The Usability Test on Alder Hall’s Microwave

Because of its high convenience, Microwave becomes an essential tool for the college students who do not have time to cook a hot meal. To see how easy the microwave is to use and whether it fits students’ requirements, I collaborated with my team-workers, Siqi Sun and Ambar Aleman to create a usability test for a microwave which is placed at the residential hall at the University of Washington. We finally picked the microwave in Alder Hall to be tested because the students who live in the building tend to use microwave more frequently than the students who live in the apartment. We asked three students who all live on campus but from different halls to help us finish the test because it is important to see their first reactions on using this microwave.

Here is the link to the presentation:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2XJBzjqbXYXWW12bEpwMWNsVEE

What we do

Three students were assigned to complete three tasks and answered couple questions after the testing. My team-workers observed and listened to the user who is performing the tasks while taking notes. I as the moderator gave instructions to users and asked users’ experience after each task. We aimed to collect three different data by collecting the error rate, completion rate and the level of difficulty for each task. The three tasks were designed based on the microwave’s specific features, such as the open button, the preset buttons, and the timer.

Task 1
Please open the microwave and put your food in. The first task seems to be too easy; however, we aim to test users’ satisfaction on using whether handle or press button to open the microwave. We have seen some customs’ complaints about how hard for them to open the microwave at the first time.

Task 2
Please cook this popcorn by using the preset buttons on the microwave. In this task, we ask users to heat up a particular ood by using the preset buttons provided on the microwave. We wonder whether the users consider the preset button is useful or not.

Task 3
Here is some cold mac & cheese. Please hit it up by using a timer in the microwave. In this task, we ask users to set a specific time to heat up a particular food by using the timer it provided. The purpose of this task is to see how well the users on using the timer in the microwave.

Why I Like This Project

This project helps me to see things from other perspectives. As I mention in my previous blog, I am not good at seeing a thing from an ethnic viewpoint; however, now I am gradually building a new way of thinking. When Sarah asked the class what did you consider first when you are asked the usability of a machine, the first thought that jumped out of my head was that whether a person can easily use the device or not. After this project, I learned that at the beginning of a design process, all the concepts and ideas are created for people; however, when the product is made, what developers should consider is the usability of the product but not people. This project gives me much inspiration.

Usability Test Plays an Important Role

Usability is how well it is for a new user to complete tasks at the first time he or she uses your product. The product can be anything such as a machine, software, a mobile phone application, etc. Therefore, mainly, we can apply this technique to anything. For example, if our team design a new application in the future, before the APP is officially launched, the new product need be tested to see whether it contains all the functions that we want to show or is it easy to be used by the beginners. To know the insufficiency of the product, developers get feedback from the usability test. One thing that might not be appropriate for is that since the product is not officially launched, the usability testing might cause the leaking of commercial secrets. However, in general, the data collected from testing will be an excellent reference for designers to adjust the product.