I realize that we are finished with our instructions assignment but still thought this article was interesting and relevant to this course.
This article examined the usability of instructions for assembling toys for young children. The study was performed with 24 participants ages 6 and 9 of mixed gender and analyzed speed and accuracy of assembly as well as time spent looking at the instructions. The children had difficulty with all but the simplest form of instructions and the older age group had more success with assembly, which makes sense. Girls in the 6 year old group had the most difficulty with assembly and girls in the 9 year old group reported having the least amount of fun. It was determined that product age recommendations often do not accurately reflect usability and many picture instructions are poorly formatted or displayed.
This article really shows the importance of writing (or drawing) for your audience and the effect the instructions can have on the satisfaction of the intended users.
This seems to be an interesting article, Kyle. It makes sense that the youngest girls had the most difficulty with assembly because usually boys love to assemble/make things...think of Lego blocks!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the older (9 year old) girls and boys did, comparatively. I think it's funny that the study included the "amount of fun" the children had. That is an interesting aspect of assembly. I also wonder whether improving the instructions would make the activity more fun.
Last summer, I got a bead loom kit for my cabin in a package from a friend, and it had an age for like 5 years and older... I had the hardest time trying to figure the thing out and so did my campers, who were all 8th-10th graders! It would have been easier if the directions were more clear. I couldn't imagine a 5 year old trying to make a project or even have fun from the kit at all. The difficulty of the directions took all the fun and success away from the project.
ReplyDelete