Big Honking Report II: Wireframe

BHR 2: Wireframe Standardized Microwave Raquel Dottle and Virginia Pettit

Wireframe

That top part with the smudges on is it the screen.

For the wire frame it is a piece of vinyl that we used a whiteboard marker on.

The buttons will be more clearly different than the background for the final. The button will also have haptic feedback.

The button on the bottom left will be clearly different and have a thumb divot to signify pushing with fingers.

We decided to make it this size because that is the average size for microwave control panels.

We opted for the push button because the pull handle can be difficult for kids and people with disabilities that make grip strength or pulling hard.

Screen outputs Blinking is represented by italics, comma-sep lists represent cycling options. [arrows] represent up and down arrows beside the words.

For this stage, we kept it pretty similar to current microwaves.

​ ​

Mute: mute ​on, off, number pad, alert [arrows] green when mute is on.)

(There is a small light on the mute button that is

When time needed to be set, “​Set Time” would appear onscreen.

Clock: _ _ : _ _ ​AM/PM [arrows]. User can toggle between places using start/clock, and numbers can be entered using arrows or number pad.

​

Reheat: ​Main dish, soup, vegetable, pasta, casserole After pushing defrost/start: ​1.0 cups Defrost: ​Ground beef, bone-in beef, boneless chicken, bone-in chicken, fish, vegetable, prepared food After pushing defrost/start: ​1.0 oz.

During function, microwave will stop and T ​ urn appears onscreen.

Experiment What we did: Created a physical “wireframe” of the microwave, including only the features that users seemed interested in during the Napkin Test. Removed all features that seemed extraneous or confused users, such as “Time Cook”. Mapped all buttons in a way that seems logical.

Developed original screen display to fix lack of discoverability with “Reheat” function. We made the “wireframe” out of foamcore and used markers to write on it and made the “screen” out of vinyl.

What they did: Each user had a bit of difficulty or confusion with at least one task; for some, this manifested because of cultural constraints, as with measurements. We encountered aversion to certain features due to learned helplessness with using them in past microwaves. Overall, users were much more reluctant than expected. The best response was to the screen—all the users appreciated it, commenting on how nice and fancy this microwave was.

Results User Profiles Age

Gender

Ethnicity (self-stated)

Profession

Level of use

User 1

20s

Male

White

Student

Regular

User 2

20s

Female

Black

Student

Regular

User 3

20s

Male

African

Student

Regular

Details user test notes: Scenario 1: After a power outage, your microwave has reset. Mute the beep again, and set the clock.

User 1: Pushed the mute button expecting it to just be a speaker with/without an X. Tried to push the number buttons, gave up and started pushing arrows. Pushed clock to move it over, and held down button until it got to the numbers he wanted, and then pushed start. When prompted, used number pad.

User 2: Pushed mute button. Pushed clock, used number pad, used arrows for AM/PM, pushed start.

User 3: Asked if it was a touch screen. Was initially confused about whether he was setting the microwave to start or clock. Pushed timer and started using the arrows. Would expect the microwave to go to 9 and then go over a space. Prompt misled him in this way— would have preferred it to show clock. In that case, would push clock. Realized that he could use the number pad and interpreted the arrows to jump between the spaces in that case. Used arrows for AM/PM, pushed start. Upon pushing mute, pushed arrows to cycle through options and left it on mute on.

Scenario 2: You made pasta last night, and feel like having it again for dinner. Warm it up however you see fit.

User 1: Questioned beverage button. Pushed reheat button. Was confused about “Main Dish”. Eventually got to pasta, and was kinda frustrated and wished he had used numbers.

Pushed Reheat to confirm choice. Was confused about “portion” and thought it should be an actual measurement, like cup, because this is ‘Murica. [​ Testing note: used “cup” for other users.]

Set it to 3 and hit reheat, then start.

User 2: Press button to open door, etc. Pushed the 2, added 00 when it didn’t start automatically, then start. Explained that her microwave starts automatically. Didn’t use reheat button because she doesn’t know what it does.

User 3:Press button to open door, etc. pushed reheat. Pushed start once he got to pasta. Used arrows to get to 3 cups, but was a bit hesitant. Tapped start.

Scenario 3: You’re pretty hungry after a full morning of class. Defrost a 1 lb chicken breast so you can cook your lunch.

User 1: Pushed defrost. Arrows until “boneless chicken”. Typed in 16, pushed defrost and start. Attempted to ignore turn, wound up just opening and closing the microwave because he didn’t care.

User 2: Pushed defrost. Arrows until “boneless chicken”; wouldn’t trust the microwave.

Pushed start, was pleasantly surprised at the weight indicator. Was a little confused about it asking to “turn”, but figured it out.

User 3: Pushed defrost. Arrows until “boneless chicken”, wouldn’t stop on boneless.

Would keep tapping arrows until it went to 1 lb 0 oz. Start. Would turn it at prompt.

Comments: User 1: Needs to be smarter, predict user actions better. Beverage is a bad idea. Reheat and other options are things he wouldn’t use.

User 2: Screen is cool and “really hi-tech”. Considers it user-friendly. Blinking is a good prompt to add input. Never seen a mute button, and probably wouldn’t use it because she would forget it had happened; she would if it muted only the buttons and not the beeps.

User 3: Screen is nice, appreciates all the details, the attention to turning with the defrost. It’s a lot of work though, wants it to be easier. Would prefer less details. In reality, would probably get mad at the arrows and start pushing numbers until gets what he wants. Likes the mute, but doesn’t want cycling options. Would definitely use the 30 sec. Noticed numbers don’t get used much in our scenarios, and thinks that’s bad. Doesn’t really trust the preset times. To put in a minute, would keep pushing one until it got over to the minutes, expecting it to read 1:00.

Suggestions for change The biggest complaint from users was that we were still feature-heavy; we made our users think too much about what to do. We need to streamline the selection process and guide the users more about how to input their desired function. Having to click up and down for reheat and such functions takes a lot of time and you can’t be sure they will have what you want. About half of the users we’ve talked to love the reheat feature and use that most. The other half said that they don’t trust it and would never use it. It’s hard to decide if we want to implement a feature that half of people use a lot, but most consider to be confusing.

Perhaps adding light on the buttons would be a good signifier. We want the beeps to mainly be for when the food is done, with several beeps right at the end and then beeps every

30 seconds or so to remind the person that their food is ready. The beeps will stop after about 5 minutes. We’re not totally sure on that length of time and it is hard to user test that.

Also “Set Time” could be more clear. “Set Clock” would be a better message when the time needs to be reset. We want it to be easy to set the clock in case of power outages or moving the microwave. Not as many people have said that they use the time function, but I feel like it should still be included. We’re not sure on that one.

The quickstart feature has been causing some trouble. Some people expected that pushing a number button, like 1, would just start the microwave at that number of minutes.

Users we did the napkin test on didn’t like the quickstart feature. It seems like half microwaves do, and half microwaves don’t. It’s hard to standardize on a feature that seems like a 50/50 split in the current projects. Even if we do the quickstart feature, we would need to make it obvious that the quickstart feature was being implemented, and we would need to make a button more obvious than “time cook” to have it not quickstart.