HCI Exercise 3b

Human-Computer Interaction SS 2025

Exercise 3b: Thinking Aloud Test (TA Full Videos)

The full-length unpixelated video recordings and other personnally identifiable data will be handed in on a USB stick at the third client meeting (M3).

For each test user, there are two full-length videos: one from the external video camera and one from the session capture on the device. There are also one signed consent form per test user, and the file users.html containing a mapping of the test users' real names to their TPid and first name aliases. These files should not be uploaded to TeachCenter. They will not be released or published.

The short video clips illustrating findings, with blurred or pixelated faces, are part of the TA Report and should be uploaded with the report.

1 Obtain a USB Stick

  1. Obtain a USB stick, 16 or 32 GB should usually suffice.

  2. Format the stick as NTFS or exFAT.

  3. Make a directory gT-GG-ta-full-videos, where T-GG is the number of your tutor and group. For example, g1-01-ta-full-videos for Group 1-01.

2 Prepare the Full Session Videos

  1. The full session capture videos should include the screen, user's audio, and unpixelated facecam.

  2. Export the full session capture video for each test user as MP4 (H.264 video and AAC audio) in no larger than FullHD (1920×1080) resolution.

  3. Create a subdirectory session-videos containing the five full session capture videos, one per test user as follows: 

    g1-01-ta-full-videos/
  session-videos/
    tp1.mp4
    tp2.mp4
    ...
    tp5.mp4

3 Prepare the Full External Videos

  1. The full external videos from the tripod-mounted external video camera should include the user's audio and unpixelated face.

  2. Our preferred video format for the full external videos is MP4 (H.264 video with AAC audio) at FullHD (1920×1080).

  3. The full external videos should be no larger than FullHD (1920×1080) resolution and no smaller than 720p (1280×720) resolution.

  4. If your external video camera does not record in MP4 with the above codecs, we will try to play any of the following formats: MP4 with other video or audio codecs (.mp4), MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 (.mpg), QuickTime (.mov), Matroska (.mkv), and WebM (.webm). Please do not use any obscure or proprietary video or audio codecs.

    If we have difficulties playing your external video files, you may have to convert your videos into a different format and hand them in again.

  5. Create a subdirectory external-videos containing the five full external videos, one per test user, as follows: 

    g1-01-ta-full-videos/
  external-videos/
    tp1-ext.mp4
    tp2-ext.mp4
    ...
    tp5-ext.mp4

4 Prepare the Signed Consent Forms and Users File

  1. Scan the signed consent forms as PDF, in colour if appropriate.

    These must be good quality scans. A photo is not acceptable!

  2. Grab the file users.html from the Ex3b Materials.

    Save the file by right-clicking the file name users.html and using "Save Link As...".

    Fill out the file, so that it contains the mapping of the real names of the test users to their TPid and first name alias.

  3. Create a subdirectory consent containing the five scanned consent forms and the file users.html as follows: 

    g1-01-ta-full-videos/
  consent/
    tp1-consent.pdf
    tp2-consent.pdf
    ...
    tp5-consent.pdf
    users.html

5 Prepare the USB Stick to Hand In

  1. Your directory structure should look something like this: 

    g1-01-ta-full-videos/
  consent/
    tp1-consent.pdf
    tp2-consent.pdf
    ...
    tp5-consent.pdf
    users.html
  external-videos/
    tp1-ext.mp4
    tp2-ext.mp4
    ...
    tp5-ext.mp4
  session-videos/
    tp1.mp4
    tp2.mp4
    ...
    tp5.mp4

  2. Copy the entire directory onto the USB stick to hand in.

  3. Check the files are not corrupted (for example, if the USB stick is damaged) by opening them and playing the videos back.

    In SS 2024, several groups handed in USB sticks provided by the Studienvertretung für Informatik und Software Engineering and Management (stv.iso), which unfortunately were damaged and contained corrupted files.

  4. Check the USB stick is free of viruses, say with ClamAV (clamav.net) [Win, Mac, Linux].

  5. Label the USB stick with “HCI 2025” and your group number “GT-GG” (for example “G1-01”) using a sticky label (and small writing!).

  6. Bring your USB stick with you to hand in at the third client meeting (M3).

    I am required by the university to keep the exercise submissions for upto one year, in case of a dispute. To comply with data protection, all the material on the stick has to be deleted after one year.

    In order to return your stick to you, I could either a) make appointments for collection in one year's time, or b) copy over all the materials to alternative media. Both of these are rather impractical, given the number of sticks and the amount of data. I have decided the best strategy is for me to keep the sticks for one year, and then have them professionally destroyed.

6 One Year On: Remember to Delete