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Prototype

Last updated: 
December 10, 1998

6.1  Survey 1 Discussion:

This usability test to evaluate our prototype was rolled out in several phases: one team member sent several emails to his friends, soliciting their general comments on introduction of integrated food services at gas pump. Soon after that, a questionnaire was drafted and several informal interviews were carried out based on the (part) of questionnaire. See a sample of the two-part questionnaire below. The whole questionnaire is composed of two parts:

In part one, general questions are asked to get people’s responses. People’s habits regarding whether they can pump gas without holding the handle, and if they feel comfortable ordering food menu items from a computer screen.  These generic questions will confirm the assumptions we outlined earlier in design and explore the feasibility of introducing our integrated food ordering system.

In part two, the questions are more geared towards to the requirements specified in system analysis stage. User responses are laid out in a gradual scale, from the most negative to the most positive. This scale method gives us a more quantitative answer whether our design meets the requirements.  After the initial interview, it was discovered that the original item 3: “is the screen illumination clear enough?“ does not apply because people can not judge until the actual device is built.  For this reason, the screen evaluation part was dropped.

Our final result of using this questionnaire template is fairly encouraging: of all the people we email and talk with are fairly comfortable with new idea for ordering food at a gas pump. People do find it easy to read a computer screen to order food.  Most people pumped the gas leaving the handle alone.  At least they are aware that there is a convenient “handle” there.  For these specific requirements, our prototype scores pretty high, except for the “error” messages which could not be demonstrated via the prototype screen dumps.

In short, our design is moving in the correct direction and meets the requirements we set earlier.

6.2  Survey 2 Discussion:

Customers at the local “coffee palace”, who like to linger over coffee provided willing participants for the survey.  They filled out the surveys while refusing the team members bribes (i.e. that the team member would buy their coffee).  The format of part 1 was modified after the first survey described above.  Possible responses were modified slightly to four choices, Never, Sometimes, Always and Don’t Know.

Here is an analysis for the responses.

The participants fell into 2 groups.
People liked the system but did not like the application.  Two people enthusiastically suggested alternate uses for the CRTs at gasoline pump systems.  The second group contained people who never use these kinds of systems but were positive about the project.

The survey hints about one opportunity.  People do not use the automatic feature of the pump handle.  Gasoline fumes are carcinogens.  The system should educate the user about this for the sake of their health.  This also promotes a positive attitude among users so enlightened.

6.3  Evaluation Survey Form

Part I:
 
 

		N = Never	S = Sometimes	A = Always	DK = Don’t Know
1.	I use "pay at the pump" when it is available.	___	___	___	___
2.	I find computer display devices at gas station pumps helpful.	___	___	___	___
3.	I would find it convenient to order food at the pump.	___	___	___	___
4.	I find drive up menus at fast food restaurants helpful.	___	___	___	___
5.	I am able to find my choices on a computerized menu easily.	___	___	___	___
6.	I would like my gas pump to be smart and tell me about all the stations services.	___	___	___	___
7.	I buy extra items from the gas station along with my gas.	___	___	___	___
8.	I hold the gas pump handle when I pump gas.	___	___	___	___

Part II:
 
 

		No	Neutral	Yes
1.	I would order food at the gas station.	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
2.	Do you refer to the printed instructions for reference?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
3.	I prefer inserting my card before specifying what type of card it is on the keypad.	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
4.	Would you like to pay with cash at the pump?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
5.	Would you like to see advertisements played while you pump fuel?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
6.	Would you be willing to wait in line a little longer to use the special pump interface?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
7.	Is the new user interface recognizable?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
8.	Is the food ordering UI easy to learn and intuitive?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
9.	Do you like the color scheme?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
10.	Given the option, would you print a receipt?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
11.	Would you use the call attendant button for help?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5
12.	Are the error messages informative?	-5 -4 -3 -2 -1	0	1  2  3  4  5

 

Total Score: ______