Today I had a few people try my project without giving them any instructions, just to see how intuitive it actually is. Since the website isn’t fully finished yet, some parts were definitely confusing at first. People weren’t totally sure what the experience was supposed to be, and the lack of intro screens made it feel like something was missing.
But honestly, the four buttons in the p5 interface made a huge difference. Even without explanations, most people understood pretty quickly that each button does something to the robot. They started clicking around, testing what each one does, and exploring on their own. The mapping between the controls and the robot’s movement felt clear to them, which is a good sign.
Still, because the rest of the experience isn’t complete yet, they didn’t really understand why the robot was moving or what the larger goal of the project was supposed to be. This is where most of the confusion happened. I found myself needing to explain the story/context and what the robot is meant to represent , which means that once the website is finished, I need to make sure the narrative is communicated immediately and visually, without me talking.
Overall, the parts that are working really well right now are:
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the p5 buttons
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the immediate direct feedback
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the fact that people naturally experimented
The parts that need improvement:
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clearer intro
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clearer purpose
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smoother connection between the physical robot and the digital scenes
Once the full website and story screens are built, I think the experience will make a lot more sense for first-time users. For now, at least the controls are intuitive so that’s a good foundation to build on.