Virtual reality (VR) offers potential as a collaborative tool for both technology design and human-robot interaction. We utilized a participatory, human-centered design (HCD) methodology to develop a collaborative, asymmetric VR game to explore teens’ perceptions of, and interactions with, social robots. Our paper illustrates three stages of our design process; ideation, prototyping, and usability testing with users. Through these stages we identified important design requirements for our mid-fidelity environment. We then describe findings from our pilot test of the mid-fidelity VR game with teens. Due to the unique asymmetric virtual reality design, we observed successful collaborations, and interesting collaboration styles across teens. This study highlights the potential for asymmetric VR as a collaborative design tool as well as an appropriate medium for successful teen-to-teen collaboration.
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Usability testing with teens: Adapting human-centered design and UX methods
Teens are a unique population with needs and communication styles that differ from adults and children. Methods in humancentered design were initially conceptualized with adults in mind, but these methods should be reexamined to include the needs of teens. In this experience report, we reflect on a project introducing teens to human-centered design and methods. As part of the project, our team created a website and series of videos. We conducted a usability evaluation on the videos and an accompanying website with teens to understand what worked well and how to make improvements. In this report, we discuss how we modified traditional usability methods and tailored them for a teen audience. We share takeaways including keep methods and tools lightweight and facilitation styles engaging and casual. We assert that modifying methods is a key consideration for conducting usability testing with any unique group of users.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1734100
- PAR ID:
- 10066881
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of The 36th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 6
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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