High-Fidelity Prototype
Analysis
The high-fidelity prototype was put through user testing, during which 13 participants took the SUS test, with an average score of 75.2. The previous SUS score, which was obtained with the low-fidelity prototype, was 69.8, therefore this is a better score. Based on the given data, we can calculate the following descriptive statistics:
• Sample size: 13
• Genders: 5 deaf women (61.5%) and 5 deaf men (38.5%)
• Primary language: 12 American Sign Language (92.3%) and 1 English. (7%)
• Mean age: 26.9 years old ( σ = 4.08, p = 0.3549)
• Participants who were male and female did not have any significant age differences.
We conducted usability testing to evaluate the functionality of the app. The study aimed to test the usability of the app and understand how well it was received by deaf participants who primarily use American Sign Language. Overall, the study aimed to provide insight into how the app could be improved to better serve this population.
Between the low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes, the app appears to have undergone significant development, as indicated by the rise in the average SUS score. The higher SUS score reflects the more favorable user experience that these enhancements most likely produced. The results show that the app has changed significantly and is now far more user-friendly than it was previously.
Evaluation of High-Fidelity Prototype
The increase in the mean score suggests that the participants' opinion of the app has become more positive, and they are more likely to recommend it to others. This may be due to improvements made to the app since the previous survey, or due to increased awareness and familiarity with the app among the participants. Overall, the results indicate a strongly positive perception of the app among users.
According to the results of the survey, the app was found to be accessible by most participants (n = 16), with no significant difficulties encountered. This is indicated by the mean score of 3.923, which suggests that respondents were generally positive about the app's accessibility.
Additionally, there was no significant difference between the low fidelity and high fidelity prototypes, indicating that the user experience was consistent across both versions of the app.
A recent survey on the same app with 13 participants produced a mean score of 2.077, while data for the earlier mean score of 2.077 came from a survey on the same app earlier with a mean score of 2.412. A mean score of 2 indicates that the majority of respondents did not agree with the assertion that the app is consistent.
The lack of a statistically significant difference between the two mean scores shows that users' opinions on the consistency of the app did not alter much between the two polls. This suggests that despite all of our improvements, the consistency of the app was not affected.
We asked participants (n = 16) whether they would recommend the app to others, which was a question that had also been posed in a prior survey. The majority of participants—80.0%—replied "yes," suggesting that they would recommend the app to others.
Only 10.0% of participants said they weren't sure whether or not they would recommend the app, and another 10.0% said "no." This indicates that the majority of users had positive opinions about the app and would be eager to share them with others. A small number of participants had reservations about recommending the app, which could be an area of improvement for future iterations.
Participant Quotes
“Create my profile, I felt that three on or off button with green button (on). I feel like those should be set in setting like fonts size. Also, I would like to see location distance like 25 miles from where I am. Hope it will add!”
“The design looks good for the most part. Some things need some work”
“I think network and dating categories should be separate because some could make a mistake thinking it's the network person but it's dating person. The rest is good.”
Takeaways
During our Interactive Design for Accessibility course, we learned how to create low and high-fidelity prototypes as a part of the app development process. While we created the prototypes, we underwent a divergence and convergence agile design process. We drew many sketches as part of our exercises.
As a result of our learning objectives in our Interactive Design course, our SignMates project placed third in Gallaudet’s BisonTank Business Pitch Competition March 8, 2023. Big congratulations to the team and major thanks to our professor, Peter Yeung, for challenging our team!
SignMates Branding Guidelines
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