ConnectUni Project Usability Evaluation Design

User Goals:

• User is able to connect with other students easily.
• User can interact and participate in different groups that fit their interest.
• User has an easier transition into the social aspect of a college lifestyle.

Scenarios:

1. Finding a classmate: Pretend you are in a classroom and you want to add a classmate to your ConnectUni account so that you can study with them throughout the semester. Assuming they have a ConnectUni account, add them to be your friend and send them a quick message.
2. Join a classmate’s group: Suppose you have a classmate that you’ve just met and became friends with. Go to their profile and see if there are any groups they are in that you’d be interested in. If there are, join them!
3. Connecting with a group: You really like playing chess and want to find others on campus also passionate about chess. Join a chess group and send a message introducing yourself.
4. Creating a group: You really enjoy underwater basket weaving (or something akin to this) and there are no current ConnectUni groups that fit this interest. Create it!
5. Finding an event on the calendar: You want to connect with others and want to see what are the upcoming events for the groups you’re currently in. Find a future event you may want to attend.

User Types:

Important user types for ConnectUni include Incoming Freshmen, Transfer Students, and Seniors. While our app may help incoming freshmen and transfer students the most to connect with their peers, students with senior standing may provide helpful feedback as well due to having the experience to know what is needed for the app. Freshman and transfer students are able to provide vital information to our application as it aims to allow a smoother social transition for university students to branch out and “Connect(with the)Uni”. Seniors have likely already been given time to connect with their peers socially in their 4 years at the University and are able to provide feedback now reflecting on whether this app would have been beneficial to their upbringing.

Recruitment:

In our ConnectUni Dev group, we will each reach out to people that we know that may identify with our established user groups. Within our dev group, we have direct connections to many seniors and freshmen at the University of Hawaii and various other Universities that we can ask to broaden the demographic of our study.

Consent Form:

The consent form used can be found here.

Participant Recruitment:

Participants were recruited from the ICSpace room where Freshman and Transfer students were asked to evaluate the application. This enabled these students to be able to discuss with one another the concept of the mobile app and whether or not it would be beneficial to their social life.

Usability Testing:

Description of Participants:

• Participant A: Senior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant B: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant C: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant D: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant E: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant F: Transfer Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant G: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Participant H: Freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. When asked about how they feel on campus comfort-wise answered with “I feel its alright, a lot different than [the social environment] of high school”.
• Participant I: Senior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Started attending during the COVID-19 pandemic when all classes were on zoom.

Time and Place:

• Testing session for Participant A were conducted at the ICSpace room in person at 2 pm on 12/04/23.
• Testing sessions for Participants B-G were conducted at the ITC building in person after 3 pm on 12/04/23.
• Testing session for Participant H was in-person at Hamilton Library at 12 pm on 12/05/2023.
• Testing session for Participant I was in-person at Hamilton Library at about 2 pm on 12/05/2023.

Script:

General Usability Testing Script for our Application:

• Hey [Tester], create a ConnectUni account and set it up with your information. The photos field isn’t yet fully implemented, so you can put in whatever you want for that field.
• After that is done, try to fill your profile with things you are interested in.
• Suppose you changed your major, can you change this on your profile?
• Notice how you aren’t in any groups yet. Look up a group you would like to join. If it doesn’t exist, make it!
• Within the group, see if there are any people that interest you. If there are, send a friend request.
• Say you accidentally joined another group on accident. Leave that group if you don’t want to be in it anymore.
• Let’s say you’re trying to search based on your interests. Go to the search tab and find someone based on “Computer Science”.
• A group you just joined might not know about their newest member. Send an introductory message to the group chat.
• You notice a classmate from one class in a group that you are in! Send them a direct message saying that you have just created a ConnectUni account!
• Thank you so much for participating in our usability test. To close out, please fill out this google form and let us know what we can improve with our application!

Raw Data:

The application was tested on a team member’s laptop where participants would need to perform their testing through the emulator from IntelliJ.

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Participant A:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the Search tab>Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on another user’s profile>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Scrolled down the screen because the first group had a “Leave” button>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Search for Groups” page>Clicked on “Filter”>Scrolled down all the interests>Clicked on “Cancel”>Used the search bar and typed in “chess”>Saw “Add a group” and clicked that button because there’s no chess group>Filled out the “Add Group” form>Clicked on “Submit”>Gave up because can’t find the group they created.

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Add a group” button>Filled out the “Add Group” form>Clicked on “Submit”.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant B:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on the top right “info” button>Clicked on another user’s profile>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Scrolled down the page>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on “Filter”>Asked, “Where’s chess?”>Used the search bar and typed in “chess”>Saw “Add a group” and clicked that button>Filled out form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Clicked on the Groups tab>Clicked on the group and sent “hi.”

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on the “Add a group” button>Created a group.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant C:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on one of the profile pictures in the chat>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Scrolled down the page>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Used the search bar and typed in “chess”>Saw “Add a group” and clicked that button>Filled out form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Clicked on the Groups tab>Clicked on the group and sent “g”, “h”, “jjj”, and a few emojis.

