For the user testing, I think the fact that the same plushy in real life was on the p5 screen kind of hinted at what users were supposed to do, especially since the sensors were not so subtly taped onto the back of the plushy. The physical aspect of the project is still in the makes, which is why the sensors were on the back, because I’m still trying to figure out the best way to implement the sensors without taking away from the capabilities of the flex sensors. Ideally, I wanted to stuff the flex sensors as well as the arduino board and bread board into the plushy, but I realized how heavy it would be and also the struggle of the jumper wires potentially disconnecting. I think that if I stuck with the plan where the only thing visible was the arduino cable to connect to my laptop, it would be less self-explanatory and a bit harder to figure out since the sensors wouldn’t be in plain sight.
I think there was some confusion on how exactly the plushy should be squeezed. I don’t think the user knew it was supposed to just be hugs, but he probably hugged the plushy simply because it’s a cozy plushy. If it were a different object, I don’t think his first instinct to interact with it would be to hug it. He ended up squishing the plushy between his palms as well, which was a really interesting way of playing with it.
I think the overall concept is working well, where the pressure value and p5 connection is working properly, but there could be major improvements in where the sensors/arduino components could be within the plushy, as well as better p5 display and design with instructions and maybe some context on the project. I think I would have to explain the purpose of it because knowing your tight hugs make the plushy’s day would definitely add more positivity into the interactive experience. I would also have to explain how exactly it would work, which is a bit complicating because saying to just hug it is a bit vague since I only have two flex sensors, so if they hug an area without the sensor, the p5 screen wouldn’t reflect anything, which would be a pretty disappointing outcome. Having just brief words on the p5 screen before or maybe during its start would help make sense of the idea