Task 1: Without leaving the page, tell us what you notice and what you can do on this page. [Verbal response]

For the first task we wanted to get the users initial impressions of the home page to see if there were any things that stood out to them in a positive or negative way. This might give us insight on how different users perceived the functionality of the app. User one and user two gave positive feedback on organization and design of the home page. They said that the layout was simple and that it displayed the product in a direct and straightforward way. User one made a comment on the color scheme of the app which was similar to “facebook colors” to him. This made him feel like the app was affiliated with the company or had messaging functionality. User three also liked the layout of the home page but did mention that the information is a little overwhelming. We expected users to have a variety of impressions, but it was definitely good to see that all three recognized the main functionality of the app which was to connect users with experts in different fields. The comments made on the simplicity of our layout proved that our design is user-friendly.

Task 2: Imagine you hurt your hips and the pain has been bugging you for weeks. Browse the app and schedule an appointment with a stretching expert to help with your injury. Think out loud as you perform this task and tell us what functionality is missing if any. [5-point rating scale: Very difficult to Very easy]

We wanted to simulate a use case of the app by giving users a scenario they need the app for. This task also allows users to interact with the key functionalities of the app and to show us if there are any issues with our implementation. All three users were able to complete the task successfully and gave the task a rating of 5 which represented very easy. In the video it seemed that the interactive elements were intuitively placed. User one was not able to find the stretching expert directly but after clicking around the categories she was able to find it. Even though she struggled a little bit, in the audio recording she described the process as “simple” and “straightforward”. User two was able to find the stretching expert directly and said that everything was “where they were supposed to be”. User three was expecting the stretching expert to be located in a different subcategory because she didn’t see the labels of the specialty fields we had put under the name of the experts. She was still able to complete the task fairly quickly and the fact that she struggled in the beginning didn’t bother her too much. We were expecting some users to struggle in this process because of the missing functionality that wasn’t relevant to the task but in general users did well. They were also able to complete the tasks much faster than we expected and all described the process as very easy.

Task 3:Outside of playing sports you are also an entrepreneur trying to start a yoga studio. You scheduled an appointment with Amy Nguyen, a yoga youtuber, for advice on this venture. The session is starting so please join the chat. Talk us through your thought process. [5-point rating scale: Very difficult to Very easy]

Since users already took a close look at the home page in the first task, this task proved to be fairly easy for all the users that tested our application. The home page already provided a one click access to Amy’s messages so users did not struggle with understanding that a session was currently being held. Our expectations matched the users’ inputs with all of them succeeding with the task; however, one small behavior that did not match our expectation was how two of the three users did not check the messages tab to text Amy. This was not a problem as there were two routes to take to succeed in this task: checking the messages tab or going to Amy’s chat directly through the home page. Since both routes resulted in the task being completed, the fact that most of our users went with the second route surprised us a little, but it did not affect their success.

Post-test Question 1: What did you like and dislike about the prototype?

All users spoke on the aesthetic design of the app, calling it “appealing and attractive” and “easy to look at”. All three users found the app well-organized, well-planned, and user friendly. They liked the simplicity of the design and commented about how it was easy to navigate through the information presented to them in the home screen. As for negative feed, some users did not like the layout of the home page. They stated that the amount of information proved to be “a little overwhelming.” One other also stated that they would like a video option to call the influencer instead of conversing over text. Overall, comments during the video call were positive and we iterated upon our previous design to address these concerns.

Post-test Question 2: How else do you see yourself using this app?

For this final post-test question, users saw themselves using the app for healthy cooking inspiration, gym workouts, or even took on the role of the professional, saying that it could be used to help out small businesses. Others saw it as an opportunity to advance their careers, using the application to receive individual feedback and advice. Overall, each of our users saw the app in a different light, which speaks to how the app could provide service to users in a variety of ways.