2021 Meeting of the Minds Virtual Poster

HCII AB Usability Testing of Macroinvertabrates.org Native App and Figma Prototype

Authors: Dominique Aruede (Carnegie Mellon University), Marti Louw (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract:
The opportunity this project presents is to support practicing and learning identification (ID) of macroinvertebrates. The app is a companion to the macroinvertebrates.org website and works in-field without an internet connection on mobile devices for a diverse set of users. The app has an interactive subsection of the prototype which we named "Quiz." Quiz contains helpful tools for reviewing insect information (taxonomy, fun facts, etc.) like flashcard decks and short, image-based multiple choice question sets. We ideated on two possible flashcard designs and conducted a series of AB tests plus online surveys with six users. We ask the question, what flashcard elements do users prefer when learning to ID? We discovered that people unanimously preferred the version that coupled an illustration with the description of order-level characteristics of each insect, as opposed to the version that only had a textual description with closeup views of characteristics.

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