The Tittylator: Playtest
This week, I had to prepare functioning interactions to playtest the Tittylator with potential users. The soft enclosure is currently being 3D printed at LaGuardia Studios, so I had to design my playtest in a way that would still get me useful feedback from the users without having everything in one piece.
I created my Playtest Plan, as advised by Pedro. This gave me an idea of what the scope and audience of my playtest is going to be.
I made a to-do list for the playtest:
Setting up Arduino with All Input/Outputs
Last week, I successfully got my pressure sensor, vibrating motor and magnetic actuator to operate separately. Pedro gifted me a small air blower that I am attaching to a silicone tube to the pressure sensor. Now it was time to put everything together, which sounded like an easy task. Basic input to outputs, right? When I plugged everything to my breadboard and put a threshold on my pressure sensor reader, I found that the vibrator and actuator would only work when the air blower was being pressed. This wasn’t the interaction I wanted. I didn’t want the user to have to strain their hand keeping their press to get the outputs. I decided that I want the outputs to continue operating for a few seconds after the pressure drops below the threshold, which turned out to be a lot more complex than I had expected.
Pedro helped walk me through the different states I had to set in my Arduino code, for each input, output, and timer.
I learned to use the millis() function in Arduino to successfully get my vibrator and actuator (named “fan” in my code, as the actuator is the mechanism for my feather fan) to stay on for a few seconds.
Make Feather Attachment for the Actuator
I ordered pink ostrich feathers from Etsy a while ago to prepare for the feathery fan top of the Tittylator. For this playtest, I cut up some foam, stuck a few feathers into it, and hot glued the foam onto the actuator arm. Through this process, I found that the magnetic force on my actuator isn’t strong enough to move the weight of all the feathers I initially wanted. Even after reducing the number of feathers, the movement isn’t as strong as I want it to be.
For my actual product, I will have to get rid of the foam, and 3D print a new arm is the exact length I want, with holes for the feathers to fit into. I’m not sure if I need stronger magnets, but I think getting rid of the foam will help smoothen the movement.
Housing the Vibration
I bought spiky, soft stress balls a while ago when I was researching different textures in the beginning of this project. I cut a little hole into one of the balls and put the vibrating motor in there. Though not exactly like how the actual product will be, I think this is a decent representation for the playtest.
Aroma Oils for Scent
I originally wanted to test out a few different scents during this playtest, but was not able to find all the scents I was looking for in time (jasmine, rose, sandalwood, vanilla). I also realized that aroma oils are so expensive! I ended up getting just one scent, sandalwood, as I think it’s neutral and relaxing. I dripped a few drops onto the feathers so that it disperses with the fanning motion.
Playtest Logistic Plan
Since I wasn’t going to get the actual form enclosure of my Tittylator in time for the playtest, I made a short Playtest Presentation based on my midterm presentation to show to the playtesters to give them an idea of what the final product is supposed to look like, and lay out the input and outputs for them to interact with separately.
I really wanted to get non-ITP people to test this out, but due to time and location constraints, I had to resort to recruiting women at ITP to playtest in a phone booth, to give them some privacy. I also set up a small tripod for my iPhone on the table to record the playtesters and their interactions (with prior consent from each person). I typed up a list of questions I wanted the playtesters to verbally answer during the playtest.
Post-Playtest Questionnaire
I also created a Google Form to send out to each playtester after their experience to get more general feedback on the Tittylator as a product.
Actual Playtest
I was able to get feedbacks from eight different women who are in my target audience group. Unfortunately they are all ITP people, but the feedbacks were varied and constructive enough for me to move forward.
I disinfected the playtest area in between playtesters and required masks to make sure each person feels like the experience was sanitary enough. Ideally I would have liked for them to be able to use it on their faces, as a few of them mentioned the desire to do so if it were a possibility.
Each person spent roughly five minutes alone in the playtest room.
Feedback Summary
Turns out every woman has very varying preferences when it comes to what is pleasurable to them. Some preferred stronger vibrations, some preferred less. Some really enjoy the rendered visuals, some wanted something more minimal. My takeaway from the playtest is that I will not be able to satisfy every woman’s desires with a static set of interactions; I will need to give them options and allow for customizations.
I won’t be able to provide more options and customizations for Tittylator 1.0, but this research is vital for my future developments in creating pleasure objects for women.