First Prototype User Test
I tested my prototype with two groups of users. One group of users is connected because of their interest in basketball events, and the other group is connected for their interest in Graphic design events.
User Profile
To start the testing, I asked each participant to send me 5 photos: one of their photos, two photos related to their lives, and two photos related to their work. The only thing they need to consider when selecting photos is deciding which photos they want strangers to know them through. They are asked to send all those 5 photos with one line of description to me. With those 5 photos and descriptions and their name and background (like Interaction Design student at SVA), I created user profiles and sent the user profile to the other person they were talking to. These user profiles are the only thing the other person will see before conversing with them.
Chat
I use iMessage to mimic the chat function of my product. There are 3 main features I want to test out from this prototype:
1. Randomizer to choose who to start the conversation first.
2. Pop-up questions
3. Freeze conversation in 15 minutes (for 30 minutes)
Before the testing started, I asked the participants to treat my sent messages as instructions sent by the app. The messages I sent simulate the functionality of the app. They can’t interact with me in chat. They can only chat with another person. And the purpose of this chat is to get the first impression of each other.
After they look at each other profile which was sent as a Figma link, they will start the conversation in iMessage. I sent a message to choose who to start the conversation first (randomizer). Then they will start chatting with each other.
The pop-up questions can be triggered by sending an emoji to me privately, and then I will choose a topic they both will be interested in (related to the event they both like) and assign the other person to answer. The pop-up questions were also used to call both participants back after the first chat. In the first example, they were called back by the question, “Who is your favorite designer?”
After the first testing group, I found that the user experience is horrible when “machine-generated questions” break human communication. Thus, I iterate the way how the pop-up questions are triggered. I prepared 5 questions and sent them individually to the participants. They are aware that all these 5 questions are related to their mutual interest and background; thus, they can ask another person these 5 questions whenever the awkward silence is about to happen.
Since I got 2 groups of participants, I also got a chance to do the A/B testing to test if the 15-minute time limit helps remove social stress.
Testing result
User profile
Five photos and background are enough to use as topics for both parties to get to know each other. But the location/distance information is missing. One participant also wants to see the age of the other people.
Randomizer to choose who to start the conversation first
The average rating for this feature effectiveness is 4/5. One of the participants suggests that the randomizer can potentially become a small light game to help ease nervousness. Also, some people need help starting the conversation. It looks like the pop-up questions should happen at the beginning of the conversation.
Pop-up questions
The pop-up questions feature needs to find a way to fit naturally into the ongoing conversation. Maybe it can become a Q&A mode at the beginning or even become a way of communication.
Freeze conversation in 15 minutes (for 30 minutes)
The time limit did help improve the efficiency of the conversation. But for some people, 15 minutes is too short. Meanwhile, there are some problems with that: what if one user is not online? How can we make sure both parties are online and free to talk for 15 minutes?
Before the testing, I thought my product was about the efficiency and effectiveness of the conversation. But when I saw people exchanging knowledge, ideas, information during the testing(chat), I realized that my product could achieve something more: exchanging. And this will be my focus for the following steps: how to help two strangers better exchange knowledge, ideas, opinion, resource, information with each other.