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on the “Add a group” button>Created a group.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant D:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on the top right “info” button>Clicked on another user’s profile>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on “Filter”>Scrolled down interests>Clicked on “Cancel”>Used search bar>Typed in “chess”>Saw “Add a group” and clicked that button>Filled out form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Clicked on the Groups tab>Clicked on the group and sent “ello everyone Welcome to ICS 425.”

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on the “Add a group” button>Created a group.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant E:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on one of the profile pictures in the chat>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Used search bar>Typed in “chess”>Saw “Add a group” and clicked that button>Filled out form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Clicked on the Groups tab>Clicked on the group and sent “hello.”

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Search” icon on the footer>Clicked on the “Add a group” button>Created a group.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Clicked on some event>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant F:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s laptop.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on one of the profile pictures in the chat>Clicked the “Connect with me!” button.

Scenario 2.

• Stayed on the same other user’s profile>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back at the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “+” button on the Groups page>Filled out the form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Scrolled down the page to find their chess group made>Clicked on that group and sent “message.”

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “+” button on the Groups page>Filled out the form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Scrolled down the page to find their new group made>Clicked on that group and sent “ello.”

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the info button>Tried clicking on the top right button in the group’s info page (didn’t work)>Clicked on the top left back arrow twice>Clicked on the “Search” tab on the footer>Scrolled down for a bit and clicked on more groups and exiting back to the Search page>Clicked on the celebration icon on the top>Clicked on Pizza Party event>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant G:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s team member’s mobile device.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the Profile tab>Clicked on the friends list icon>Tried searching their own name>Clicked on the top right “+” icon (didn’t work)>Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the Search icon>Clicked on the Groups page>Clicked on the “+” button>Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the ICS 466 group>Gave up.

Scenario 2.

• After I showed them how to: Stayed on the same user’s profile>Scrolled down the groups>Clicked on one of the “Join” buttons of the groups.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked the top left back arrow button until back to the “Groups” page>Clicked on the “+” button on the Groups page>Filled out the form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Scrolled down the page to find their chess group made>Clicked on that group and sent “hi.”

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “+” button on the Groups page>Filled out the form>Clicked “Submit>Clicked the back arrow>Scrolled down the page to find their new group made.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the top left back arrow>Clicked on the “Calendar” icon on the footer>Clicked on a date with a dot on the day>Clicked on an event>Tried to click “Join Event” (didn’t work).

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Participant H:

• Conducted: In person on the user’s android phone.
  • Note: Had a very difficult time logging in likely due to connection problems.

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the Search Page > Clicked on the Search for People Button > Looked up some of their actual friends but didn’t find any > Clicked on the “Caleb Smith” profile > Clicked on “Connect with me!” > Clicked the message button > Typed an introductory message and sent it.

Scenario 2.

• Clicked on the back arrow from the users message page > Scrolled through the user groups and joined the ICS 312 Group > Attempted to click on the ICS 312 group but nothing happened.

Scenario 3.

• Clicked on the back arrow from Caleb’s page> clicked on the “Groups Page”> didn’t see chess page, so clicked on search page and searched for a chess club> Didn’t find a chess club so made “Chess Club” group > Joined the group and had trouble finding the chat button > Went back to group chat page and sent a message.

Scenario 4.

• Clicked on the add button on the group chats page> filled in the add group page for a Mechanical Engineering club > sent a message in the club chat.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the calendar button > Saw a day with a dot on it and clicked the event > Tried to click the “Join event” button but nothing happened.

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Participant I:

• Conducted: In person on team member’s Samsung Galaxy S9.
  • Note: Connection to database was extremely slow on my phone (similar to participant H’s issues).

Scenario 1.

• Clicked on the Search Page > Clicked on the Search for People Button > Saw “Kenji Sanehira” and clicked on profile > Clicked on “Connect with me!” > Clicked the message button > Typed in a message and sent it.

Scenario 2.

• Clicked on the back arrow from the users message page > Scrolled through the user groups and clicked join on the ICS 466 group

Scenario 3.

• Clicked on the back arrow from Kenji’s page> clicked on the “Groups Page”> didn’t see chess page, so clicked on search page and searched for a chess club» Joined the group titled “Chess club” and had trouble finding the chat button > Went back to group chat page and sent a message.

Scenario 4.

• Clicked the back arrow from the chat and hit the search button> clicked the add a group button and filled in information about a “Food lovers” group> Joined the group and sent a message to the chat.

Scenario 5.

• Clicked on the calendar button > Saw a day with a dot on it and clicked the event > Tried to click the “Join event” button but nothing happened.

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Results:

Top 3 Usability Problems:

1. Events not working fully in the current implementation.
2. Any image uploading to the application doesn’t work.
3. Any group members are able to edit the group information (need ownership property).

Other Usability Problems found:

• Other user profile -> User card is broken (Displays user ID rather than name and is not clickable).
• Group profile page shows “Professor” as a field when a group doesn’t need to be a professor.
• Add Group submit button doesn’t send the user anywhere afterwards (prompts the user to make the form again).
• Groups and events cannot be deleted.
• Groups info page should have a link to the group’s chat.
• New Messages feature does not reflect the new messages in the chat.