Clickable Prototype:
https://study-break-producti-img8.bolt.host/timer
Introduction:
Brevi is designed to help students take intentional and restorative pauses during their study and work sessions. Instead of defaulting to passive breaks like scrolling on their phone, users can check in with Brevi about how they’re feeling and receive a short, guided pause tailored to their needs. The user could be guided to stretch, step outside, or take a quick mindfulness exercise! The app allows users to start a pause, record their mood, complete the suggested activity, and reflect on their experience over time. Through Brevi, we want to test whether personalized, structured pauses can help users feel more refreshed and focused than their usual unstructured breaks, ultimately improving their work experience.
Usability Script:
Hi, ________. My name is ________, and I am going to be walking you through this session today. Before we begin, I have some quick information to go over. I am just going to read it to make sure I do not miss anything.
You probably already know why we asked you here, but to recap, we are testing an app we are building for a design class to help students manage their focus and take better breaks. The whole session should take around 30 minutes.
I want to make it super clear right away that we are testing the app, not you. You cannot do anything wrong here. If something is confusing, it is our fault, not yours.
As you use the app, I am going to ask you to think out loud as much as possible. Just tell me what you are looking at, what you are trying to do, and what is going through your mind. It is a huge help for us.
Also, please do not worry about hurting our feelings. We need your honest reactions so we can actually improve this thing.
If you have any questions as we go, just ask. I might not answer them right away because we want to see what you do when you do not have someone sitting next to you helping out. But I will answer everything at the end.
With your permission, we are going to record the screen and our conversation. The recording is just for our project team to review later.
Do you have any questions before we jump in?
The Questions
Before we look at the app, I have a few quick background questions.
- What are you studying, and what does a typical heavy workload day look like for you?
- When you are studying and start to feel burnt out or lose focus, what is your usual reaction?
- How often do you normally take breaks, and what do you actually do during them?
The First Screen Tour
Awesome. Let’s look at the app now.
Without clicking or tapping anything yet, just look at this first screen. Tell me what strikes you about it, what you think you can do here, and what you think it is for. Just give me a little narrative of what you are seeing.
The Tasks
Thanks for that. Now I am going to ask you to try doing a few specific tasks. I will read each one out loud. And again, please try to think out loud as you do them.
Task 1: Imagine you have a bunch of assignments due and you are sitting down at Green Library to lock in for a few hours. Show me how you would start a work session in the app.
Task 2: You have been working for about 20 minutes. You are starting to get distracted and realize you need to step away for a second. Show me how you would initiate a pause in the app.
Task 3: The app is now showing you a quick micro break activity. Go ahead and read through it. Once you are done with the break, show me how you would tell the app that you are ready to get back to work.
Task 4: You have been working for another 25 minutes. You are in a really good flow state, but the app sends you an alert suggesting you take a break. Show me what you would do if you just wanted to keep working and ignore the break.
Task 5: You are finally done with all your work for the day. Show me how you would end your session and look at your stats.
Probing
That was really helpful, thank you. I just have a couple of quick follow-up questions.
- When you took the break, did the activity the app gave you feel like something you would actually do in real life?
- The break was meant to be super short, around 3 minutes. Did that feel like enough time to be useful, or did it just feel like an interruption?
Wrapping Up
Do you have any final questions for me?
Thank you for your time.
-Team Axolotl
