After the participant arrives in the lab space (a TSRB meeting room) and signs the consent form, we will assign the participant a coded identifier. We will then provide a sixty-second instructional lecture on the usage of the system. The cooperative evaluation then proceeds in three phases.
Phase 1 lasts approximately five minutes. During this phase we dim the lights, put on some music, and the participant and an investigator make small talk across a table. Note that this is not a simulated date – it is intended simply as a conversation. Another investigator manipulates the conversation lights and the lava lamp in tune with this conversation. During this time the participant will be encouraged to share any thoughts he or she has about the lights and the lamp.
Phase 2 lasts approximately fifteen minutes. During this phase, we provide the participant with our handheld prototype. The investigator then reads a prepared “date narrative” – a short story that describes a hypothetical date the participant has just had with a fictional character. The participant is also given a coaster that corresponds to the person, including a photo selected from a stock catalog. The participant must then use the handheld to register their compatibility evaluations based on the narrative and on the coaster. They may also use the voice recording function to record voice memos. During this time we will encourage the participants to “think aloud”, describing their thought process as they complete each step of the task. Each participant will complete three of these narratives.
Phase 3 lasts approximately fifteen minutes. During this phase, we provide the participant with a mockup of the On My Mind website. We ask the participant to pretend that they are sitting with a friend, who has gone to a speed dating session the previous evening. The investigator reads another “date narrative”, this time somewhat more vague, which represents the friend's memory of one of his or her dates from the previous evening. The participant then looks at the corresponding data record on the website mockup, and makes a compatibility decision to "help" his or her friend. The narrative may conflict with the mockup, representing a memory error. The participant must decide if it was a memory error or an error in using the device. During this time we will encourage the participants to “think aloud”, describing their thought process as they complete each step of the task. Each participant will complete three of these narratives.
Finally, participants will complete an exit survey, in which we ask them to rate the utility and effectiveness of different features of the prototype.
