Final Usability Test with Instructions Draft
The instructions draft and final usability test are attached to this blog post as PDF files. The instructions draft is nearly complete. We only have a couple of revisions left before it is finally finished. The usability test is completely finished. Team Yatta is now waiting for someone to use our usability test and give us good feedback on our instructions. We appreciate any feedback that you can give.
In addition, we have also posted the usability test text in the body of this post for easy viewing. However, the PDF file looks much nicer. I would recommend using the PDF file if you do end up using our usability test.
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Usability Test for Drawing a Cup in Pro-Engineer
First of all, thank you for helping Team Yatta improve their Illustrated
Instructions. You will be testing
instructions on how to draw a cup using the computer-aided design program
Pro-Engineer. Your input will greatly
help Team Yatta improve their instructions so that they will be better suited
for users like yourself.
In order to begin this usability test, you
must travel to the Mechanical Engineering building on Purdue’s campus and login
to one of the computers in room 242 or 355.
The username and password needed to login are given below.
·
Username:
jeseger
·
Password:
jseger19
Once you have logged in, begin following the
Illustrated Instructions. As you are
completing these instructions, be sure to fill out the usability test seen below. Please feel free to give any feedback you
think necessary.
Background Information
Did you understand how to rotate the part? _______________________________________________________
Did you understand how to zoom in and out on the part? ____________________________________________
Did you understand how to save the part? ________________________________________________________
Setting the Working
Directory
Did you understand what the purpose was of setting a working directory? _______________________________
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Creating a New Part
Did you understand how to set up Pre-Engineer to create a new part? If no, explain.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Creating the Base
Extrusion
This section is the longest in the document. Does it need to be shortened, and if so, how?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Shelling the Cup and
Inserting the Rounds
Do you understand what a shell does? Do you understand what a round does? __________________________
Did you have any trouble with these sections? If so, where and how?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you feel like you could continue to use Pro-Engineer with the knowledge you have learned? If no, what necessary knowledge do you feel you are still lacking? Be specific.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Other
Comments
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- jeseger's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Re: Pro-E Usability Test
Background Information
Did you understand how to rotate the part?
I didn't fully understand it that well until I was making the cup and then I was better able to visualize the rotation movements
Did you understand how to zoom in and out on the part?
Yes
Did you understand how to save the part?
Yes, I liked how you included the Save button illustration.
Setting the Working Directory
Did you understand what the purpose was of setting a working directory?
Yes, I have made the mistake of not setting my working directory in other programs before
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
Nope, this section was clear and very easy to get through. The only suggestion I have would be to make the pictures a little more clearer and larger.
Creating a New Part
Did you understand how to set up Pre-Engineer to create a new part? If no, explain.
Yes, everything was explained in a clear and concise manner.
Creating the Base Extrusion
This section is the longest in the document. Does it need to be shortened, and if so, how?
Even though it is the longest section in the document I think it is good the way it currently stands. It has a lot of important information and needed illustrations that will help the reader along through the steps.
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
No troubles.
Shelling the Cup and Inserting the Rounds
Do you understand what a shell does? Do you understand what a round does?
Yes to both.
Did you have any trouble with these sections? If so, where and how?
Just a little trouble locating the box for the shell thickness.
Do you feel like you could continue to use Pro-Engineer with the knowledge you have learned? If no, what necessary knowledge do you feel you are still lacking? Be specific.
I believe that I could continue to use Pro-E with the knowledge I learned. I know that Pro-E has a lot more complex capabilites that I couldn't understand currently, but I think these instructions give the reader a solid foundation of knowledge to build of off so that they could go on to more complex Pro-E functions.
Other Comments
Overall, I thought your team has a great set of illustrated instructions that readers will follow with ease and not discard. One minor edit I saw in the step 12 note in the "Creating the Base Extrustion" section, I think you meant to type Zoom In on the circle if it's too small, instead of Zoom Out. You may also want to enlarge and clear up some of the pictures that seem blurry, but that may just be because I've been working too long on a computer today.
Opening Pro-E
I forgot to mention that I used Pro-E on an iTap computer using the following opening path:
Start -> All Programs -> Standard Software -> Design Tools -> Pro ENGINEER Wildfire3M070
However, I'm not for sure that all iTap computers will have it.
Usability Test
Background Information
Did you understand how to rotate the part?
Yes, the rotation gesture is fairly standard for a lot of graphical software, and I had no trouble using it.
Did you understand how to zoom in and out on the part?
Yes, again it's fairly standard stuff, though the order is reversed from most things I've used (usually scroll up with zoom in, not out... took me a minute to figure this out, since I just skimmed this section thinking it would be as I expected). The tip about using CTRL to zoom in small increments was nice, though.
Did you understand how to save the part?
Yes, this is also a familiar program feature.
Setting the Working Directory
Did you understand what the purpose was of setting a working directory?
Yes, the purpose is very clear.
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
I had no trouble with the section, however a possible improvement would be to say where the default working directory is located, rather than just saying 'you won't be able to find it'.
Creating a New Part
Did you understand how to set up Pre-Engineer to create a new part? If no, explain.
I understood this part fine. It might be useful to explain what you see when the process is done though. As a non-engineer, I'm a bit confused by the things it adds by default. Though I can kind of guess what they're for, it would be helpful to know for sure. However, this may delve too deeply into domain knowledge that the user is expected to already have.
Creating the Base Extrusion
This section is the longest in the document. Does it need to be shortened, and if so, how?
The section is long, but every step is necessary and useful. I think it is still easy to follow despite the length.
Did you have any trouble with this section? If so, where and how?
I didn't have any real trouble, but I could have used a reminder that I can rotate the image to make it match the picture better and to make selection easier. Also, there is a minor typographical error in step 8 where it lists the menu item as 'Center Point' when it's actually 'Center and Point'.
Shelling the Cup and Inserting the Rounds
Do you understand what a shell does? Do you understand what a round does?
Both concepts are clear, but what I don't understand is why you select the entire circle to apply a shell, but only half the circle for rounding. This isn't really necessary to follow along, though.
Did you have any trouble with these sections? If so, where and how?
Apart from the issue noted above, I didn't have any trouble. One suggestion is that the images showing the selections are important, so they could stand to be a little bigger. Not a big deal though.
Do you feel like you could continue to use Pro-Engineer with the knowledge you have learned? If no, what necessary knowledge do you feel you are still lacking? Be specific.
Obviously, I am not an engineer so I feel there's a lot I'm lacking before I could really use the program effectively. However, most of this is engineering knowledge beyond the scope of the instructions. One thing that could possibly be helpful is some sort of reference to additional resources about ProE. Even if I had the domain knowledge, I feel there's a lot to the program which I would never figure out without additional tutorials and documentation.
Other Comments
I believe I've already mentioned all suggestions I have. The topic is not a particularly easy one for novices, but the steps are well-explained and the usage of images to verify your progress is very helpful. Overall the instructions are very effective.
Comments on your Instructions
My comments are attached. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Kevin