The Teaching Guitar

1
The Teaching Guitar

• CS560 Human Computer Interface
• Haroon Shaw
• Carl Seaton
• Jim Merhaut

2
Agenda

• Project Goals Haroon
• Stakeholders Haroon
• Requirements Haroon
• Design Process Jim
• Prototype Jim
• Findings - Carl

3
Project Goals

• Apply Human Computer Interaction to design a
  teaching tool for music.
• Design a Teaching Guitar for music learners.
• Ease of use and flexibility of practicing guitar
  playing when and where ever.
• Prototype the design.
• Evaluate the design in terms of usability goals

4
Stakeholders

• Novice Guitar Player (beginner).
• Intermediate Guitar Player (who know basic scales
  and chords ).
• Parents(where applicable)
• Music Store Owner
• Music Store Sales Employees

5
Requirements

• Reduce time required to understand the intricate
  details of guitar playing.
• Guide a user with visual and audio prompting
  coupled with immediate feedback.
• Flexibility of practicing guitar anywhere.
• Distinguish and mark various song segments.

6
Requirements

• Provide for play along.
• Ease of repeating a song segment.
• Ability to control the tempo of a song.
• Assist in tuning.
• Ease of adding songs to the teaching library.

7
Design Process

• Each Member Submitted a Design
• Picked One Basic Design
• Developed the Prototype
• Focused on the Menu System for Testing
• Designed Task Based Evaluations
• Performed an Evaluation

8
Early Designs
9
Prototype - Guitar
Multi-Colored LED Fret Board
Menu Controls
Tempo Control
Menu Display
Tone Control
Mixer Control
USB Port
10
Prototype Menu Examples
11
Prototype Menu Examples
12
Prototype Menu Examples
13
Methods

• 4 participants, ages 18-53, from novice to
  advanced skill level
• 30 minute sessions included introduction,
  background, tasks, reaction
• observed users trying to complete 5 tasks in
  sequence
• select a G7 chord
• select a D diminished scale
• select the A string to tune
• select Funeral For A Friend and change the key
  to B
• select You Were Always On My Mind and repeat
  the solo section
• Used a modified, mocked up guitar for the user to
  hold
• Used paper cutouts for menu screens
• Used a pen to show current selection
• Observed reactions, comments, mistakes, and total
  time

14
Usability Session
15
Results
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Reaction
17
Findings

• Successes
• Users liked not being tied to a computer
• Users liked the concept of the LEDs in the
  fretboard
• Navigation wheel was easy to use once they found
  it
• Menu screen layouts were intuitive
• Both novice and intermediate users had similar
  success
• Concept of a teaching device viewed more
  favorably after the sessions
• Failures
• Most tried to use the display as a touch screen
• Most had to use trial and error on the scale
  positions
• Everyone had difficulty finding the repeat mode
• No way to back out of the playback screen

18
Changes

• Create a buck device for a more sophisticated
  prototype
• Answer whether fidelity affected initial screen
  confusion
• Answer whether fidelity affected repeat button
  visibility
• Allow for real timing data to be collected
• Change the scale position screen to show
  positions
• Include LED fretboard and playback in tests
• Enhance prototype to include LEDs
• Enhance prototype to have buck device play music
• Expand tasks to include the playback portion
• Randomize task sequence
• Experiment with more basic initial screen layout
• Experiment with redesign of playback screen and
  controls

19
Summary

• Project Goals
• Stakeholders
• Requirements
• Design Process
• Prototype
• Findings

20
Questions?