User trailing
The assignment
Only when people are observed interacting with prototypes and products can we understand what usability problems there are (and need fixing) and what causes these problems (pointing at design solutions). This assignment was to perform a series of these user trials with an existing
product in a group of five. Afterwards, we needed to create a report on our findings and reflect on what are the critical issues with the Rijksstudio, this is a section on the Rijksmuseum website.
My process
My group and I decided to compare the procedure of the same task on the website and the app version of Rijksstudio. We asked our users to download a painting and add it to their personal ‘Rijksstudio’. This way we found usability errors on both platforms and we could examine which one of the two is the most convenient. We made a set-up, research protocol, transcribed the interviews, analyzed the data, came up with insights, discussed possible solutions and made an educated conclusion with recommendations.
The following flowcharts show at which steps the users had the most difficulty completing the task:
The results
Our final report with observations, flowcharts and conclusions was graded with an 8/10. The capabilities I gained are: understand and execute all steps of the cycle of basic empirical research (setting the aim, formulate research questions, making a set-up/design, collecting data, analyzing data, communicating the results), specifically for qualitative usability research (user trialing).
