User testing video:
I gave a user a try of the project after I finished the pairing and connection, and he was able to figure out what everything meant. He was very smart and was able to figure out what should be done even with my hints being somewhat not quite directional. Also, my intention for this project is to let the user figure out what everything does because one thing about cats is that it is hard to get what they mean, and finding out what everything is is part of the process. Eventually, my tester understood everything and had fun playing around with it.
During the testing, basically, everything turned out well. The only thing that might be improved is that sometimes when you are obviously mean towards the cat, she becomes more affectionate and happier, which should not be happening. That is also why I added to the notes that the cat’s change in emotions can be quite unpredictable. It is the problem with the AI model, so I don’t have a fix for it. Another thing is that the API only accepts three inputs per minute. therefore if the user input too fast the program might crash because the parseInt function can get nothing and the mood becomes corrupted. I couldn’t think of a way that could fix this.
For now, I think I don’t need to explain anything more because the exploration is part of the process. but I might find the need to do further explaining when giving this to a wider audience. I could add a page to the “help” button to explain the whole mechanism but I truly believe that would decrease the fun and make it really a simulator instead of an experience.