Transcript
Shyla Fairfax
Usability Assignment 1
User and Task Analysis: Making a Chilli Using a Hamilton Beach Slow-Cooker The purpose of this report is to analyze the usability of a Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker, Type SC42. The user will be tasked with making a chilli using the slow cooker. The report will provide a product description, task steps, and a user scenario. It will then document the details of the user experience and heuristics.
Product Description A Slow Cooker is a countertop electrical cooking appliance that simmers food, allowing for up to several hours of unattended cooking. It is ideal for making sauces, soups, stews, and chillies. The Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker, Type SC42, is a six quart pot with three settings: High, Low, and Warm. The first two settings refer to the temperature food will be cooked at, and the time can be adjusted by 30 minute intervals. The Warm setting will not cook the food, but rather keep it warm. When the cooking timer runs out, the slow cooker automatically sets itself to warm for eight hours. This slow cooker has three parts: a base, a removable pot which sits inside of the base, and a lid. Only the pot itself heats up, however, the settings are all on the base. The base is made of tin, with a plastic bottom, plastic handles, and a plastic settings adjuster. The settings adjuster features a digital screen that will display the cook time. The pot is ceramic, and the lid is glass with a rubber rim and rubber handle on top.
Shyla Fairfax
Usability Assignment 1
Making a Chilli Using the Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker To make a chilli using this slow cooker, you will additionally need the desired ingredients, and a cooking spoon made of wood, plastic, or metal. 1. Place the pot inside of the slow cooker base, do not plug in 2. Chop and dice vegetables, onions, and garlic to desired size 3. Place all ingredients in the pot, including spices and tomato sauce • NOTE: The sauce must fill at least 1/3 of the pot to avoid burning 4. Stir the ingredients until well mixed 5. Cover the slow cooker with its lid 6. Plug in the slow cooker, the word OFF will appear on the digital screen 7. Turn the knob on the settings adjuster clockwise until LOW is centred, the digital screen now displays 8:00 to indicate eight cooking hours 8. Press the + adjuster button twice to set the cooking time to ten hours, it is above the digital screen • TIP: Holding the button will make the numbers adjust at a faster pace Your sauce will now cook for ten hours without interruption. You may leave it unattended, and should never remove the lid while cooking. When the timer runs out, the slow cooker will automatically set to warm. You may turn the slow cooker off and serve at any point while it is warming. • WARNING: Be sure to unplug the slow cooker when you are finished to avoid electrical accidents.
User Scenario: Wayne Wayne is 26 years old, married, and earns a very comfortable living as a Truck and Coach Technician. He is a problem-solver who likes to work with his hands, and enjoys tackling problems with technical equipment using a combination of his own knowledge and background, and web research. Wayne works from 7:30-4:30 five days a week, but often finds himself putting in overtime hours. His job can be exhausting and hard on his body, so at the end of the day he tends to come home hungry and tired. To refresh himself, he eats a hearty meal and soaks in a hot shower, before continuing on with his evening plans, which often involve socializing. It is important to him that dinner not take too much time. To avoid eating out, as he often does, he and his wife (the primary user) purchased a slow cooker. He hopes it will make dinner less of an ordeal, since they both have busy schedules. Since Wayne leaves earlier on weekday mornings than his wife, she usually prepares a slow cooker dinner after he has gone. However, these days she has been busier than usual, so Wayne has decided to take on some of the dinner responsibilities. As a test run, he will prepare a slow cooker meal one morning when his wife is home to oversee the task.
Shyla Fairfax
Usability Assignment 1
Wanting to make a simple slow cooker dinner that will generate enough food for leftovers, Wayne decides to make a chilli. He has seen his wife make it many times, and thinks it looks quick enough to handle in the morning. If all goes well, he hopes to prepare dinners himself more often. The most important aspect of this task being successful is that it can be accomplished quickly, since Wayne will have a small time frame within which to complete the task before having to leave for work. He also must feel confident that the settings are functioning as expected, as he will have to leave the slow cooker unattended all day. Convenience and simplicity are Wayne’s main interests in using this product. He expects to follow the simple steps provided by his wife, go to work, and come home to a well-cooked chilli. If he has questions, he is likely to search for answers on Google, so he also hopes that the product information is accessible online. However, he fully expects to be able to use the product without any help. If it is complicated, or confusing, he is likely to rush off for work and not complete the task. As a secondary user of the slow cooker, Wayne has no experience with the product. Since he has not made a chilli before, he is also unable to rely on his previous cooking experience to make choices about temperature and time; therefore, if the slow cooker does something unusual he will be unable to counter the problem. As a problem-solver though, he can rely on his technical aptitude to fix any issues he happens to notice.
The User Experience Wayne seems confident in his technical aptitude and does not ask any preliminary questions. Once he begins, he does fumble with the timer quite a bit, and asks if there is a way to set it to finish at 5:15, as opposed to setting it to cook for for 10 hours, which would have it finish at 5:00. The primary user tells him it is not possible, so he sets it to cook for 10 hours as he was instructed. This indicates a desire for the product to be less restrictive, and to have more options. However, its simplicity comes from keeping options to a minimal. Wayne does not ask anymore questions and seems to be able to follow the instructions, and use the settings, without any issues. The manufacturer’s instruction set was made available to him, but he never opted to refer to it. Nor did he do any web research. Wayne was able to successfully complete the task with minimal interaction with the primary user, and no outside or manufacturer assistance. This is a good indicator of the product’s usability since Wayne has no previous experience with slow cookers, or making chilli. It is likely that his experience with hands-on problem-solving was an asset, but the product itself is made for convenience. Because the product suited the user’s needs, the task was simple to achieve.
The Heuristics Simplicity (6/6): The design of the slow cooker is straightforward and easy to understand which makes the user experience a positive one. There are very few options, which means there are
Shyla Fairfax
Usability Assignment 1
very few buttons. All the buttons are labeled appropriately, using as little ink to convey a message as possible. For instance, the time adjustment buttons are labeled as + and a - signs. Predictability (6/6): The product functioned just as Wayne expected it to, based on the steps provided by the primary user. This made the task flow without interruption and led to successful completion. Clarity of Flow (5/6): The simple design contributed to a clear task flow. The tasks were made obvious and easy to complete. However, because there very few details and options on the product itself, knowing what order to adjust the settings in can be a little confusing. Flexibility (2/6): There are not multiple ways to accomplish the task using this product. Its simplicity also lends to its rigidness, giving the user very little control over the task. Being able to choose your temperature and cooking time is significant, but the options do not exist on a wide scale. Still, it is not a major issue since (for example) the automatic warming option reduces the need to cook until a specific time.
