For our mid semester test we wanted to test the question: Does the situation generator fit within the proposed design and is it engaging?

We setup the proposed web app design (which includes how the generator will look and feel on the site) next to a working version of the generator which allowed users to enter their own words into the blank spaces and auto-filled the rest, which is how it will actually run when complete. We then asked users to have a go on the generator and then walked them through the site and design plan. https://vimeo.com/332906576

The first initial hiccup we encountered is that the generator mechanic itself was not exactly self explanatory and the users found themselves being unsure as of what to do and how to use it. Because the generator is not setup to look anything like it will in the complete “product”, we figured there would be no need to make it look too flashy and have all the right buttons and such for this prototype. The downside was that the users didn’t know how to use it exactly so we had to quickly adapt our strategy and get them to go through the design first and then show them where the generator fits into that design and then let them try it. The feedback we got from this was positive however, as the proposed design includes one line of instruction on each “section” of the generator, so it essentially tells you what you have to do. We also realised that something that we haven’t shown but will be implemented into the final design is the examples of other situations rolling through on the home page before you start using the generator. Not only is this a good indication of what the desired final outcome of someone using the generator is, but they can also see the scope or complexity/specificity of the words they can enter. We found that with the people we tested with, the first time they used it they mostly all entered very basic words in the gaps but after using a bit more and seeing the words it was spitting out, they caught on and started having a bit more fun with it. The biggest takeaway from this though was that with the instructions and the actual generation of the excuse afterwards (which is not in the working generator as of yet), the interaction does tie in nicely with the concept and the purpose behind it. We had some interesting feedback that you go from taking part in this fun little “almost game” to being hit with this serious purpose behind it that is quite different, but that makes it “hit home” or resonate with you more. We do probably need to revisit the wording of the campaign description in which we introduce the whole donating blood aspect just to make sure that it isn’t too much of a shock while also not being a joke still.

My main role up until now has been to focus on curating the content of the generator to make sure that it makes sense and that it is engaging, so to hear that people had a bit of fun playing with it is great to hear but I did also notice some words still in there that need to be changed. Something that I didn’t consider when developing the words was how it would be used from an outside perspective. Currently I have been changing the words so that are all centred around the user (i.e. YOUR mate’s mum) and the reason behind this was that when we use the generator to come up with all our advertising content, we want it to speak to people reading it and without their own interaction, it needs to be written in 2nd person. However, as soon as someone starts interacting with it and they start to take ownership of the situation, they write it in first person (i.e. MY mate’s mum). This is where the problems arise as the one they enter is written in 1st person but the auto-filled one might be in 2nd person so the sentence doesn’t actually make sense. So that is something I need to work through and try and find a good solution to, again that might just work when people see the other examples and aren’t starting this blind but we could just make more emphasis on the fact that someone (and their Instagram handle will be on it) specifically made this situation about them and the user can go and do their own. But then again the call to action is “Get Your Excuse” and not MY and the situation is spit out as a rhetorical question so it will just require more testing when we have integrated the generator in to the design.

From here the main issue I can foresee in terms of timing is not having a completed version of the website running across all devices. The initial plan was to make a responsive site that works on any sized device as we know the majority of traffic comes from mobile, but so far things have been taking a little longer than expected on the site so we need to manage that. Now we are solely in the production phase though I am going to help Liam with the site so we will have two of us working on it which will speed progress up, but as I said I will also be curating the content so my role will be split. As we are aware of the time though, we have said that the bare minimum we need is a desktop site so that we have something to show in studio that works perfectly rather than have it able to potentially be accessed by people who will already see it on the desktop we have setup and it doesn’t work great on both. So far we have been tracking well in terms of timeline and now we have finished all the conceptual work and are working on producing everything we should continue to keep working at a good pace and using our kanban board to keep on top of it all will definitely help.