects stated the "comment box could be bigger", and the "layout" of the survey participation page was "not very appealing" and "could be presented better to catch the person's eye". Furthermore, a couple of the test subjects expressed concern that the search feature was "not very intuitive" and "needs more instructions". In the given post-test, test subjects were asked to rank the level of difficulty to perform each task on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 meaning "very hard" and 7 meaning "very easy"); the following lists the over average ranking of each task: According to test subjects' comments and the above rankings, the following ranks the priority of the five most crucial problems identified (in descending order): 1. Create a survey does not have a preview feature 2. Comment box not big enough 3. Poor survey participation page layout 4. Search feature not intuitive 5. List of created and participated surveys (on one's manage account survey page) needs better organization.
 * **Description of Test Subject** || **Associated Documentation** ||
 * **Test Subject 1**: A 23 year old, male 4+ year undergraduate student at UMD majoring in economics and English. || [[file:Test Subject 1.pdf]] ||
 * **Test Subject 2**: A female graduate student at UMD studying telecommunications. || [[file:Test Subject 2.pdf]] ||
 * **Test Subject 3**: A 22 year old, male 4+ year undergraduate student at UMD majoring in psychology. || [[file:Test Subject 3.pdf]] ||
 * **Test Subject 4**: A 22 year old, female graduate student at UMD studying computer science, || [[file:Test Subject 4.pdf]] ||
 * **Task ** || **Average Ranking ** ||
 * # Registering for an account || **6 ** ||
 * # Searching for a survey || **5.75 ** ||
 * # Participating in a survey || **6 ** ||
 * # Commenting on a survey || **6.25 ** ||
 * # Managing one’s activities (i.e. Keeping track on created surveys, keeping track of participated surveys, editing one’s account information) || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">5.25 ** ||
 * # <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Creating a new survey || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">5.5 ** ||
 * # <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Managing a created survey (i.e. editing, deleting, deploying and undeploying) || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">5.75 ** ||

In general, test subjects expressed the overall look and experience of the Maryland Matters software is "simple, easy, quick, useful", "intuitive", "has potential" but "the layout could be displayed better" and "needs improvement with design". One of the main reasons why some test subjects preferred Maryland Matter's survey system was because of its ease and simplicity. Some of the reasons for not using this system/method were "[Maryland Matters software] might be biased because only people who are really opinionated will vote" and did not allow for anonymous voting. On a final note, Maryland Matters was recognized as a potentially "great tool to use in order to get feedback", but it would only be useful once it gains a "high volume of students to participate".