User Testing of Toy Prototypes

Justine Galea - Toy Pitch

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Meeting in a Supermarket

Exercise nine - Katie Goulet

Narrative # 1

As a child, I remember telling my mother that I didn't like the food she would serve me, one thing was too salty, one thing to sweet, and that was, well just gross looking. Today, I am a mother of three, each child with their own needs and desires, each particular about every little thing. One needs one kind of margarine on their toast, the other another kind. Oner prefers plane soup and another likes vegetable. The great debate over whether green or string beans are better has yet to be settled at our dinner table. All my husband can do is sit, eyes hooked on his newest sports magazine in silence. The only thing we can all agree on is a tall, cold glass of milk and a bowl of creamy custard. 

At last, peace and quiet.

Narrative # 2

I had never looked at my grocery store receipts intently before, until the day that I got stuck waiting for a taxi and began to clean out my purse. What I buy doesn't say much about me. I can remember the time that I went into the store and bought these things, I was only going in to pick up a couple of containers of milk and the regular staples like toilet paper and dish soap, and I ended up spending over thirty bucks! Those grocery stores get me every time! I try so hard to make a straight line to the milk, not allowing myself to be distracted, but I just can't help myself. 

First, the milk leads me to the margarine, where I decide that I should really be eating a healthier diet version, but know that my boyfriend will not be interested, so I buy two. Next I pick up a couple of cans of soup, thinking it will make my dinner hour less stressful.

At that very moment, a friend calls me and says she wants to stop buy tonight at the last minute. "Dessert!" I think to myself, she will have to come over for dessert, and so I buy custard.

Between all of these thoughts, the soothing familiar music of the grocery store speakers serenades my jaunt around the aisles. 

 I left the store with a need to go and cook, as I had just purchased the fixings for an excellent meal!

Exercise 9- Joshua Frechette

Narrative #1
This is a classic story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy ends up alone with a chicken sate salad and some fruity iced tea.
When we first met, I guess she was taken by my normal-ness; I was a regular guy, who worked the nine to five, enjoyed a beer after work and would watch the news before going to bed. A perfect, normal, boring routine. Safe, I guess.
But before too long, this became too normal for her. Suddenly I wasn't exciting enough. I did the same thing every day, she said. I watched the same shows, she said. I'd eat and drink the same thing all the time, she said. Safe had somehow become redundant.
So she left. There was nothing special about the break up, at least not at first. I was happy with my life, so who cares what she thought, right?
So one week later, as I pick up the phone to order a pizza, beer in hand, news on the TV, I realize that I was tired of my life as well. Time for a change.
I head out the door and head for the nearest grocery store; I don't know what I want, I just know I don't want it to be something she'd expect me to get. I pass by the the pop aisle and wind up staring at an exotic fruit iced tea; she wouldn't expect me to get that, right? I wander aimlessly, passing by taco kits, frozen dinners, etc....
Next thing I know, I'm at the cash register with the iced tea and something called chicken sate salad. Usually I get my Asian food delivered and with a complimentary fortune cookie, so I know this is unfamiliar territory.
I mindlessly hand a fifty over to the cashier; I don't bother to count the change. Dazedly, I walk home wondering what the hell just happened. What did I just buy? I've never had anything so foreign in my grocery bag before....
As I walk, I dig out the receipt to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, or high, and that I had indeed bought two things that had never existed in my vocabulary before. Yep, there they are.
I get home, mix the iced tea and set the salad on the table. After staring at these strange objects on my kitchen table for five minutes, I decide it's time to give them a try... and am surprised at how much I like it. Huh, who knew?
Sure, I didn't jet off to Istanbul and take up belly dancing, but it's a start, right?
Narrative #2
Ode to receipt #3

Among my papers, and other things,
A receipt, I did find,
Notarized and signed,
But it was not in mind,
Not at this time.
This chicken; thighs, breasts or wings?

No! Twas a salad, of the satay type,
And a drink, of iced tea, for sure.
But no fruits, fresh and ripe?
This, the receipt did concur,
Was indeed my purchase,
Or at least it was, on the surface....

Was this meal delicious?
Was I satisfied, at least?
Was I conscious?
Was it part of a feast?
This long lost and mysterious receipt,
I fear, may be a deceit.

A cruel trick, to confuse the mind,
To make me doubt,
And pace about,
And finally go out,
And emit this shout;
Begone, you foul, confusing find!

