Independent Testers User Experiences
We observed the two following people as being representative of the experiences an average user would have. We followed them from opening the package through installation to actually using the product. We wanted to supplement our own conclusions with their observations and actions. The criticism and tips mentioned in this section are thus indirectly included in the final conclusion. We asked both users to evaluate the product in a few sentences.
Test Person 1: Student (16, male)
This is a summary of the first test person’s evaluation. In addition to some cell phone photos, the user mainly dealt with short movie clips, wallpapers, and MP3 files. After a short introduction on the advantages of online backup, the user enthusiastically dove into the product.
He had some criticisms regarding the boring Web interface and its usability. The search either found the wrong content or offered too many hits with little relevance. He mentioned the lack of a directory hierarchy as well as the absent EXIF data in photo files. The hard drive and USB thumb drive storage were praised, though the lack of file filtering was an issue. The 3D Wall was enjoyed and classified as stylish, balancing out the problems with file searching.
The included software proved no challenge for this user. The iPhone we supplied with the prepaid app installed was met with a "no, thank you." His grade for the entire product was a B.
Test Person 2: Adult (29, female)
This is the assessment of a professional Web designer. She liked the idea of the adopting a USB thumb drive, and its operation went smoothly. The two required user accounts were taken negatively, as was the overly complicated registration process. She missed file filtering and described these as the only reason why she would never use this product on her own, in spite of a good concept.
This is the key question: why should users have to adapt when storing files on the computer instead of having the backup software adapt to them? She would have liked more options, as well. Overall rating: satisfactory.
