Background
The Growth team will be adding Task recommendations (a.k.a. "Suggested edits") for newcomers on their homepage this Q1/2019-20, with the hypothesis that newcomers are more likely to start and continue to edit (i.e., become "retained) under certain conditions. Namely, they are more likely to edit when:
- offered recommendations related to their interests;
- shown guidance at at the right time; and
- when given sufficient context during editing.
Goals of this user test
Overall, the aim of this task at this stage is focused on usability testing to better inform design of the guidance UI as users try to complete a suggested edit.
- Gauge the discoverability of the task guidance panels at various points of a user trying to do a suggested edit.
- Identify improvements to the usability of task guidance panels by users.
- Gauge user reactions and understanding of the different forms of guidance content offered, particularly:
- Quick start tips
- Highlighting maintenance templates
- Video/GIF content
- Self-help search
- Top help articles
- Asking for mentor help
- Assess their overall understanding about completing an edit on Wikipedia gleaned throughout the process of completing the suggested edit with the guidance.
Testing format
This will be an unmoderated remote task-based test, conducted using UserTesting.com to recruit participants and record sessions.
Testers
10 users will be recruited using UserTesting.com. The intention will be to screen for respondents who likely do not already have a Wikipedia account, and are new to editing on Wikipedia.
- 5 will test on the Desktop - ideally a mix of VE and Wikitext 2017 editing UI (so that users see a version that has the "?" icon in the top editing toolbar)
- 5 will test on the Mobile Visual Editor UI
Test protocol
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17CwhZZWxXdtZ-SR1NtA7nOaGdCDzaO1ctllNtezi19E
Results
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_7bgug9vmtijqw63LXfFD4GBmvaphx2U0c5JxRBDKQE/edit?usp=sharing