Testing, user feedback and honest evaluation
Evaluation is not a paragraph saying you enjoyed the project. It is evidence measured against the criteria you wrote at the start.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Test, evaluate and refine their ideas and products against a specification, taking into account the views of intended users
Key learning points
- • Test what you claimed
- • Getting useful user feedback
- • Qualitative plus quantitative
- • Modify, then retest
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 25 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 25
Visual introductionPicture this
Testing, user feedback and honest evaluation
Evaluation is not a paragraph saying you enjoyed the project. It is evidence measured against the criteria you wrote at the start.
In a nutshell
Test, evaluate and refine their ideas and products against a specification, taking into account the views of intended users
What you already know
Part 2 of 25
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know how to write measurable specification criteria and how to model an idea.
Key words
Part 3 of 25
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Iteration
- A cycle of making, testing and improving.
- Prototype
- A working model made to test an idea, not to sell.
- Qualitative data
- Views and descriptions from users.
- Quantitative data
- Numbers from measurement or counting.
- Modification
- A specific change made because of test evidence.
Reset break
Part 4 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 5 of 25
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Testing against the specification
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 25
Learn
Test what you claimed
Take the specification line by line and record a pass, fail or partial result with the measurement. A table of criteria against results is worth more than a page of prose, because it shows exactly where the product falls short.
Explore the idea
Part 7 of 25
Learn
Getting useful user feedback
Let users handle the prototype and watch what they do before you ask anything. Where do they hesitate? Ask open questions — 'show me how you'd use this' — rather than 'do you like it?', which invites politeness rather than truth.
Reset break
Part 8 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 9 of 25
Quick check
Part 10 of 25
Learning cycle
Part 11 of 25
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Using feedback to modify
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Reset break
Part 12 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 13 of 25
Learn
Qualitative plus quantitative
Numbers tell you how much; comments tell you why. A 2 mm deflection under load is a number; 'it feels like it will snap' is a perception. Both matter, because a product users distrust will not be used even if it passes the test.
Explore the idea
Part 14 of 25
Learn
Modify, then retest
Write each modification as a change plus a reason plus evidence: 'thicken the base to 6 mm because it tipped in four of six user tests'. Then test again. One untested improvement is a guess; a tested one is design.
Quick check
Part 15 of 25
Reset break
Part 16 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 17 of 25
Common mix-ups
Part 18 of 25
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Liking a product is not evidence that it works.
- Evaluation belongs throughout the project, not only at the end.
- A change without a reason is a redesign, not a modification.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 25
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Reset break
Part 20 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 5 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 21 of 25
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Take the ____ line by line and record a pass, fail or partial result with the measurement.
Challenge round
Part 22 of 25
Game · Recall cards
The best evaluation compares the product with...
Card 1 of 4
Exit quiz
Part 23 of 25
Exit quiz
Show what you've learned
6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.
1. Iteration means...
2. A prototype exists to...
3. 'Do you like it?' is weak because...
4. Partial pass on a criterion should be...
5. After modifying you should...
6. Qualitative data is best for...
Mastery quiz
Part 24 of 25
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Testing, user feedback and honest evaluation
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. The best evaluation compares the product with...
2. Quantitative evidence would be...
3. A well-written modification includes...
4. Watching users before questioning them helps because...
Lesson round-up
Part 25 of 25
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 25 · Watch & discover