Think aloud

The task during the think aloud was to, using the prototype, find the fastest way to travel between T-Centralen and Södermalmstorg using SL transportation, and where in the train one should be located. The test subject was Per, a 18 year old high school student.

Transcript (translated from Swedish) Ok, so I guess I click the SL app. And type the place I want to go in this field? [the user enters the locations in the prototype] Hmm ah, this route seems good. [the user selected the first route]
So, red line to Norsborg. Ohh, what does this train show? [the user clicks around a bit on the train, hitting the explanation button] Ah so it shows how crowded the train is. But why is the arrow not on the green part? [user looks a bit confused at phone, until he read the remaining explanation text] ok... that's good I guess, but what is the pink exit? [I show the user the image of leaving the train] pink arrows! So they take me to the best exit, if I follow them, I guess closest to where I want to be? Cool!

Q: why did you select the first route so quickly? Isn't that usually the first one arrive? At least in the app I used

Q: So you missed the explanation of the arrow first, how come? Well I was looking for what the train colors was, and their explanation was in bold color, so I think it just got my attention first

Reflection: The user quickly found his way around in the app, which was very good. It took a bit of time to get the explanations for all of the information on the route screen, however this should only be a problem the first time. The user found the experience very familiar to other applications, which enabled him to reuse trained behaviors from those context, like immediately choosing the first route because it is the fastest.