This week
we started a new project to compare how we read the book
"Alice in Wonderland" in three different formats--in the
ICDL, in an eBook, and in a "real" or paper book. After
everyone on the team read a chapter in each different one,
we all made sticky notes to brainstorm 3 things each tool
does best; three things each tool doesn't do well; and three
ideas for enhancing each tool. We came up with really great
feedback after experimenting with all three tools, and Nancy
and Kathryn plan to use all the data the we came up with
to write a paper about how kids read using these very different
tools.
Our whole
team took an awesome field trip to Essex Community College
today to present the work we have done so far with the "Fishy"
game, a cool multiplayer game designed by Randy and Doug,
two students from Stuart's "Programming Principles" class.
Our kids had helped make design and strategy suggestions
during the development phase of "Fishy," so everyone at
the Essex game conference wanted to hear about how we all
worked together as a team to come up with ideas and to test
the game. It went really well, and we even put on a mock
KidsTeam design session so our audience could get a feel
for how we work. The kids loved being in the spotlight--and
we got the word out about the great work that we do.
This week
we brought friends with us to visit the Strategux usability
lab with Holly and Ben Graff, her research partner from
Stuart's "Theories of Interaction" class. The kids and their
friends had specific roles--some were moderators and some
were observers. Ebony and Deep were great moderators, using
a lot of the stuff they learned about leading questions
and making the participants feel comfortable to get good
data. We worked with the NIDA for Teens website to do the
tests, and then we all sat down to reflect about the experience
of usability testing with kids as part of the research team.
Everyone agreed that kids had a lot to offer when it comes
to usability testing.
