Date Time Picker Paper Prototype User Testing - Round 1 Results

Summary

4 of 7 users thought the hour and minute wheels on the time picker moved together.
3 of 7 users said they'd prefer to just edit the text box instead of use the time picker.
4 of 7 users thought they could or wanted to be able to move the calendar.
6 of 7 users easily found and chose to navigate to the next year using the year dropdown.
6 of 7 users seemed to understand the meaning of the colored dates on the calendar (though not the border--but this may have been due to it not being very vibrant on the printouts).
One user said she'd like to be able to see all selected dates in the calendar so she could tell "when it's cramped between dates." Another user said he'd prefer to just see the date he's currently changing displayed in the calendar.
One user suggested using green for start and red for stop dates in the calendar.
One user pointed out that it is "weird" that the Accept until date is later than the Due date.
One user suggested making the picker disappear when moused out of its area.

Demographics

User Number	Location	Gender	Age	Role	Tech-savvy	Do you own a personal computer?
User 1 (BF)	Berkeley	Female	41-50	Staff	Medium	Yes, Macbook
User 2 (AL)	Berkeley	Male	19-24	Student	Medium-high	Yes, Toshiba laptop (PC)
User 3 (JV)	Berkeley	Female	19-24	Student	Medium-low	Yes, Windows XP laptop
User 4 (DB)	Berkeley	Female	51-60	Staff	Medium-low	Yes, a PC
User 5	UofT	Female	19-24	Student		Yes, Toshiba laptop (PC)
User 6	UofT	Male	19-24	Student		Dell Laptop (PC)
User 7	UofT	Female	16-18	Student		HP PC

Do you do any of the following and if so how often?

User	Checking email	Instant message	Shop online	Online banking	Internet research	Take class online	Social networking
User 1	All the time	All the time	All the time	All the time	N/A	A few times a month (webinar)	No answer
User 2	All the time	A few times a month	A few times a month	A few times a month	A few times a week	Hardly ever	A few times a week
User 3	All the time	A few times a month	Hardly ever	A few times a month	A few times a week	Never	A few times a week
User 4	All the time	Hardly ever	A few times a month	All the time	A few times a month	A few times a month	A few times a week
User 5		A few times a week	Few times a month	Few times a week	All the time	Hardly ever	Few times a week
User 6	All the time	All the time	Few times a month	Few times a month	All the time	Never	Few times a week
User 7	All the time	Never	Never	Few times a month	Few times a week	Never	Few times a week

Do you upload files on the web and if so how often?

User	Pictures	Media	Docs to course site	Docs to soc. ntwkg	File to email
User 1	Hardly Ever	Never	Never	Hardly Ever	All the time
User 2	A few times a month	Hardly Ever	Never	Hardly Ever	A few times a week
User 3	A few times a week	A few times a month	Hardly ever	Never	All the time
User 4	A few times a week	Hardly ever	Never	Hardly Ever	All the time

