Last Thursday we carried out the first user tests. The test consisted of a driving simulator setup where we tested the interface of both the app and the rest of the car, in driving situations.
The main purpose of the test was to get feedback on the design of both the interface on the steeringwheel and in the app we had developed.

All tests where done with the user sitting in the simulator, so they had some feeling of being in the car, and the actual cars design was presented to the user before the test began. And even though our steeringwheel implementation had a lot of lag, especially at high speeds, the quickly adapted to the setting and understood the task.

To get some fresh ideas from the test users, we started the test with a clean steeringwheel and smartphone window, allowing them to think freely and do what ever they wanted with the interface. This gave us some ideas on how the users (ranging from experienced drivers some who only drive a few times each year) would lay out the buttons and interface with the simple restrictions given by law and EcoMove.

After spending some time driving and drawing the new interface we presented the current version as it looks by design of EcoMove and ourselves. We then compared it to the things the users had added, and tested whether the users were able to navigate to app we had designed.

The test were very successful, and the results have been boiled down into a small report, presented to EcoMove. Some of the results will be shared here on the blog, after EcoMove has approved it.