THE USABILITY TESTING OF AN EDUCATIONAL APP GAME

Gamification, the use of game element and game-design technique in non-game contexts, is a very popular way to acquire knowledge (Sebastian et al., 2011). Unlike traditional toys (e.g. LEGO, tangram), games on digital devices such as computers, mobiles and iPad can provide a brand new learning experience. Now, these educational games are so abundant that can be collected in a category and available through Google Play and APP store either free of charge or at a cost.

As the attention for application development focuses on the content of knowledge and programming, user experience should also be concerned as another important aspect (Jesse James Garrett, 2010). For children who tend to distract easily, the interest for user experience design would be: how to improve the usability of a product and continuously capture children's attention?

To answer the question, we conducted an usability testing for an application called Puzzle Fun , which is compatible with iOS system. The application is designed as a game that helps to enhance students' spatial intelligence and the concept of Boolean operators, which is an important base for subjects such as graphics, technology, programming and design. We recruited 10 participants (3rd through 5th grade students) in this usability testing and found that the icon design of this game is not friendly enough for those children that they failed to link the specific functions of icons. They also reported other difficulties such as they were unable to control the graph scale button accurately, and failed to expect the levels of difficulty.

User experience design is a user-centered design approach that helps developers to design a product or service which conform to the users’ needs. There are many developmental differences between children and adults, and it is not enough for us to capture the habits and needs of children only through imagination. By conducting usability testing, it provides a chance for developers to discover where the pain points are and what target users’ needs through their experiences. This helps developers improving the user interface of applications and the interaction design (e.g. reward) to achieve the goal of educational use.