RoboTutor 3.0.0.1 usability issues to fix for Zambia demo

[JackMostow]

Note: This list of issues comes from a review of one video. They should be split into separate issues or grouped into categories such as the type of issue or the scope to which they apply.

10:45 AM 2/3/2019 review FROM TABLETS > BUG VIDEOS AND SCREENSHOTS > 2019_01_30_19_45_07 Dita age 3.5 triggers bugs in Zambia demo.mp4

0:44 bpop e.g. bpop.ltr.lc:vow.vrelease_zm: PROMPT "Please tap on it" is awkward, so change to:
a. "Please tap"
b. "Please tap on the" number / letter / word / missing number -- any others?
c. "Please tap the right bubble"
+: same for all bpop
d. "Please pop the right balloon"
+: state the task and target
e. "Please pop the balloon with the answer"
+: more specific
-: wordier
-: ambiguous -- "with" means "that has the answer", not "using the answer" to pop the balloon

1:38 activity picker PROMPT says "Stories" but they're math activities because it's the same menu
--> say name of actual category
Fix: partition activities into separate matrices with correct categories

"Something different" is misleading if same category

a. Name activities kid-understandably -- how??

b. "this one" & "that one"
-: one what?

b. "this/that" "game"
-: not all are games

c. "this/that" "activity"
-: too advanced

d. "this" & "that"
+: ok for "stories"
-: not for "numbers & math"
-: not for "reading & writing"

numcompare.2d.compare.mix.vrelease_zm

MISSING ACTIVITY?: Should start with 1-digit numcompare before 2-digit

2:00 numcompare.2d BUG 66 & 62 Says "First compare the 10's" twice

numcompare.2d BUG Highlights 10's columns too briefly

Highlight in sequence instead? Use RoboFinger to indicate

2:08 numcompare.2d just says "six" not "six is the same as six"

2:10 numcompare.2d BUG then says "first compare the hundreds" -- should skip for 2d problem!

2:10 numcompare.2d INDICATE briefly outlines 66 in red just before says "good" -- why?

2:26 numcompare.2d PROMPT "First compare the tens... three" -- says 3 only once.

numcompare INDICATE "Tap the larger number": should indicate choice by [3x] alternating RoboFinger on each choice

2.38 numcompare FEEDBACK says "good" but not clear that tapped larger number -- should acknowledge by speaking larger number while indicating it. How?
a. Enlarge
b. Box

4:33 Debugger eliminate RESET and CUSTOM from debugger menu

6:27 Picker tapped exit though didn't want to stop
What to do?
a. Leave as is:
+: simplest, easiest; rely on kid to learn
b. Ask "are you sure?"?

7:43, 8:18, 11:33 COSMETIC: 3.0.0.1 banner flashes briefly before picker menu appears

8:20 phoneme:ae.1syl.vrelease_zm USABILITY:
8:18 C L A P appears
phoneme:ae.1syl.vrelease_zm PROMPT what to do (8:24 Dita asked "what do I have to do?"):

Insert PROMPT
a. "Please tap."

• where?
  b. "Tap the letters to spell the word."
  c, "Tap the letters to spell" .

INDICATE with RoboFinger:
a. Swiping through?
b. Tap in sequence?
-: misleading because scrambled
c. What?

8:20 says "clap"

9:05 phoneme:ae.1syl.vrelease_zm FEEDBACK: when speak spelled word, also give visual acknowledgement of correct answer; 1 beat before next item?
a. "Yes, C L A P spells CLAP"
-: verbose
+: reinforce sequence
b. indicate letters simultaneously
c. indicate letters serially

Add visual speech for phonemes?

11:00 countingx UI: remove overlap between numerals and tapping box to solve occlusion problem

11:03 countingx PROMPT, INDICATE: "Please tap inside the box" --> "Please tap here" + add tapping RoboFinger to elicit tap

11:30 countingx AUDIO: "Good job" overlaps with "ten" -- finish saying "then" before "good job" (missing "flow" in animator graph?)

11:32 countingx BUG: Says "good job" twice

11:34: COSMETIC: 3.0.0.1 flashes

11:47 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm PROMPT "Touch each one to add them up" -- touch each what? only need to tap once
-> "Tap here to add up the dots"
INDICATE Use RoboFinger tapping (not just static as at present) to invite where to tap

a. "First add the ones column"
b. "... to add these numbers" -- indicate columns

12:00 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm PROMPT, INDICATE "Please tap on the box and write your answer" -> "tap here and write your answer", use RoboFinger tapping to indicate where (then don't need to make box outline more visible)

12:31 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm BUG:
After accept 2 as correct, should move on immediately to 10's column.
Instead, when kid taps box again, erases green 2

12:35, 12:47 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm UI:
Superimposes written glyph over concrete quantity

12:41 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm UI:
Writing box occludes the concrete quantity in the bottom row to write (2)
What to do:
a. move writing box higher so it's above answer quantity
b. make answer box translucent to leave quantity visible
c. both

12:53 bigmath..by.rand.10..89.AllCarryBoarrow.lev11.vrelease_zm frustrated kid: "You do it!"
FEEDBACK: what to do?
a. 3-strike rule
b. escalate as in character writing:
i. "Not quite"
ii. Flash correct answer
iii. Show correct character to trace
iv. 3-strike rule = supply answer and go on

[JackMostow]

@kevindeland - Without a new .apk, I can't tell which of these problems has already been fixed, whether in code, by adding missing audio assets, or simply by incorporating the Zambia demo's small sample of activities into the full English version. But one way or another, it's important to fix them because even though they don't crash, they give a bad impression to people who may be deciding whether to support follow-on work on RoboTutor.

The list above omits one other bug, in the place value tutor: after the kid fills in 3, 3, and 4 in _00 + _0 + _ = 334, RoboTutor misverbalizes "300 + 30 + 4. 334" by saying "and" (in Judith's voice) at the very end, indicating a logic error or timing bug. (It may also omit "plus" to verbalize "+" but I don't recall for sure.)

A UI issue with this activity is that the pale yellow highlighting of the blanks to fill in not only doesn't match the blue rectangles used elsewhere in arithmetic problems, but is hard to see at all. It should match the blue rectangle convention used elsewhere and use RoboFinger to show where to tap, at least if the kid hesitates, assuming we want kids to learn to fill in the missing digit on their own.