Meeting in supermarket By Cathy Lai

Narrative 1:
This is Mary, she always complained about her freckles and her bad smelling breath ;however, she believed that it is not necessary to change anything until one day, she fell in love with her classmate, Ben, and decided to impress him. She understand that in order to impress Ben, she has to improve herself by changing her appearance. Therefore, she went to supermarket for coverstick for her freckles and gum with mint. After few months of improvement, she is finally with Ben.

Narrative 2:
Mary is a girl without confident due to her freckles on her face and the bad smelling breath that can kill people. One day, her friend Ben told him that in order to become a lovely girl, she has to start working hard on improving her appearance and her awful breath. He told her that supermarket is a place for girls not only because of food, is also due to their large variety of product. He gave Mary a list of products which is Coverstick and mint gum, and told her to continuously use it for at least 2 months. After the two months hard working, she finally became a lovely girl and many boys are interested on her

Exercise 9: Bradley Crystal

Exercise 9: Bradley Crystal

1. John, a single father of 3 children was making his way home on the subway. He was late getting home and still had to stop for some things at the "We Sell Everything" store. John arrived at the store and looked up feeling overwhelmed by the enormous size of the ultimate big box that stood in front of him. Walking up and down the extra long isles, John picked out many items frustrated that he had to do all of the work deciding what was best to buy for the health of his 3 children.





2. I don't understand why this receipt is so messed up. I hate that damn grocery store. They are always sold out of everything and I end up coming home with hot dogs and cake each night for dinner. I mean seriously, who the hell runs out of chicken? Then I get home and they have charged me for the things I was mad they didn't have. Roast Chicken. I don't see any Roast Chicken here. And what is this Deposit Money business. It's a grocery store. Not a bank? How are they depositing money... where can I get this money they deposited. BAH!

Exercise 9 - Meeting in a Super Market - Alan Lau

Hi!

Hey, sup?

Not bad, you?

I am here for the hot spring vacation,
you?

Oh nice!
Me too!
I got the invitation as well.

I know that not everyone is invited,
only the VIP ;)

I don't know if you guys,
or just me,
kinda feeling it's getting hot here.

Kekeke!
Yea you sweat like a pig.

Gee! Look!
You are melting!

Uh Oh...

Oh Crap!
I Forgot that....

What???

We are chocolate!
We can't stay hot!

THIS IS NOT HOT SPRING!

Exercise 9- Laila Siddiqui

My name is milly,

and i smell like lillies.

My coverstick keeps me looking great,

i got it from etos at a great rate.

I also got some mints that make me smell fresh and yummy,

and whenever i pass by all the boys get butterflies in their tummies.

Exercise 9 - Meeting in the Supermarket - Charles Gao

1:

2:

A lazy man's wife is on a business trip. He stays home accompanied by his son.

Son: Dad, what are we going to eat for dinner?

Dad: I think we get plenty of food in the refrigerator. There must be something to eat.

Son: There is food in the refrigerator, but we don't have anything to drink. Plus we are short of onions.

Dad: Can we just get it over tonight. I am really tired and don't want to go out.

Son: Mom is going to be back in the evening. We should have a small celebration, you know.

Dad: Oh, come on .Give me a break! All right, let's go out to buy something.

In the grocery store.

Dad: Listen, you go to pick up what you want and I am going to pick up what I need. We meet in the check-out after five minutes.

Son: All right sir!

After five minutes, Dad gets leek and fink beer while his son gets onion and coke.

Son asked Dad: Why we need leek? We get onion already. Aren't they serving for similar purpose?

Dad answered: Did you mention your mom is coming back tonight? I think she enjoys leek over onion.

Son: I forgot to tell you, she is coming back next week, not this week.

Dad: Anyway, I will take all of them. Let's go home.

Exercise 9- Meeting in a Super Market -Desiree Beaubien

1.
Samantha got home late that night from work. She was alone as usual. No on there to greet her other than dear old frank, her 20 lbs tabby cat. She looked in the fridge, nothing there. She was hungry but if she found something soothing to drink she could go without food. The cupboards were empty as well. “I guess I’ll go to the store then.” She said exasperatedly. She grabbed her bag and head out the door, tossing Franks toy mouse on the way out, as if he would actually chase after it.

She got to the 24 hour super market and picked up a basket, she obviously did not need a whole cart for herself. She went to the prepared food section and picked out her typical chicken salad for dinner with a couple of kebabs. She remembered she was out of tea and coffee so she headed over to that isle. While she was there she noticed and attractive 30 something year old man, he was looking and specialty teas. She walked right passed her typical orange pekoe tea and right next to him. She knew nothing about these teas but acted like she did and picked up the same brand she saw him holding, while also noticing there was no ring on his left ring finger.

