Let’s Shine Some Light Abrielle “Abbey” Otero | Human Factors Graduate Student Carmen Van Ommen | Graduate Researcher Robert Smyers | Undergraduate Researcher Abbey, Carmen, and Rob are students studying Human Factors and are part of the Research in User eXperience (RUX) Lab in the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology. RUX investigates the usability and user experience of technology in our everyday world. This is a regular column that explores different technologies typically used by Embry-Riddle students.
Have you ever used a product and thought to yourself, “Wow, I love this product. It’s so easy to use”? The out-of-box experience (OOBE) is typically the first impression a product creates, such as the ease of setup and first-time use. A positive OOBE can be created with logical instructions for the end user. The OOBE team decided to test users’ out-of-box experience with a ring light. A ring light is a circular LED light with different light settings for different environments. The ring light connects to a tripod and has attachments for your phone. It is typically used by photographers, social media “influencers,” and people who spend a lot of time on conference calls. We chose to test this product because of its popularity and possible use with a wide range of users.
Our Out-of-Box Experience Process We recruited six participants for this study, five females and one male. Sessions lasted about one hour in length and were divided into three main sections: first impressions, unboxing, and setup and first use. During the first impressions section, participants looked at the ring light box, assessed its quality, what they thought would be inside, and how they would expect the setup of the ring light to go. In the unboxing phase, we had participants open the ring light box, take out its contents, assess the quality of the product, and describe it using five words from a list of adjectives. Lastly, for the setup and first use phase, we had participants set the ring light up. They were asked about
their success and confidence ratings regarding the setup of the ring light. Afterwards, we had each participant complete four tasks using the ring light and asked for their success and confidence ratings for each task. Throughout the whole session, we made sure to take notes on any points of delight or frustration, as well as any product changes participants suggested. Lastly, we asked participants
whether they would recommend the ring light to a friend and how they would store the ring light.
Results Our results showed most participants thought the packaging protected the components. One participant estimated the price to be $20 to $30 and stated the quality of the packaging met their expectations of that price
Image Courtesy/ Robert Smyers