Lean Mean Pet Feeding Machine Usability Evaluation Design

Usability Test

User Goals

-User is able to easily create a pet, view their info and edit their weight.

-User is able to create and edit a feeding schedule and search the forum.

-User is able to select a photo of their pet’s food label to have its nutrient information scanned.

-User is motivated to keep track of their pet’s health.

Scenarios

1. Imagine you just got a pet and you want to keep it healthy. You’ve decided to use Lean Mean Pet Feeder Machine to keep track of your pet’s weight. Find out how to add a pet to your list and input it’s current weight.
   • Expectations: Meet user goal #1
2. You want to ask other experienced pet owners for advice on what kinds of healthy food brands you should buy for your pet. To check if anyone else had the same question as you, look it up on the forum page.
   • Expectations: Meet user goal #2
3. You notice that your pet is gaining weight because you’re overfeeding it. You decide to keep track of its feeding times. Find out how you can do that using the app.
   • Expectations: Meet user goal #2
4. Imagine you’re a pet owner who just bought a new type of pet food. You want to see if the nutrients are suitable for your pet. Find out how to submit a photo of your pet’s food label and extract the information from it.
   • Expectations: Meet user goal #3

User Types

• Cat Owners
• Dog Owners

Recruitment

For user testing we recruited family members, classmates, and people from discord who either own a dog or a cat.

Consent Form

We obtained consent from all participants, and the hard copies of the signed consent form for each participant has been collected by the our team.

Link to Form

Location and Participants

Family members can be tested anywhere. If the user is a student, they can be tested on campus.

Script

Make them download the app and create a new account. The next step is to give testers the scenarios and for each scenario we take notes on their actions and feedbacks.

Data

• Participant #1
  • Dog owner
  • Used own device
  • Scenario 1 Feedback: Was able to keep track of new pet’s weight. Thinks this is valuable to help maintain a healthy weight for pet.
  • Scenario 2 Feedback: The forum page seemed handy to hear other peoples opinions if it was real.
  • Scenario 3 Feedback: Make feeding schedule send push notification when to feed pet. Maybe add in medication times as well.
  • Scenario 4 Feedback: Make food item page be a database to find different foods, so you can search for other foods that have a different nutrient profile.
  • The vet page doesn’t work, but it sounds like a fun idea.
  • UI looks alright
  • Make login remember last login
• Participant #2
  • Dog owner.
  • iOS user so they used one of our devices.
  • Scenario 1 Feedback: When adding a new pet to list, remove time of pet’s birth. Would be nice to also add your own pet’s image for its profile picture.
  • Scenario 2 Feedback: Tried to look up a question but could not find any post. More posts should be added.
  • Scenario 3 Feedback: Notification for schedule page seems fun to have. Maybe add more custom notifications for your pet, such as “Starving”.
  • Scenario 4 Feedback: Food catalog page would be very useful because it’s hard to remember the nutrients that your pet needs.
• Participant #3
  • Cat owner.
  • iOS user so they used one of our devices.
  • Scenario 1 Feedback: Liked how you can input different weights and save them. Wanted more features for cats.
  • Scenario 2 Feedback: Forum would be nice if users could interact with each other. Vet page could use AI for common sense questions or frequently asked questions.
  • Scenario 3 Feedback: Schedule page could have push notifications outside the app.
  • Scenario 4 Feedback: Food catalog page needs to first ask permission to use photos.
• Participant #4
  • New dog owner.
  • Used one of our devices.
  • Scenario 1 Feedback: Breed option should be optional for people who don’t know their pet’s breed.
  • Scenario 2 Feedback: Forum page could include links to recommended food brands.
  • Scenario 3 Feedback: N/A
  • Scenario 4 Feedback: Surprised by how calorie info from the food label photo was read. It’s a great way for busy people to add food labels without having to type in all the nutritional details.
• Participant #5
  • Owns two dogs.
  • Used android device.
  • Scenario 1 Feedback: Liked the profile icons and that you can modify the dog’s information. Adding a new pet to the list takes too long to load.
  • Scenario 2 Feedback: Add more words to search in the forum. Instead of having questions only, it would be nice if there were also stories on owning overweight pets and how owners overcame obstacles.
  • Scenario 3 Feedback: Color blocks for the schedule page look great. The app could use those colors as a theme.
  • Scenario 4 Feedback: It would be nice if the food catalog recommended feeding portions.

Results

Overall, three out of the five participants were unable to test the app on their phone and ended up using one of our team’s android devices. Another main issue that they experienced was not being able to submit their pet’s BCS (Body Condition Score) form, which was supposed to change the weight chart. At the end of the test, they were asked if they felt that using the app motivated them to take better care of their pet’s health. The majority felt that was true if the app was fully functional. Participants said they liked the forum page the most because it felt realistic and would be useful for pet owners to find others who had the same questions or problems.

Issues to fix after the test:

• Add live chat for vet page issue
• Change pet creation to be more flexible issue
• Fix bcs form on pet info page issue
• IOS deployment issue
• Notification for schedule page issue
• Hook up food catalog to database issue