Obel Usability Report

by Adam Condell

Background:
Obel is a music composing tool otherwise known as a DAW. It seeks to bring many of the powerful elements found in a powerful computing environment to tablets and handhelds in a comparable and equality usable way. Converting traditional interface design for a touch screen environment really didn't require a lot of effort. DAWs in them selves are based off physical devices with dials and buttons to be operated with no more than finger and thumb. Hence the design really only need me to find a way to turn those dials without a thumb. On top of this, composers are now use to writing and arranging in clips of sound data so the ability to easily manipulate, move, copy delete clip elements was a design concern. In audio production, precision is a key element for most which is why in the design I have multiple input methods for placing clips and editing parameters. Dials can be turned in a scaled radius, or be set numerically. Maintaining a logical and uncongested flow in editing was also key, meaning modules for detailed editing all hanging off and reverting back to a main overview and an absolute reduction of window hierarchy to 2 max. Eg. Main View>Sequencer>Input field, Main View>Mixer>Effects List, Main View> Asset Browser>File manager. For testing and review I created a paper prototype demo which displayed these concepts and flow.

Method:
The testing was done in individual consultation with 7 audio engineering contemporise who work in music production, both professionally and non-professionally. Considering that this app was designed with personal composition in mind the weight of opinion from non-professionally paid producers were taken into greater account. Testing was not done on inexperienced users as the core demographic for the app design was for people who understood the concepts of digital composing and provide intuitive interaction across platforms. Provided with the prototype I created I explained the modules and functions that the program contained but didn't explain how to access or interact with them specifically. The only mechanic that was explained was the four tap intervals and what they typically did.

Tap Intervals:
-Single tap to select -Long hold to edit in context -Double tap to edit as a module -Double tap and hold to additively interact with an element. There were a series of functions to complete which are now outlined in the accompanying prototype document. Functions involved moving clip data, selecting certain elements , opening and closing modules.

Research Goals:
To determine what taps people would tend to use for each function. Also to determine any input methods that were inefficient or less than functional. Also to determine if focus on the Arrangement View and use of the bottom panel for selected modules was suitable. The goal was not to determine new features or interaction methods but to see if the behaviour of tap intervals were easily recognised and translated well throughout the app. As well as how comfortable the users were with range of interaction they were given and whether elements reacted as they expected.

Outcomes:
For the most part user interaction was as expected in the Arrangement View. Through facilitated discussion and trialling 4 different functions with the 4 given tap interval, all 6 participants came out with the same interaction pattern when manipulating clips. Select, Move, Copy, Edit. Were the functions ended up as Select - One tap Move - Long tap Edit - Double tap Copy - Double tap and hold. The only debate that arose here was the behaviour of the clip when moving and copying clips. Most concerns were from the lack of near precision when using the finger to place a clip. Most participants agreed that some degree of grid snapping was necessary and that accidental release should not result in a clips permanent placement or loss of position. Hence the common agreement was to set the clip in place when making a single or isolated tap on the screen. Another concern which is common amongst users of DAW was how the screen scrolled when dragging elements to the edge of the screen which has typically been a design anomaly in many DAWs. The tap intervals were easily adopted and users repeated these intervals in the sequencer module and when interacting with effects and dials.

Quantitative Results:
I asked a few questions regarding the user opinion on the app design. Rate the comfort, ease of use 1-10. Avg: 8.86. User Comment: "There's so many buttons and dials all over the screen, I think I was a bit worried about accidentally pressing one or setting something off by accident. Making the main actions require long holds probably isn't as quick but really made interaction feel a lot more solid." Rate the user interface 1-10 Avg: 7.86 User Comment "The interface behaved the way I'd expect most DAWs. It sort of seems like it would make you focus more on each component rather than everything at once. It does seem limited compared to using a full DAW. I think once you get use to it you could use this about as quickly as a desktop program like Ableton. I'd still miss a lot of the desktop features" -You can have those features in the paid app maybe~ Rate the included features 1-10 Avg: 7.71 User comment: "Features were fine, when you can access everything in such a small and convenient way it make you realise how little you really need to get what you want done. It's for a mobile device so I guess it won't nearly be as powerful as a desktop DAW. The way things are heading this will probably be the way. The inclusion of VST instruments and effects really give it about as many features as any other DAW. I'd say the only drawback from a professional point of view is the lack of screen space to go over the whole project, but I suppose there's ways around that, magnification settings or something." Rate the GUI style 1-10 Avg: 7.15 User Comment:

User persona:
Anya is a 25 year old music producer who's worked professionally for multiple companies from France to Ireland and is now working on projects with artists in Australia. She composes and records with digital audio software in large and small studios. When not working in a studio she does mock up compositions on a laptop at home. When out she records small bit and ideas into her tablet as one would write down a reminder note. She also like to try out new and different music apps to find new sounds or play around with different formats of writing. Luke is a 23 year old student. He's decently familiar with a lot of different graphical video and audio programs on computer. He considers himself a jack-of-all trades regarding media production taking on wedding photos to band video shoots and dabbles in photoshop with logo design and album art. He's also dabbled in the music industry managing bands and setting up public events and band tour supervision. He like to be trendy and hip with the latest news and stories involving all fields, from politics to computing, science, religion and new music styles. He's a strong supporter and money backer for numerous indie game projects. On top of all this he also works a casual job at the zoo. -He's also my best friend. Oscare is a 46 year old owner of a successful band management, touring and development company. He spends most of his work hour talking to band member and going of the song list and even writing most of the material. He also deals with record managers and Sony scouts to take over representation of the band, so it's constant work to try and make a band better, more solid and professional. He is set in his ways though exclusively works digitally at a work station. Though with little time to bother with such an app seriously he is very open to innovation to actually improve the quality and ability to easily write good music. If such an app could be developed to be as good or more powerful and useable than traditional DAWs then he would seriously consider using it. Camdan is a 19 year old student studying social sciences. She has no background in any form of music recording or production and has a little training playing piano. She's typically very busy and spends much of her spare time enjoying video games. She owns an apple iPhone and is adequately adept at using the various touch functions to complete tasks, messaging, taking notes, browsing the internet. Camdan is a good representation of the typical casual user and a good source for testing apps for completely new users.

Conclusions
My demographic was mostly those with a music background. The concept for this app is to eventually be as useable and flexible as current mouse and keyboard setups so their specific input was much more relevant than others. Through testing I realised that there wasn't much point in designing a tablet DAW program unless people were going to seriously use it for recording and writing. Surprisingly enough though, users who weren't familiar with music production at all seemed to pick it up really quickly, though still with more apprehension than seasoned composers. One idea that came to mind when I saw untrained users attempt to operate it in portrait orientation was to try a portrait oriented app with the tracks scrolling from top to bottom. Could be a novel and revolutionising way...or just terrible. Considering its how the Session View in Ableton Live works it's not so far fetched Because the actual rendered representation of the app wasn't available users couldn't comment on how it looked exactly. But the overall design and placement of buttons , sizing of tracks and layout was well received. Some thought that instead of the "lock" button I had to stop the bottom bar from changing could simply be replaced with a toggle to switch between the Effects Chain and the Arrangement Overview. Others also suggested it could just change contextually depending on what module you're accessing. Considering the layout for it is left to right - horizontal, I thought perhaps making a swipe up and down could switch between the different bar modules. Overall I was pleasantly affirmed with my design and took note of suggested additions got to see some of the limitations that could have simple solutions.