[R U X] Corner
................................................................................ We are graduate and undergraduate students in 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. ................................................................................
Kayak on the Roll Alexandria Gombas | Graduate Researcher Aaron Collard, Brooke Johnson | Undergraduate Researchers Process To gather user perceptions, we ran individuals in twohour sessions, which we recorded to capture any thoughts or opinions that they said aloud during the process.
Image Courtesy / Kimberly Williams Image of kayak used in study assembled and rolled up
Introduction
There were six main stages: pre-questions, unboxing and unrolling, assembly, mock “use”, tear down, and postquestions. During each product interaction stage, users were asked questions before and after the experience about expectations and difficulties and final thoughts on whether they felt they were successful in completing the task. We also gathered information about what they liked and disliked about the process and product.
What do you do when you love kayaking, but don’t have the space to store a kayak? Well, you might want to try a Results foldable one! What is a foldable kayak? There are many different versions, including inflatables and origami style Overall, our users indicated that they did not like the designs, but in this case, it is a kayak made out of a single process of assembling the kayak and really wanted written sheet of plastic that can be rolled up for easy storage and instructions instead of the video that was provided. transportation. When unrolled and fastened it turns into a hard shell kayak. They were initially very excited about the idea of a more portable kayak, but the difficulty they encountered Because of the interest in an easier-to-transport kayak in assembly was noted in their comments and in the for college students stuck in dorms and apartments, we increasing number of negative adjectives they associated decided to find out if this kayak is as convenient as it claims with the product. The female users took almost twice to be. To do so, we chose to observe the user’s out-of-box the time that male users did, and all of them needed a experience (OOBE) which is a buyer’s first impression second person to help fasten the latches or to hold the of a product during set up or assembly. Users’ OOBE is kayak in place. While male users found the assembly an important part in the development of an easy-to-use easier than female users, the users as a whole still wouldn’t item and can provide crucial information about how the recommend the kayak to someone else. average person would initially interact with the product. The average usability scale score indicated that the kayak In this case, we observed the OOBE of six participants and its assembly process need a redesign. In terms of cost, (two male and four female) between the ages of 20-30, all several users indicated that they wouldn’t be willing to pay of whom had incidentally a height greater than 5’8, and for this kayak, and after assembly, participants expected the retail price to be lower than it actually is. Page 14 had previous experience kayaking.