Remote user testing for primary school children : with Yle Galaxi application

Abstract

The goal of this thesis was to research and validate remote user testing possibilities and how to adapt them to children aged from 7 to 12 years old. The research data was collected from literary sources, expert interviews, and user testing. The thesis consists of a theoretical and a practical part.

The theoretical part studies the purpose of testing in the user experience design field as well as explores the best methodologies of conducting them. The concept of children as users and their developmental stages in relation to user testing were explored and compared to adult user behaviour.

The demand for remote online solutions expanded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and this thesis aimed to find solutions for effective remote research and testing, specifically with primary school children.

For the practical part a small-scale usability testing session was conducted via Google Meet with a group of six children from Ylöjärvi, Finland. In the user testing the children performed tasks on Yle Galaxi application. The purpose of the testing was not to study the application itself but to try out remote usability testing on a free online meeting platform.

The findings of the testing were useful and educational. Despite a few problems with the tools used for the testing, it was a successful try-out for remote usability testing. All in all, further development for remote usability testing methods is needed. For this thesis there were no resources to try out commercial user testing websites or professional test participant recruiting agencies. Despite the limitations in budget, the testing proved that remote usability testing is feasible method for user research. It also proved that it is possible to conduct such tests with children.