“Is this a good choice?” the man asked Samantha. She was hoping that he would have been the connoisseur and she could ask him questions but she quickly responded “Yes I love the stuff!” before she had even read the package. “Really, I can’t decide between these two.” He responded. “Well this is my favorite” she replied after she had a chance to read the package Exotic Fruit Tea. “Well in that case I guess I better try it” the man said “I’m Chuck” he introduced himself and held out his hand. “Samantha.” She replied while quickly grasping his hand.

The walked to the check out counter together. Samantha put her basket up first. She had hastily grabbed 7 packages of a tea she had never tried and topped it off with her chicken salad and kebabs.

“$15.28 is your total” the cashier said in a monotone I hate my job, hurry up and get out of here voice. Samantha passed her a fifty and turned to Chuck “Well it was really nice meeting you” she said trying to hold back her excitement. “It was great to meet you too, why don’t you give me a call sometime” he said, passing her a piece of paper with a phone number on it. She smiled and nodded her head. “$34.72 is your change, have a fabulous evening” the cashier said in her oh my god, gag me with your stupid love story and get out of my store voice. Samantha grabbed her bags and smiled again at Chuck as she walked out of the store. Walking back to her apartment she thought, wait until Frank hears this!

2.
Pierced meat and vegetables,
Smothered in sauce,
Two sixty nine
Tea, tea, tea,
Heating and steaming fruity smell
Chicken sliced and lettuce diced,
One thirty nine
Smothered in sauce,
Tea, tea, tea,
Boiling and bubbling heated night
Tea zero eighty nine
Dinner for two and remembering that night in the
Caribbean with the fruit in the hot tub, priceless.

Exercise Nine - Sarah

A Meeting in a Supermarket
By Sarah Sien

#1
It’s a nice sunny day in July, the perfect day for a field trip. 9am in the morning, twenty 6 to 7 years old kids from the day care centre were all excited about their first field trip to the super market during their summer holiday. The crew of 25 strolled down the street to the supermarket nearby. When they arrived, Annie, the leader, instructed her kids, knowing that she already collected two dollars from each of their parents. Annie led the crew to the snacks aisle and then stopped.

“Attention everyone,” she said gently and slowly.
“Today, I am going to give you a task to complete within 20 minutes.”
“Each of you may go down the aisle and pick something that you want. But, there is one rule, you will only have a twoonie, anyone know how much is a twoonie?”
“Two da-lars!” A few kids shouted.
“Right, very good, so it means whatever you pick have to be less than 2 dollars!”
Some nodded and two answered with “ok”
“So, how do you tell the price of an item?”
“The price taggie!!” Donna said proudly.
“Yes, you are right Donna,” Annie clapped slightly and then continue, “there will be a price tag under each product, and you are only allow to pick one that you can purchase with a twoonie and then place them in this buggy.” She pointed to a buggy in front of her. “Everyone understand?”
“uh hah”, “yaa”, “yesss”, “yup” and a few of them did not respond.
“Ok, I will put you in groups of four.”
Annie assigned four kids to each helper and then she reminded them with “You will get to bring them home with you tonight and it will be a good idea to get something that you can eat later, so remember to get something that you will not waste.” She smiled at them, then nodded at the helpers, and off they went.
Annie took four kids to the snacks aisle including Donna.
Donna is one of Annie’s favourites, not only because she is cute looking, but very smart and obedience as well.
Donna laid her eyes on this sealed box, no pictures, only the word “Markus Gold” and a tiny teddy bear taped to the side. She grabbed it right away then threw a quick glance at the price tags and then sadly pouted because they were over two dollars. Annie noticed her expression and soften her voice to ask her what was wrong.
She pointed to the price tag and said, “I want this,.. but it'z over two daalars”
“Oh” Annie kneeled down and replied “What is this that you want, Donna?”
“I don’t know what is inside but this teddy bear is very cute” She rubbed the toy, “and I want to bring her home!”
Annie thought for a second then leaned closer to Donna and gently said “I am sorry Donna, but I don’t think you can bring this home, it’s not a good idea to buy something like this just because of the toy it comes with.”
Donna nodded twice and placed it back on the shelf.

Annie smiled pleasantly at her and thought to herself, "oh, I wish every one of them in the centre react exactly like Donna."

