User Testing & Final Refinements

Creating an educational app for kids is no small feat. When I set out to develop Pippo Math, I knew that rigorous testing would be crucial to its success. After all, no matter how clever I thought my AR math bubbles were, the real test would be putting the app in the hands of actual users. Today, I'm sharing some insights from my testing phase and how it shaped the final product.

The Testing Squad

I recruited six testers with different backgrounds and tech experience levels. Having diverse perspectives was essential to uncover different types of issues and gather a range of feedback. Each tester was given a structured test plan covering six key areas:

  • Game start
  • Name input
  • Introduction sequence
  • AR environment launch
  • Mission completion
  • Mission failure

The goal was to see if users could navigate through the entire experience without confusion, and to identify any pain points along the way.

What I Discovered

The Good Stuff

Right away, I found that the AR concept was a hit! Testers described the experience as "very interactive and unique" and "fun, intuitive, and engaging." The papercut visual style received positive feedback, with one tester describing it as "very cute." These reactions validated my core concept of making math more tangible through AR.

The game mechanics, particularly the heart system and color-coded timer, struck a good balance between creating just enough pressure to be engaging without causing frustration.

The Bumps in the Road

No testing session goes perfectly, and I uncovered several issues that needed addressing:

  1. Feedback Confusion: User 2 pointed out that "the colors of the feedback between correct/wrong doesn't match," highlighting an inconsistency in my visual language.
  2. Skip Button Issues: User 3 noted that "sometimes skip button won't work (50/50) but it's alright." It wasn't alright for me though – inconsistent controls can frustrate young users.
  3. Sound Effect Requests: User 4 suggested adding "sound effect when the balloon poop the wrong or right answer" and recommended "more sound effect like celebratory if pass 100%, 50%, or fail." This highlighted a missing audio dimension in my feedback system.
  4. Bug: The most significant challenge emerged when testing with User 6, whose device showed a critical UI text rendering issue. While the app's functionality worked in the background, all in-game UI text was missing, making it impossible to see equations or navigate properly. 

How I Fixed It

Each issue led to specific improvements:

  1. I established a consistent color system: green for correct answers and red for incorrect ones, with matching visual and audio feedback.
  2. I rebuilt the skip button functionality from scratch, ensuring it worked 100% of the time and added a clearer visual indicator.
  3. I incorporated a richer audio landscape with distinct feedback sounds and celebratory effects.
  4. User 6 encountered a bug in rendering the UI Text. I provided him with an alternative version of the app which resolved the problem. It appears to have been specific to his particular device's configuration or settings. This experience highlighted the unpredictable nature of AR development and the importance of having contingency plans for edge cases that might affect a small percentage of users. 

The testing also prompted me to optimize AR performance by implementing more efficient code, resulting in a 42% overall performance improvement from initial testing to final release!

Insights

The testing phase taught me that even small details matter enormously in educational apps for children. What seems intuitive to a developer might be confusing to a young user. Having actual feedback from diverse testers allowed me to see blind spots in my design and ultimately create a more accessible, engaging, and effective learning tool.

The device compatibility issue with User 6's testing was particularly eye-opening. It reminded me that AR applications face unique challenges across different hardware specifications, and thorough testing on multiple device types is absolutely essential. Sometimes functionality works while visual elements fail, requiring creative solutions and alternative implementations.


Testing Excel sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K_0yacGNkcMViIlGl5JNVuNefyJY5sNk6yxj6878xeo/edit?usp=sharing



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