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Animal Crossing Behavioral Prototype
Introduction
For Assignment 6: Behavioral "Wizard of Oz" Prototype, my team designed and created a "Wizard of Oz" style prototype for a voice-controlled game assistant to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In a "Wizard of Oz" test, the participant is made to believe that the prototype is truly functional but in reality the user testing team is controlling all the interactions.
Prototype
We used a voice-operated assistant for our Wizard of Oz prototype. In the prototype the participant completes a few tasks in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons switch game. We used a speaker and the Google translate voice reader to imitate the voice assistant and it is the object the participant talks at to play the game. In the recording session, we had a facilitator to lead the participant. The wizard was in the corner with the controller behind a laptop to pretend to be the scribe.
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The following sketches below show our testing plans for orientation as well as the tools we used in our testing session.
The first sketch is a rough sketch of the session setup, and the second sketch is a final sketch of the setup. Note how the positioning is made to emphasize the believability of the "wizard".
We used a Switch console, a separate controller for the wizard to control the user’s actions, and a speaker that acts as a medium for the voice assistant.
"Wizard of Oz" Demo Video
We recruited one user to help us in testing our prototype. The following video below shows how our user interacted with the prototype based on the given tasks as well as some of their reactions to using the prototype.
User Test Feedback
For the positive ranking statements, the participant expressed agreement that the assistant was helpful and that they think most people would quickly learn how to use this voice assistant. They expressed strong disagreement that they personally would use the voice assistant frequently to play this game, which demonstrates low desirability for this participant. Overall, it seems that the participant felt supported by the assistant and felt that it was easy to use, which means that this prototype was successfully usable.
For the negative ranking statements, the participant felt neutral about whether the assistant was awkward to use and disagreed with feeling unconfident, but they strongly agreed that they would need support to use it. Overall, it seems like the participant didn’t feel strongly negatively about the device.
They said that the most frustrating part of the experience was the pacing and movement of the character, and that if they could redesign the experience they would try to change the walking and running speed to make it more adjustable. They also remarked that they thought this voice assistant could be very useful for people with disabilities who can’t use the game control buttons — this demonstrates the impact of this prototype.
Overall, as a Wizard of Oz test, this was successful because the participant remarked that they “never experienced something like this before, and it was really cool that it was doing something that [they] commanded”. The wizard experience was believable and entertaining, given their reactions to the gameplay.
In-Class Feedback
In addition to receiving feedback from our tester, we also received feedback from another project group during an in-class critique session. In terms of what worked well for our prototype, the group responded that we created a believable scenario for our tester. They appreciated how the tester showed their surprise in our recording, which added to how the wizard-of-oz prototype was effective in getting genuine reactions from our tester. Additionally, they also found our prototype idea to be fun and entertaining.
In terms of what needed improvement, the group gave suggestions relating to our testing setup. In particular, they noted that the voice assistant sound could be made a little louder and clearer so that it would be easier for the tester and the video audience to hear, especially since the game had music in the background. They also mentioned concerns regarding whether participants would be able to tell that this was not a genuine product, and they suggested designing our setup to minimize that possibility as much as possible if we were to conduct more user tests.
Reflection
From the feedback we received from the test participant and from the in-class session, we conclude that our prototype and experience simulation were effective. We were able to create a convincing and realistic experience where we could gather data and information from our user that could be implemented should our prototype be made into a real product. Though there are improvements that can be made, which were explained by our tester, they had an overall good experience and enjoyed being able to play-test this hypothetical product.