15 minutes later, everyone met at the exit, one helper named Bella took the products the kids picked to the cash register. She focused on the price screen as the cashier started swiping the things. The cashier started with hazelnut spread at $0.62, crab salad at $1.19, pepper at $0.39… and suddenly her cell phone rang, so she kept her eyes off the cashier while answering her phone.
When she hung up, there were only three items left, ..egg waffles at $0.57, and 2 chocolate crispy at $1.29 each.
“The total is 18 dollars and 1 cent” The cashier informed her.
She gave her a twenty dollar bill and a penny from her pocket and took the bags of food.
When they got back to the day care centre, the helpers handed the kids their things, and then Annie heard a familiar voice complaining. It was Donna, she was looking at Jenny, a kid holding the “Markus Gold” box in her hand along with the teddy bear Donna wanted badly.
“This is not fair, Annie said you are not allow to buy this! You CHEEEATER!” Donna cried.
Annie frowned and almost fainted.
Apparently, one kid succeeded in sneaking the box out due to some helpers’ careless mistakes.
It took a while to calm the kids down, especially Donna, she cried and cried for hours until she threw up and fell asleep.

Annie thought to herself: "I wish the kids are not influenced by the way Donna acted today, oh gosh."

#2












Julie just came home from several different supermarkets with a bunch of things for the party that will take place at her house very soon. While the food are in the oven, and everything is set to go, she decided to make use of the time and do some research on the internet about random things. A site with “Simple D.I.Y Decorations that will attract attentions and compliments at your party” came up on the search engine. She clicked on it and it’s a site that teaches people to decorate sugar cubes. They were beautiful. She just bought some sugar cubes this morning, so she decided to give it a try. She read over every single suggestion, comment and direction on the site. She followed the steps carefully, dumped the ones that turned out bad in her cup of coffee. The phone rang; she ignored it, the oven timer buzzed; she shut it off, the door bell rang; she couldn’t hear it. She was thinking about what kind of compliments she will receive and fantasizing how people will even ask her for autographs. At least five hours passed, her stomach made a noise, she took a seep of her coffee “YUCK! why is this soooo sweet?” then “OH CRAP 11:35pm?!!!? WHAT in the world...! 67 missed calls!!??!” and she ended up with 27, or more, scolding voicemails.

Exercise 9 - Meeting in the Supermarket - Joe Lee

This is Bob, the builder. Many people know that he is a stinker. Wherever he goes, his victims ran away from him including his cat. This is how his story goes:

Everyday, he goes to the same supermarket down across the street from his house. There, he bought the same old things because he was too lazy to try something new. Everyone in that market know that he has a bag of 4 Coca-Colas, 2 kilogram of onions, a Fink's Beer, and of course, he couldn't like without his leeks because he's a vegetarian. Every time before he leaves, he always deposit a loonie to his bank account from his change that he bought from the supermarket.

Every lunch, Bob drank four cans of coke while watching his favorite TV show. From there, he had his living room messed with the spilled cokes and he even left the stain on his pants. Bob's favorite time of the day is the afternoon snack time, especially his all time favorite snack, the leek. He had always accompanied his leek with onions just in case if he is not full enough. And finally, his dinner is a can of Fink's Beer and a whole onion. Almost forgot that he's a builder. He goes to the his construction site right beside his favorite supermarket in the morning. His contractor mate waved at Bob,"Morning mate.". Bob waved back at them and he responded with one word "BURP!".

by Joe Lee

Exercise Nine- Meeting in a Supermarket, Nicole

Sam knew he needed to go shopping for such an important occasion, he knew it but it was one of those things he had been avoiding because it was a complicated process.

It was two weeks ago when he had been shopping in Pennywise grocery. He managed to pull himself out of a lonely nights sleep, throw on a pair of ripped jeans and brush his slightly greying hair. What kinda' creepy man shops alone at my age , he grumbled to himself while looking in the mirror. Yes it was two weeks ago in Pennywise where he had met Sookjeet. You see Sam was a clumsy man, a tall awkward man whose legs worked in mysterious ways, and it was merely by chance that one of those legs had bumped right into Sookjeet's cart sending a bunch of bananas toppling to the floor.

Sookjeet was a pleasant woman of Indian decent, she was small and happily plump with shoulder length brown hair and a smile that would melt your heart. She also had a small boy with her of about five. Sookjeet explained that the bananas were no problem at all and smiled her wide smile, in fact she was so friendly that they continued to make small talk. At first it was just this and that, but this and that soon turned into interesting and meaningful conversation. Before Sam even knew what had happened he invited Sookjeet over for a small lunch, he didn't see a wedding ring on her fine little hand and really he had nothing to lose. Sookjeet agreed and they exchanged information,

Now the day had come and Sam needed to go shopping again like the lonely old man that he was, but previous to this Sam had been fretting. At first he had started to worry about what to serve for lunch, he was unsure of what Sookjeet liked to eat, or what she could and could not eat. He stayed up at night for hours preparing various meals in his head and presenting them to her. After he had figured that out he had a new source of endless worry, Sookjeet's child. He started to ponder, what if Sookjeet had a husband and was slipping out during the day while he was out? Sam had never had any kids and he never looked after any as a kid, how would he deal with a small boy if they started a relationship? What if she had more children? What if the boy hated him? Would she bring her son over? The answer seemed obvious to Sam that she would.

