Update so far...

Well, I know it has been a while, but here are some screenshots, so you can see how the design is going!

The Yes or No Oracle

Mystical Household Objects

Gypsy Love Predictor

The Colour Fortune Teller

Showing Research (Tutorial 5)

One of the key ideas that came about from my tutorial is that perhaps there should be a section in the site that explains about the project - for example the yes or no oracle came about from different sources (for example, the ideas of quick decisions and binary 1 or 0 from computing.).
This will probably be a different section on the site or as another option in each of the different sections - as long as this extra information does not confuse the user though!

Project so far... working on the designs and actually building parts of it! Updates and some of the initial designs will follow!

Initial User Testing (Tutorial 4)

One of the suggestions from tutorial 4 was that I conduct some more detailed testing and catalogue the results. Well, the testing so far has yielded some interesting points. I sat with each of the partipants and watched their behaviour and asked some questions. I had already conducted some informal testing, so this time I chose 10 people randomly - different age ranges, sex and computer ability. The results:

2. Which order did the participant visit the sections?
Most people visited the sections in order - from the top to the bottom. There were a couple of people who looked at all the different options and chose one. The Gypsy Love Predictor and the Mystical Household objects were chosen first in these cases. Only 2 people visited the Contact Us section, and most of the comments were 'Why would I want to contact you?'. This is therefore a section that probably needs to be there, but will not be used very often!

4. How did you find the navigation on the site? (range from 1 is difficult to 5 is easy)
8/10 people rated the navigation either a 4 or 5. This was not surprising as the site is not deep and does not go down many levels. I must ensure that on the final piece, the design does not get in the way of the navigation.

5. When the site is online, would they visit it? (range from 1 is no to 5 is yes)
This was probably an unfair question to ask face-to-face, but the answers were actually spread quite evenly between 1 and 5.

6. Are there any improvements, amendments or changes they would make?
Most people seemed to have a problem with getting an email and then revisiting the site. I already knew this from the informal testing, so it wasn't a surprise. Generally, people felt that there needed to be more instructional test - for example on the Create your own Device page - it was unclear as to what to do.

8. What are your thoughts on this colour scheme and design for the site? (Just a rough design at this time)

Example comments: "Pretty, girlie, fairy-like, eye catching – wouldn’t think it was a fortune telling site though as its not mystical enough." "Like the tree – like the design, but would it detract male viewers?" "Do more women than men use these sites though?" "Answer is spelt wrong!"

All in all, there was positive feedback and people enjoyed playing about with the bits of paper. I am glad that I have gone through this process, as there are some key areas that have been highlighted and it is better at this stage than after the site has been built.

Design & Testing

In the middle of testing different paper versions and looking at the design and feel of the project - eventually! I think that I needed to get all the techie bit working before I could do this stage! Some initial designs and results from the testing should be up at the weekend!
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Progress so far...

Well, this week has been great so far - I've taken a week off work, so I am actually progressing well. I did have a bit of a moment, when I couldn't get my flash, php and mySQL talking - I spent literally hours testing, rewriting and testing. I have to thank Mark for the line of code that enabled it to work in the end!

I have also created an amended production schedule to take into count this week and also the extended time it took me to get the code sorted! I have started to do some testing with another more detailed paper version and this is going well.

One of the main issues however is with the ecard idea. The idea in theory was that the gypsy fortune teller would send an ecard to the user to give them their fortune. (A modern way of giving a fortune card to people!). Absolutely everyone that I have tested has hated that idea and most asked 'Why can't you just show us the fortune on the screen?". This is one area that works in theory, but not in practice! User testing at this stage has shown me that it is not something that people want. I am glad that I have found out early, before spending all that time programming an ecard system! People don't mind sending ecards to friends for special occasions, but do not see the need to receive them themselves!

As well as user testing and more coding, I am currently also working on a visual diary and will be shortly creating some initial designs to test on my band of willing volunteers - hint for the future - be careful about ticking any boxes on surveys that allow you to be contacted again!!

Third Tutorial

Well, my third tutorial went well and we have a good discussion about my project. I'm going to still carry on testing php, mySQL and xml code bits, but also carry on with adding more detail to the site map. I will also need to revise the production schedule, making it a more fluid document.

