Here’s the first instalment of feedback on the mask program. I offered to watch my kids use the program and see how they got on as well as how much they liked it. When they use the program again I’ll make another post with follow up feedback.
I’ll try to categorise the feedback as much as I can. I have 3 sons, aged 8, 7 and 5 – called H, G and P from now on. So far only H and G have tried out the program due to a shortage of computers but the 5 year old was keen to be involved and he pulled up a chair and watched his big brother H using the program.
General Feedback
They liked the program – “it’s cool” commented H. I asked the boys to try the program but didn’t force them. They were all keen to give it a go though.
I genuinely think they like the program a lot. I asked H how much he liked it and he said a lot and wants to have another go. I tried to put “a lot” into context so I asked him if he preferred it to Lego Star Wars. The answer was “no, of course not”.
Installing
For the initial test I installed the program for them but as I write H is downstairs installing it himself on a second computer as the 5 year old (P) wants to give it a go too. H is installing it from a CD I burned.
Update: H has now come back upstairs after installing it successfully on his own downstairs.
I noted when I downloaded that it came in a zip file. You have to unzip the file then run the installer. This does slightly complicate the process for a child compared with simply downloading a setup EXE. However, I can see advantages in a ZIP since it avoids the “Do you trust this publisher warning” you get when installing straight after downloading an EXE.
Getting Going
H had little problem getting going with the program. He ran through the tutorial then started putting together a mask. I should say though that H has a reading age of 12 (I’m not boasting!) and reads up to 3 hours a day – he finished all the Harry Potter books when he was 7.
G was different. He’s more of an average reader I’d say. He struggled a bit and needed help to get past some of the initial dialogs. He ended up clicking on a Buy button and opening a browser. I’d say the getting going bit for G was a bit too difficult. I had to help him get as far as clicking the New button and then adding a head shape.
Neither H nor G liked the popup dialogs asking them to purchase. It struck me that if kids were meant to use the program they shouldn’t be nagged to buy. The nag screens simply make the program more difficult for kids. You could consider a different tempt-to-purchase scheme, e.g. allowing full access initially then locking the user out after 3 or 4 runs. Maybe printing could be disallowed? Some more thought may be needed in this area.
General Quality
There weren’t any bugs encountered. The whole program ran smoothly and, as written above, the kids thought the program looked cool and was nicely styled.
G has a particular love of cuddly animals, tigers especially, so he immediately tried to make a tiger mask. He noticed that there wasn’t a tiger nose, i.e. there was tiger head and mouth I think but he had to choose a cat nose although he started looking for a tiger nose.
When the mask was printed, it wasn’t centred in the page. I’m not sure if this is a problem really but I was sort of expecting it to be centred so that there was more flexibility in making holes for string to hold the mask in place.
Miscellaneous
H was pleased to find he could do some freehand drawing. He’s always liked opening up MS Paint and doodling. He liked that he could do this with the K program.
Finishing the Job
After printing I wondered what to do next to make the printout into a mask. I wasn’t being intentionally thick here, I wanted to see if the kids pushed me to finish the process of making masks and what the next steps would be. None of the kids actually wanted to wear the mask, they simply liked the look of the printouts.
It occurred to me at this point that neither the program nor your website explains to people (as far as I can gather) how to finish the job and make a mask. G thought he might finish the job of colouring in his tiger mask with felt tip pens. If the mask was printed on normal A4 paper I don’t think it would really work too well as it would rip too easily. Perhaps people should be told to get cardboard (like an old Rice Krispies box), some scissors and some string or elastic to finish making the mask. I know my kids like doing arts and crafts type of stuff and if they been prompted into getting these items I’m sure they’d have nagged me to go and get them. It might have made using the program more of an activity than just trying out a drawing program if you see what I mean. If the kids got a couple of hours fun out of it and ended up with some masks to wear they could be more tempted to want to use the program again.
Following On
We did the initial test this morning then we went out shopping. The 5 year old nagged me when we came home to set up their computer in the toyroom so he could try the program out. I guess this is good evidence that he liked the look of it enough to remember he wanted a go a few hours later.
In a few days time, maybe next weekend, I’ll ask the kids if they’ve used the program again on the computer in the toyroom.
Suggestions
There are some points/ suggestions made above. The suggestions here are simply a few more ideas I had while watching them use the program.
It might be an idea to bundle more ready-made masks with the program. If people are looking to buy masks, not make masks from scratch, a library of ready-made masks might be a good selling point. I know you have mask packs which people can buy or get as a bonus if they do purchase. If you aren’t selling copies then you might just add the mask packs into the main package to make it more attractive.
Find an alternative method of encouraging people to buy – the buy now nag dialogs are simply annoying to a child using the program. Be harsh! Your biggest friend in making a sale is likely to be a nagging child who can’t access the program and see his masks any more.
This comment is purely my personal preference for designing user interfaces – when you click the heads/ eyes/ ears etc. buttons you get a popup dialog showing you the available selections. Could you simply have a panel immediately to the right of the buttons that show the available selections and avoid the popup? If the selections were in a panel then clicking a selection in the panel could immediately update the mask. This would mean there were fewer buttons to click to add something to the mask. It would also have the advantage that when the program starts you could immediately list the available head shapes giving kids more targets to click on to get going.
All-in-all it’s a nice program!