We met with Adam and with several students to test the Internet and E-mail modules and get feedback before we enter the final stages of production. We installed the program on two different machines, and one or two of us sat down with students on each of the machines. At first, we asked them to browse the project while thinking aloud about what they liked, didn't like, or didn't understand. Once that phase was completed, we asked them specific questions based upon their experiences:
Essentially, we wanted to obtain a clear picture of their experience with the software and get a sense of how that experience could be improved. Occasionally, we asked how they would prefer to see certain things, more to understand more fully what their concerns are than to get specific ideas, although if they had good ideas, we were certainly prepared to implement them.
The reason we were focused more on experience than on suggestions is because the literature generally suggests that users are not good at projecting in terms of design. Users are not designers, and studies have found that the designs users suggest are often vastly different than the designs they might prefer if they are able to actually view a prototype. At the same time, we are also not professional designers, so we are willing to implement any ideas that a lot of students seem to want that sound to us like good ideas. It's all a balance.
Generally, the students liked our work, but there are a few key usability issues which arose and which we will work on fixing. The largest, by far, was that the kids were confused by our large scrollable Internet graphic. It was not clear how to use the graphic (i.e., click on what you want to learn about), and the large amount of material was overwhelming to them. Additionally, the numbers seem out of order, and it is hard to follow the suggested path, if you do happen to understand that the numbers represent a suggested path. Our group will meet tomorrow morning to think about ways in which we can make this part of the program more accessible.
Overall, we found that going to Classical was an incredibly valuable experience. High school is only three or four years away for us, but somehow, we are still not able to place ourselves in the role of our target audience, perhaps because we are too close to the project ourselves to be objective. Getting the opinions of the students helped us to focus our vision, which is essential as we enter the final stages of production.