a wearables story: testing the human experience

6/2/15

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A Wearables Story Testing the Human Experience

A Marathon, a Chip, and a Watch

About Us

Gerie Owen [email protected]

v Quality Assurance Consultant

v Speaker and Writer on Tes<ng topics

v Experienced Tester, Test Lead, & Test Architect

v Marathon Runner & Running Coach

Peter Varhol [email protected] v Interna<onal speaker on

technology topics v Technology Evangelist

and Writer, Product Manager, University Professor

v Fitness Technology Geek

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Meet Our Cats...

Max, Stephanie

& Monica

Agenda

v What are Wearables? v Examples of Wearables

v A Wearables Story v The Human Experience v What is Testing the Human Experience? v Why is it so important? v How do we test it?

v Personas v User Value Stories v Discussion and conclusions

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WHAT ARE WEARABES?

Wearables Defined

v Electronics that can be worn on the body, either as an accessory or as part of material used in clothing.

v One of the major features of wearable technology is

its ability to connect to the Internet, enabling data to be exchanged between a network and the device.

v Body Computers performing the same computing

tasks and handheld and laptop computers

v Often include monitoring and tracking functionality

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Examples of Wearables

v Google Glass v Smartwatches v Bluetooth Headsets (CommBadge) v Sensor-Rich Fabric (HeapSylon) v Baby monitors on a band (Sproutling) v Health and fitness (Fitbit, iFit, Garmin) v Pet health and fitness (Whistle) v Hearables (Intel’s BioSport)

A WEARABLES STORY

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The Start

The Early Miles

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The Middle Miles

Heartbreak Hill

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“Left on Boylston”

The Finish Line

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What Do All Wearables Have In Common?

v A purpose or function v Coupled with human interaction that v Provides value and achieves goals

THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

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v THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE v the human interaction

v and v and how the value is provided

What is Human Experience Testing?

v Isn’t testing the human experience actually usability testing?

v Testing the human experience differs in v Scope v Depth v Approach

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What is Human Experience Testing?

v Testing in the “real world” of the user;

v When and where the device will be used; v How the user and the device will function together.

What does testing the Human Experience involve?

v Emotional, physical and sensory reactions v Biases and our mindsets v Social expectations and interactions

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Why is Human Experience testing so important?

v The closer the device becomes to the human, the more important “Human” Testing becomes.

v When a networked device is physically attached to us and

works with us and through us, the more important the results of the interaction or collaboration becomes to us emotionally and physically

How do we test the Human Experience?

v We Test Types of Human Interaction v Physical v Sensory v Orientation v Geographical v Context v Values

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v Sensory v Touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, sweat


v Orientation v Human Movement

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v Geographical v Land, water, hills


v Context v Time of day v Weather

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v Values v Emotions v Mindsets v Biases

Human Experience Test Planning

v Create Personas

v Write User Value Stories

v Develop Test Scenarios v Based on Personas and User Value Stories

v Develop Test Approach v Use the Real World as Your User Interface

v Jonathan Kohl

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PERSONAS


v To test the Human Interaction

v Create Personas to understand the humans who will be using the device

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What is a Persona?

v An archetypal user who represent the needs and motivations of user groups

v Personas represent the motivations, values, expectations and goals for their interaction with the wearable

v There are usually multiple personas associated with

a given wearable

v Although they are fictional, they represent real users and require research for development

Benefits of Using Personas

v Provides a focus on the personal and contextual requirements, goals and concerns

v Focuses testing on the most important goals of the representative users

v Provides User Experience direction in exploratory testing.

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What is included in a Persona?

v A Name v Family Background v Education v Occupation, Socio-economic status v Physical Size and Condition v Gender v Hopes and Desires v Point of View v Social Affiliations v Values v Expectations

Let’s Develop Gerie’s Persona

v Distance Runner v Course (roads or trails) v Conscious about health v Likely lifetime sport v Impervious to weather v Age 30+ v Member of the Running Community v Group training v Individual achievement v Source of fulfillment v “In It To Win It”

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Gerie’s Persona

Gerie is a middle aged woman who fancies herself as “aging well”. She boasts of maintaining the same weight as she was in high school. She was raised in a middle class household and was not into sports when she was growing up. She is college-educated, holding two advanced degrees and works full-time at a professional job. Although she runs to maintain her physical and emotional health, she is “In it to Win it”. She would not be considered competitive; however, in small, local races with limited competition, she often places in her age group. Gerie began running during college and joined a running club in recent years. With the support of the group, she achieved one of her three main goals in life: to run a marathon. After unexpectedly qualifying for the Boston Marathon in 2010, her goal for her 2011 Boston Marathon run was to qualify again. Although she relies heavily on her sports watch during her run to manage her pace and heart rate, she depends the device to create a permanent record of her achievement.

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USER VALUE STORIES


v To test How the Value is Provided

v Create User Value Stories to test the ways in which the human will achieve value from the device

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What is a User Value Story?

v A scenario describing a realistic situation in which the wearable technology interacts with the user to provide a benefit.

v Based upon how users of the wearable go about their daily lives.

v There are multiple stories per persona.

How is a User Value Story Developed?

v Beginning, middle, and end v Main character is the Persona v Where might this technology help? v Common practices in using the device

v Realistic situations v Pressures, emotions, weather

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Types of User Value Stories

§  Develop at least three User Value Stories for each Persona:

– Happy Ending: The wearable generates the value desired by the user

– Sad Ending: The wearable fails to deliver the desired value to the user

– Mediocre Ending: The wearable generated value but it didn’t completely meet the expectations of the user.

Examples of User Value Stories

Have you heard any user value stories today?

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Gerie’s Value Stories: Happy Example Components

v Happy Story: Garmin Watch v Watch catches the Satellite and holds it throughout the

race. v Check watch for pace for qualifying and personal record;

validating that I can do this v Check heart rate for reassurance on hills v Stop and Save on the Watch v Qualifying time and Personal Record Recorded v Download watch to hard drive v Upload to Garmin Website

Gerie’s User Value Stories: Sad Example Components

v Sad Story: Race Bib v Bib is kept flat and pinned securely v Step on Mat at the Starting Line v Step on each Mat throughout the race so that time and

pace registers v Pace/Time data does not register v Validate Results on BAA website

v No Record ; Bib failed

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Conclusions

v I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

v The same can be said about wearables and this is why we must test the Human Experience

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