User Test 1

I decided to do a user test on the energy monitor that I am going to be re-designing, to better understand a typical users perspective on the product - which is very different from my own. I will use the feedback to start thinking about possible areas of improvement. Although Peter is younger than the target demographic, the user test proved invaluable and led to some useful insights which I will discuss further. 

User Profile

The Task

I asked Peter to set up the energy monitoring equipment without my help and to try using the product as he would if he had just bought it. I think the test replicates how somebody would use the product in a real world situation. However, for future user tests - especially testing of the re-design - I will set more specific tasks to try to understand how usable the product is and if the improvements have in fact improved the design. 

Setting up the Energy Monitor 

Peter set up the energy monitor without any major problems. There was, however, an ambiguity in the instructions that caused confusion. The instructions stated that whilst pairing the monitor to the transmitter, an LED on the transmitter would flash rapidly. It flashed slowly and intermittently which made Peter think he had done something wrong. After persisting with the set up, the monitor started to show a realistic energy cost per month and he assumed he had correctly set up the system.

Image 6: Reading the instructions & setting up the monitor.

Image 7: It works!

Using the Product

Initially he pointed out that he did not understand the energy reading but that the cost of energy per month is very clear and easy to understand.  

He tried turning additional appliances on to see what affect this would have on the monthly bill. After trying various televisions, lights, a kettle and a microwave he was astonished at how much extra energy was required to run these items. Although he still doesn't understand the meaning of the energy reading, he could now use the value as a reference point to gauge how much power is being used by the various appliances. As an example, putting the kettle on temporarily tripled the monthly bill, highlighting the need to only boil enough water for what is required. He can now understand when the energy consumption was high or low.

He thought the UP! feature (explained in blog post January 25th 2013) was useful to quickly  understand the impact appliances have on the energy bill.

Image 8: Initial reading before additional appliances were turned on.

Recommendations for Improvement

The middle row of readings were confusing (see image 8); on the left a bar chart comparing  the energy consumption from the last 3 days and on the right a kW/hr reading which fluctuates between the last 1, 7 and 10 days. He explained that he didn't understand what kW/hr meant (who would apart from engineers/scientists?) and that the reading was meaningless. 

Removing the middle row of readings would allow the rest of the readings to be enlarged. Considering the demographic that I am designing for, this seems like a sensible idea - even Peter had to lean forward to see the readings (image 9). 

Knowing that the device will be re-designed for an older demographic, he suggested that it might help if the buttons were larger. However, the buttons did not pose any problems to him. 

After I explained that extra sensors can be purchased to monitor individual appliances, Peter said the additional information would soon become meaningless and that he would prefer the product as it is with the above recommendations. 

I realised afterwards that if users agreed that the additional sensors were confusing and hence the feature was removed altogether from the design, the only reason for having the buttons on the display panel would be to set the time and to start pairing with the transmitter. If this is the case could the buttons be removed altogether? It seems that less information is better. If all of the important information was on the screen at once then buttons would not be required (maybe the time and pairing with could be synced via a computer). This is something I will investigate further.

Image 9: Leaning closer to read the display. 

Analysing the Product 1: Setting up the Product

Setting the Equipment Up 

I first attempted to use the product straight out of the box without looking at the instructions which according to Apple and Donald Norman et al. demonstrates good design! Moreover the demographic that the product will be re-designed for may not be able to read the instructions due to deteriorating sight, or worse loss of sight.

Turning the display on was easy enough - just a case of plugging the mains charger to the mains and the other end into the device!

Image 2

This left several parts remaining (image 3), a lead to connect the display device to a computer, a transmitter, a lead with a clamp connector attached to one end, and a selection of coloured trims for the display panel. My first assumption was that the clamp connector can be positioned around a wire measuring the current to a product and then transmitting this information to the control display. I tried this using my laptop to no success.  

Image 3 

Using the instructions, I set the rest of the equipment up. The instructions are quite clear and succinct and it was easy to set the equipment up. The clamp was in fact for connecting around a wire to measure energy  consumption, as I expected, but this only works using one of the many wires that run from the existing energy monitor. I had difficulty in finding the correct wire to connect the clamp to (I am still not sure it is the correct wire as the power consumption seems very low) and once I had there wasn't enough room to correctly fix the clamp around the wire as there wasn't quite enough slack in the cable. So the first problem that I've come across is the design of the clamp.  

Image 4

When I plugged an additional electric device into the mains an icon appeared displaying 'Up!' (Image 5) and informed me that the monthly energy cost would increase by 71p (the reading itself is not correct due to above said problem). The feature is a good idea as you can get a feel for how much different appliances affect an energy bill. However, the information is only displayed for about 30 seconds and there is no way of storing the information or keeping it on the screen for longer. If you wanted to know how much each household appliance would affect the energy cost you would have to try them out and write down the results - not so easy for someone with poor eye sight or arthritis for example.

Image 5

User Vision Visit

The class visited User Vision, a consultancy specialising in the user experience of websites, software and products,  in Edinburgh for a talk on user experience.

After the presentation I was subjected to a typical user test whilst my colleagues watched from behind a 1 way glass window!

The point of the test was to give a flavour of  how user tests are performed in a professional industry. The main insight I gained from this experience was the importance of setting specific tasks for the user to complete rather than just asking them to try using the product and asking how it feels; the conditions should replicate a real life situation such as buying a product from the clients website or trying to navigate to certain areas of the website. This will be useful over the coming weeks when I run my own user tests for my redesign of an energy monitor interface.

Project Introduction

I have been tasked with redesigning a domestic energy monitor specifically for the ageing population. This demographic are susceptible to a range of conditions, disabilities and/or psychological issues which can discourage or even prevent them from using these products to potentially reduce their energy costs and to allow greater control of utilities such as central heating.   

From a range of products I have arbitrarily selected the EnviR SmartR Monitor to analyse and re-design. My first task is to open the package and attempt to use the product straight from the box, referring to the instructions if necessary, and to record my observations, any problems encountered, positive or negative aspects and so on.