spark-pet.github.io

SparkPet Usability Evaluation Design

User Goals

  1. User wants to meet their daily step goal to keep their pet happy and healthy
  2. User recognizes the potential of forming the positive habit of walking daily
  3. User forms an emotional bond with their pet

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Prompt: You have just signed in to SparkPet for the first time and have read the introductory instructions. You see your hungry pet on the home screen with empty bowl and your steps goal for the day. You want to feed your pet.

Success: User meets step goal for the day and feeds pet. Pet is happy and full. User is happy and full.

Scenario 2

Prompt: You have achieved your step goal for a few days and you notice that your pet’s experience bar is full. You want to level up your pet and increase your daily step goal.

Success: User levels up pet and increases daily step goal. User is a little nervous about meeting new step goal, but determined because they don’t want their pet to suffer.

Scenario 3

Prompt: You have been using SparkPet for a few days and you want to join a challenge to further motivate yourself and earn more $bones (which can be used to purchase accessories for your pet).

Success: User browses current challenges and finds one that they want to try. User wants to earn $bones and make their pet happy with new accessories.

Scenario 4

Prompt: You have been using SparkPet for a few days and you want to see how you are doing compared to other users.

Success: User views leaderboard and is happy to see that they are in the top 10. User is motivated to continue using SparkPet and wants to stay in the top 10. User selects other users on the leaderboard to view their profiles and see what their pet looks like. User sees other pets with cool accessories and wants to earn more $bones to buy accessories for their pet.

User Types

  1. Pet owner/non-pet owner
  2. Exercise enthusiast/sedentary
  3. Already tracks steps/does not track steps

Recruitment

Participants were recruited through the project team’s friends, family, and classmates. All participants used the application running on an Android device. Participants were asked to complete a consent form prior to the usability test. Participants were not compensated for their time.

Here is a copy of the consent form used for this user study. A hard copy of the signed consent form for each participant has been collected by the project team.

Procedure

The application was loaded onto each user’s phone. Each user was given a brief introduction to the concept of the app and were informed that they were required to meet a goal of 2,000 steps in the next 24 hours or their pet would suffer. Users were instructed to meet with the project team the following day to discuss their experience with the application.

After 24 hours, the project team met with each user individually to discuss their experience with the application. Each of the scenarios above were presented to the user. The project team observed the user’s interaction with the application and took notes on the user’s experience. At the conclusion of the test, the project team asked the user to provide feedback on the application.

Participants

User A

Test took place on 12/01/2023 at UH Manoa.

User A is not a pet owner, does not exercise regularly, and does not currently use another application to track their steps.

After 24 hours, user met step goal.

Scenarios

  1. User fed pet. User commented that they now felt pressure about meeting the step goal for the following day.
  2. User did not level up pet. User did not want to increase step goal.
  3. User did not want to join a challenge. User felt enough pressure to meet their own step goal and did not want to wager their hard-earned $bones.
  4. User viewed the leaderboard and commented that they were surprised they made the top 10.

User B

Test took place on 12/01/2023 at UH Manoa.

User B is a pet owner, does not exercise regularly, and does not already track steps.

After 24 hours, user did not meet step goal (claimed that they forgot).

Scenarios

  1. User did not feed pet. User comment that the dog looked sad and they felt bad.
  2. User did not level up pet (option not available).
  3. User wanted to join a challenge. User commented that it would be helpful to have a notification to remind them to meet their step goal/challenge goal.
  4. User viewed the leaderboard and said they could do better than most of the users in the top 10.

User C

Test took place on 12/04/2023 in downtown Honolulu.

User C is a not pet owner, exercises regularly, and already tracks steps (though doesn’t take it too seriously).

After 24 hours, user met step goal.

Scenarios

  1. User fed pet. User commented that they wanted to feed the pet again the next day.
  2. User leveled up pet. User commented that they wanted to see how high they could level up.
  3. User wanted to join a challenge. User commented that they were certain that they could win the challenge.
  4. User viewed the leaderboard and said that they would be motivated to get up to the number 1 spot.

User D

Test took place on 12/07/2023 at UH Manoa.

User D is a not pet owner, exercises “fairly” regularly, and checks steps every once in a while on phone’s built-in step tracking app (Samsung Health).

After 24 hours, user met step goal.

Scenarios

  1. User fed pet. User said that they would like to see a simple animation of their pet eating the food.
  2. User leveled up pet. User wasn’t sure why they would want to level up their pet.
  3. User wanted to join a challenge and mentioned it would be nice to have more challenge options.
  4. User viewed the leaderboard and said it could be a good way to motivate themselves if they were able to do a private leaderboard among friends.

User E

Test took place on 12/08/2023 in Ala Moana Shopping Center.

User E is a not pet owner, exercises regularly, and does not track steps.

After 24 hours, user met step goal.

Scenarios

  1. User did not feed pet. User said that they forgot to feed the pet and felt bad.
  2. User did not level up their pet (option not available).
  3. User viewed the challenges but was not interested in joining one. User said that they would be more interested in joining a challenge if they could create their own challenge, or challenge a friend.
  4. User viewed the leaderboard and found it interesting to see how they compared to other users.

Results

Usability Issues

  1. Notifications: Users want to be notified when the day is almost over and they haven’t met their step goal, or when a challenge is almost over and they haven’t met the challenge goal.
  2. Tutorial: Most users were a little confused about the concept of the app until it was explained to them. A tutorial should be displayed when the user first opens the app.
  3. Pet details: Users want to see changes in their pet. A hungry pet should look hungry, a happy pet should look happy, and a sad pet should look sad. Users also want to see their pet eating when they feed it.

General Feedback