Interaction Notes

User	Time Picker	Date Colors	Today's date	See things underneath	Next year	Comments
User 1	User couldn't tell that the time picker had separate moving wheels--thought 10:10 was one wheel.	User knew that different colors meant previously selected dates.	User knew how to navigate to the link at the bottom of the calendar to go to "today's date."	To see things underneath, user would move the calendar or close it.	User knew to click downward pointing arrow to go to next year.
User 2	Understood metaphor, thought he would "click and drag" to change it. Didn't realize the wheels on time were separated. "For me less clicking is better. I'd would just click and edit it (e.g. enter date with keyboard)." User thinks there is too much mouse movement required here, but says "I'm not much of a clicker; I'd like to use the keyboard.	"I wouldn't stop to think about (what) the border (meant). Might be better if the calendar only showed the date being set, and all the dates together could be shown on a more schedule-like calendar. Could alternatively use green for start and red for stop (user suggested these colors). "I'd want to simplify it. I wouldn't want to deal with 'Open Date' (because he doesn't think it's meaningful or that professors ever set it to anything but today)."	Would click on "Aug 1"; didn't notice Today's Date link at the bottom (but was on August).	"I'd click off. It's easier than the small 'close'."	I would use the dropdown to go to another year.
User 3	"If I could just type in the box it would be easier" but "it's fine; I could use it."	After Allison pointed it out she noticed the border, but didn't notice it when first asked. "I'd like to see it when it's cramped between dates" (so she can see if the timeframe is reasonable).	Would use the "today's date" link at the bottom of the calendar.	Would try to drag or would close.	Would use downward arrow to open and navigate to year.	Wouldn't care whether or not there were defaults but would suggest being careful.
User 4	User unsure at first whether she could type over the '59' to edit with keyboard. After filling in the time, asks, "So do I need to close it?" "I don't like it. Maybe it would be easier if I was on a computer. Even so, it's like, just have time time or a blank space and let you put the time in. Seems like more trouble to scroll then enter in."	When asked, said the colored dates were helpful and reminds her of her personal calendaring system.		"I would like to just be able to move it but would also close the calendar to see what's underneath." "It's better for me if I can see my previous selections at the same time. It allows me to see all my info and correct it (if necessary) before it gets posted anywhere."	Wasn't sure if she could click on dropdown and asks, "Would I have to go month by month?"	"The date picker is pretty much like others; it works. The time thing doesn't work for me."
User	Time Picker	Date Colors	Today's date	See things underneath	Next year	Comments
User 5	"Not sure how this works." Had to be shown what happens when you hover over 10. Also explained that the time rolls up. Once explained, she was clear into picking 50 for 10:50. When told the time should be 11:59, she picked 11, thens said "There doesn't seem to be a 59." She would pick 55 and then see if she can choose 59. Had to be told they would be able to type into the box. "I wasn't sure how it woked, but through trial and error I'd figure it out."	The outlined date is today, the other two coloured dates are this one (opening date) and this one (due date)." When asked how she knew, she said "I only know because they are shown here (above the Accept until date)"	Would click on the appropriate month, then find today's date.	"I would just close it."	Would use the dropdown.
User 6	Would click on the box to pick a time. "Click on 11 and [fluid:the number in the field] would change i assume?" "There's no 59 here. so I don't really know how to pick 59. I would pick 55. I guess you could type 59. There's a cursor here, so I would think I can type. It's not obvious." "I don't think the rollie thing is so good. I don' t see every minute here." When asked if he'd prefer to see every minute in the wheel, he said, "I don't know. that would be confusing too." "When I first looked at it, I thought the only times you can select is the 6:40, 7:45, etc. "	"If I click in here (the date field), does anything pop up, or do i have to type it in myself?" "Today is august first, so 1 is that, and then these two boxes are the selected dates." "I only understood because I could see the correlation between these. (previously selected dates)"	Would click on "Today is".	"I would close the box first, and click it (to reopen the date/time picker), and pick it out again" "Maybe if you mouse out of the calendar, it would dissappear. But that's kind of annoying too, because it might be an accident."	Would use the year dropdown.	"This is weird because the Accept until date is earlier than the due date." About Tiem picker, "It's not bad. It's good because you can see all the possibilities. To me it wasn't very intuitive, but you could figure it out. I don't know, probably would've just typed it in."
User 7	When asked to select 11:59, she would select 11 to be the hour, then click on 55 first. When shown the cursor in the box, she said "Oh, so you'd be able to retype this."	"I would just type [fluid:the date] in." When the Accept until calendar is open, she said "[fluid:the highlighted] boxes are due and start dates. The first box (today's date) is where your clicker is." She understood the today's date style to be the mouse-over style.	Would use the Month and Year dropdowns to go to Today's date.	"You can move the window box." "I don't really need to see what's behind it though."	Would use the dropdown.	Wasn't clear how the interaction worked on the time picker. But said that if she were on the computer it's be a lot clearer.

Potential Design Improvements (based on testing)

Test the current time picker in a dynamic prototype to determine whether users have trouble with wheels scrolling together or text entry there
Consider an alternate time picker which focuses more on text entry. Date and time could be one field. Allow tabbing between the parts of the date & time (e.g. 12 / 22 / 08 1 : 00 pm) to facilitate quick entry.
Consider changing the colors on the date picker for other selected dates (other than the currently active date) to dark gray
Change wireframes so when selecting a date range, dates previous to the selected date are grayed out and unselectable - having no blue background on mouseover (e.g. when selecting a due date, dates previous to the open date should be grayed out).