The prototype test is available here (https://youtu.be/xgJoQ81DkD0).
I was able to test the prototype on someone from my target audience of 8-12. The user who was able to test my site was aged 9 and gave me some really invaluable feedback.
- There are lots of elements throughout the experience where the user would expect to see some form of interaction. Either hovering or clicking on frogs should induce some form of action. Whether it be pointless or not, the point of the action is to create a sense of interaction with the site. This was explained to me by the young girl testing my site, but also apparent as she was exploring on the site.
- The introduction is too long with too much text, to begin with the user went very slowly reading the different lines of the text but by the third page started skipping the most important parts of the information. This section needs to made shorter.
- Also as the introduction I have added a ‘tutor’ frog who explains things but prior to this section, the user has only just selected their frog and colour and are confused to see another frog. This should be removed and instead replaced with the frog they have just chosen.
- It isn’t obvious in some areas of the experience when things are clickable and are often missed by the user. An example of this is in the Departure Lounge where none of the items such as the passport where clicked on, nor were the profile areas. Guidance of a little text would be useful here.
- Some of the call to action buttons are a little distracting, this refers to the Social page where the user expected the Chat button to actually start the conversation with the other user. It is also on this page that it isn’t apparent that you can press to interact with other users. Also the users was somewhat confused by the word ‘Social’ and suggested it should be renamed to ‘Park’.
- It would be better to name the frog and have that as the username rather than your own name.
After testing and providing this feedback I spoke a little bit regarding her overall thoughts about the website.
- Her idea: It’s a really cool idea and I should make it so that she can play it. Then I should go to her school and suggest to her teacher the website so she could play it in class.
- Her favourite section was the language lessons, but the quizzes would be cool too. I should add a section for a little bit of maths somewhere.
- When selling accessories, I should also sell action toys of the different frogs and accessories so they can be customised in real life and played with. The background art could be sold too. For example a Paris pack, by her recommendation should include 2 frogs, french accessories, and the scene backdrop.
- I should sell ‘squishy toys’ the ones that are usually filled with liquid so when you squeeze them, a bubble appears.
Personal notes from the user testing;
There was this really sweet moment when she was like “I still have £23 from my birthday, I could get a few colouring books if you already made them”. This shows that the site definitely has an appeal to my target audience.
When testing the site, the young girl would often stop looking at the site and continue colouring and drawing. This didn’t just show her ability to multitask, but also the opportunity to capitalise. Activity books could be sold for each virtual trip so they could colour, draw, answer questions, and play puzzles with relevance to the content on the screen.
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