At the store Sam picked up various items for lunch, small thin crackers for soup, and a bag of pears to put in his fruit bowl to make it look like he was healthy. He also picked up a few packs of mint tea which he enjoyed and hoped Sookjeet would too. He wanted to serve rice with his meal but wasn't quite sure which kind was best, he picked up two kinds just to be safe, and maybe Sookjeet could help him figure it out. Finally as Sam was getting ready to check out he walked over to the toy aisle. Sam bought trucks, many, many trucks as many trucks as he could carry home with him. All boys must love trucks he thought happily to himself I'm sure Sookjeet's son would love these.

But on his way home Sam had second thoughts: what if he doesn't like trucks, what if these trucks aren't safe for playing? What if they have lead?

Sookjeet arrived on time and Sam was nervous and sweaty. "Where is your son?" he asked, seeing no boy with Sookjeet.

She paused looking confused and raising an eyebrow. "My son?" She asked "The boy that was in the cart with me?

Sam nodded

"Oh that was the neighbours son that I was babysitting for the afternoon. He's at home with his family now"

Sam sighed with relief and asked Sookjeet what kind of rice she wanted.

Exercise 9- Meeting in a supermarket by Tarz

When you were here, I had everything,

Now you are gone and I have nothing.

What helps me now is what I eat,

Tons of beer and a whole lot of whipped cream.

I look around and food is all I see,

I am scared please help me.

Tarz's Photos of Deconstructing Fun

Exercise Four - Sarah

Exercise Four: An Object you Love, an Object you Hate
By Sarah Sien

I absolutely love my alarm clock I have had for years. Affordance is very clear and obvious. No menu reading is necessary and it causes no confusion at all. The “light snooze” button, big enough, is located at the very top and all I have to do is to tap it lightly when it rings. After I hit the snooze button, it will stop ringing for a minute and ring again until I turn the switch to “off” at the side of the clock. It’s perfect because it gives me another minute of sleep and yet it avoid me from sleeping in when it just keeps ringing no matter how many times I shut the noise out. Auditory feedback is perfect, it’s loud enough to wake me up but quiet enough to not disturb others in the house. Mapping is very simple and clear and I don’t even need a second to figure it out. I love the visibility of this clock; it’s elegant looking. The numbers are big enough and are glow-in-the-dark. The two tiny built-in light bulbs at either side are very useful when I woke up in the middle of the night. There is a second hand and it assures me that the clock is not out of battery when it is moving. However, there is one thing that sometimes troubles me. It is hard to identify the minute hand from the hour hand when I am half asleep. Even though they are glow-in-the-dark, but I wish the hour hand could be a little shorter than it is now. Psychological constraint (convention) is clear where the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand, second and is the thinnest and longest.


I hate my Motorola Razor V3 cell phone. I like the appearance of it being thin and slim and it fits easily into my pockets. However, I hate the way it brings me attention when it comes to using the camera. The auditory feedback is extremely loud when I am trying to sneak a photo at someone or something. There is no way I can turn it off and every time I take a picture with it, this loud clicking noise would embarrass me by bringing hundred pairs of staring eyes. Also, when it is experiencing low battery, it just keep beeping every few minutes and I have to either turn the phone off or turn the ring tone to silent. But if it’s on silent, there is no way I can tell when someone is calling me. It uses the same beeping sound when I missed a call as well as when it is low battery. The beeping sound really bothers me especially when most of those Motorola cell phones out there use the same tone. Whenever it beeps, I have to check my phone, and 90% of the time it’s someone else phone and I don’t get why they just let it beep like that every few minutes for a couple of hours. The context sensitivity is badly organized; the category name does not help much and I have to go through each name to look for the function I need. Mapping is not clear at all; there are no labels or symbols and it took me a while to figure out and get used to it. However, there are these buttons at the sides that I still have no idea what they are for and some I just keep getting them mixed up when they all look the identical.

Exercise Nine: A Meeting in a Supermarket.

You want me.

My long, thin form.

You want me in your mouth.

To suck on me, to inhale my fragrance.

You fantasize about me,

wishing that I could be in your life forever.

You're lucky,

I will be the one that kills you.

Stephen James Legomski

Project 2 by Cathy Lai