Results
Assigment 8: Usability Testing
Results
Errors and Sources of Confusion:
- Unsure whether "I'm Flexible!" will automatically calculate the best time to go. One participant wondered aloud: "If I click on “I’m flexible”, will it show me the best time to go?"
- Mistrust of a single highlighted route. When Participant B saw the map from Oakland to SF, she said "Well, if there's a big red patch on 80 (the highlighted route), I’d like to go around via 880 and bypass the traffic jam." Without seeing speed colors for her alternative routes, she didn't quite believe that the route through 80, with a big patch of slow traffic, was the fastest.
- Awkward transitions from real-time to predicted traffic. When looking at the real-time traffic map, 2 participants wanted to answer questions like "OK, that's traffic right now, but what will it be like if I leave an hour from now?" In this case, they had to go back to the "plan new trip" form and select the Traffic Prediction option. Participant C complained that he wished he could have a slider underneath the live traffic map also, so that he could easily see if traffic typically lets up an hour from now.
Qualitative Satisfaction Measures:
- Everyone liked the ability to visualize traffic flow. Participants B and C both emphasized that the "real value of this system is the traffic visualization" rather than routing, which MapQuest already provides.
- Ease of use. Two participants commented that Road Sage is a comfortable, familiar interface. They explained that it's easy to use because they are already accustomed to using sites like MapQuest and TransitInfo.
- Too much scrolling. Participant A complained that several screens required too much scrolling to view all the content.
We can use these results to inform new decisions for the third interactive prototype, as detailed in the Discussion.