The prototype testing is still in its infancy, with only 5 willing victims so far. The next stage is to add more details to the paper prototypes and perhaps test some design and graphical ideas at the same time. I plan to find some non internet users, as well as some more experienced internet users. Luckily, many of the people who filled out the hard copy of my survey ticked the box to allow me to bother them in the future!

So, although I have created a research diary, I will be starting a visual diary as part of the process, as I need to start thinking about the look and feel of the project.

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Site map and plan of action

Well, I've created a [slightly more] detailed version of the site map and a paper version of the site which I am currently testing with friends and family. There are 5 main areas to the site.

The first is a COLOUR FORTUNE TELLER using some of the traditional methods to determine future - colours and chinese numbers. The research that I have conducted up to this point shows me that if something appears Chinese or uses traditional methods, then people believe it more! This will have some basis in colour and number research and will use these to create the fortunes - they won't therefore be random.

The second area is a YES / NO ORACLE because people want quick answers in life! Many people use devices such as tossing a coin to make a decision. This is a simple random yes or no answer, no complicated code, equations and databases. It mirrors the basic truth about computers - they only really give us 2 options in its binary nature - 1 or 0, true or false, yes or no.

The third area is MYSTICAL HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS - you get to chose what object tells you your future. This will randomly pick one of the many fortunes from an XML source. This is based on the premise that there are many different sources for finding out your fortune and there is no reason why normal household objects (for example a toilet or a washing machine) cannot have the dual purpose of also telling you your fortune. We look at many ways of having our possessions have more than one use. Our phones also take pictures, our microwaves tell us the time & our watches have a stopwatch function! This gives the user control over where their fortune comes from.

The fourth area on the site is a GYPSY LOVE PREDICTOR. Love is one of the key areas that people want to know about the future. Most of the women that answered my survey had this as on of their top reasons. The gypsy fortune tellers have gone through a change with technological advances. Mechanical fortune tellers were very popular - using relays and sound loops to give you a little card with your fortune on. If the newer technology is used, then more random sounds, movements and fortunes can be obtained. It is a recognisable format, where people are familiar with the idea of receiving a fortune from a gypsy. In this case, I will look into the gypsy sending an e-card with the fortune on it - truly utilising the technology.

The fifth area will be a CREATE YOUR OWN FORTUNE page. Here, people can create their own fortune telling devices and share them with everyone. Users enter a name and description and 12 fortunes, then chose a theme from a list. They can then play with their own fortune teller and invite friends and family to also play. Most people will be familiar with the concept of creating a paper fortune telling device and then getting their friends to play. This way, you can create your own and people from all over the world can play. The php / mySQL database will list all of the fortunes that people have entered - there will be no passwords, as the fortune tellers will be open to all. This will enable fortune telling to be truly interactive!

There will also be an area where people can feedback any suggestions - anything they want adding or changing, so that the users can in a small way take ownership of the site.

Well, that's about it for now - i'm doing fun php and xml testing!

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Second tutorial

The main thing that I have to do now is to pad out my site map and create flow diagrams for how the site will work - this should help me with the technical and design stuff! Also create a paper version, so that I can test how it will work - results from this will be posted soon!

Users can ‘build their own’ fortune telling devices

Hopefully, my final project will incorporate many different fortune telling devices, but one of the fortune telling devices on my final project will be an interactive area, where people can build their own and access other people’s devices.

User enters name and description & 12 fortunes using a basic form and then submits the fortune teller.

If all the fields are populated, then this takes then to a personalised fortune teller, using the data they have entered.

The fortune teller ‘game’ will be built in flash and will use the 12 fortunes and display them as part of the process. This is not clear yet, it might be rather like the paper fortune telling game, where you chose numbers and colours and you are left with one fortune.

It will also list all of the fortune tellers that have been submitted by name and description and as there are no passwords all of the devices can be used by other people.

When you click on one of the names, you can use that fortune telling device.

All I really want is a database that can store some really basic information and then can be retrieved by flash.

Is PHP & mySQL really the only answer to making something truly interactive? If there are any other options, please can someone let me know!!!!