Projects/Where Does My Money Go/Notes on User Testing

User testing forthcoming designs
This is an overview of interactive elements we can test at the moment. Not considered here are aspects of the website, such as navigation and commenting, although they should also be part of the testing process.

Reference material
Please see also Steve's WDMMG Usability testing doc

What do people want to see?
We need to use the process to find out what people might expect. It is nice to have powerful tools, as well as fun and games, but unless we try and poll some varied expectations from users, we risk missing some useful functionality in between.

Signing off designs
Liz is concerned about the fact that the designs are still very incomplete. Testing gives a good opportunity to find out what works and what doesn't, in the modules and functionality we have.

1. Current dashboard
Testing the current dashboard can help with two things:
 * how well do people understand data structures and visualizations?
 * how can we get them into some worked examples?

This is a good opportunity to find out more about what people would like to know, and how they might want to investigate further.

Things to test:
 * comprehending the visualizations and data structure
 * interactivity
 * deep linking and sharing url's

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Worked example: Public order and Safety
This involves some clear instructions as to how to reach the right pages, but given the dysfunctional dashboard interface, users will probably need it to reach the right view. Please test this out before putting it in front of subjects. ;)

1. Regional comparison
http://www.wheredoesmymoneygo.org/dashboard/#/regional-drilldown/spending=per_capita&focus=03&year=2010-2011

Scroll through the years.


 * What do you think this means?
 * Do you think there is a story here?
 * How would you like to see this story presented?

2. Spending over time
http://www.wheredoesmymoneygo.org/dashboard/#/long-term/functionSpending=gdp&longTermSpending=gdp

double click on Public order and Safety in the menu, and wait for load...


 * What do you think this means?
 * Do you think there is a story here?
 * How would you like to see this story presented?
 * Would you be likely to look for stories like these?
 * if not, would you be more likely to look for it in a simpler interface?

2. Working modules
These are functional components from the next round of designs.

Bubble graph
We have two versions of the bubble chart. Which bubble chart design works for people? We should poll preferences, and find out which one works best.
 * do you understand how to navigate?
 * what do you miss?

Daily bread
We have a working module of this.
 * do you understand enough of the title?
 * do you understand the proposition?

Testing icons
This is a good moment to test how people understand the icons. (So far, we only have 10, at the top level.)

Action: We need to test this with the correct icons, at least at the top level. What icons do we have? What will be supplied in time for testing?

Compar-o-tron A
We have a design which nearly works. This is being built right now - we should try and test it as it is being built.

Action: We need to be sure comparisons are meaningful, so:
 * put in the proper menus
 * change to percentages.

New dashboard designs
We have some new proposals for bringing together the bubble graph & compar-o-tron in a new dashboard design. This is arguably simpler, but misses some of the detail that we get in the current dashboard.

Action: Liz to make a walk-through of the new designs, combining new design ideas.

Testing colors
Would people be able to understand this without using colors? How well do the colors perform? Is it possible we can eliminate multiple colors from the interface, and still produce meaningful visualizations?