Basic Testing Ideas

Basic Testing

• We need signs in the classroom (and maybe some designated bins) for where to put incoming mice, keyboards, and speakers/headphones! Also, we need to have a plan for what to do when we fill up those bins. Put them on the floor in the classroom? Keep them in receiving instead? What would be better? Brittany
• When we have a dedicated mouse/keyboard tester scheduled, it's difficult for me to walk the line between making sure they have enough to test while still making sure that they destroy the unsightly things! If we up the standard for what we consider clean, then there's not a whole lot of 'testing' happening. Basic destroying is more like it. Brittany

Problems

Mice

• Getting tested stuff out of the testing area
  • I agree that the tested stuff doesn't get out of the area enough. Mainly I feel unsure of where to take them - should tested USB mice always go to the store? Do we give them to grants? What happens if we have more USB mice than PS2 mice? Should those go to the classroom? Brittany
• Unclear instructions
  • Sam made this document (I think) that's on the wall. What could be improved about them? Brittany
  • Standards for cleaning should be clarified & easy to explain. My idea of what's clean might be pretty different than someone else's idea of a clean... I notice when scroll buttons or the bottom of mice are dirty! Other people don't...care. Brittany
  • Mouse testing isn't super engaging & it's a little isolating. That's fine for some people, but sometimes I think other people want to have a little more stimulation/interaction. If a person doesn't have physical limitations & there's nothing else to do in receiving, I don't feel like I'm utilizing someone's full potential by asking them to do mouse testing. Brittany

Keyboards

• Incoming overflow, takes up lotsa space
  • White keyboards are usually yellowed & dirty. I'd love to auto-recycle the majority of them! Brittany
  • Black keyboards are usually a lot better, but there still is a lot of dust that gets into them. We need better tools for cleaning in between the cracks! Our brush doesn't work, and system eval's vacuum wasn't much better. What about a can of compressed air over there? Or we need a stash of q-tips and isopropyl alcohol...and some instructions for cleaning keyboards Brittany
• Not processing incoming quickly enough
• How to test USB?
• Ancient software for PS2
  • I think new software for testing PS2 & especially USB keyboards is REALLY going to help us revamp basic testing. Brittany
• Some good stuff getting recycled
  • I'm not sure what you mean by "Some good stuff getting recycled." Can you give some examples? Brittany
• Unclear instructions
  • Sam made up some instructions for testing keyboards. Again, what could be improved? Brittany
  • Keyboards with extra buttons = I'm clueless about what to do with them! Only a few of them are nice enough to send to the store, in my opinion. And I'm under the impression that the classroom doesn't want them. Is there a way to designate these for grants? Where do we put them when the bin is full? Brittany

Speakers

• Unclear instructions
• Unmatched speakers and wall warts
• Not-so-basic testing to match speakers and wall warts
  • I agree that it's sometimes not-so-basic testing to match up speakers & wall warts. With the right volunteers, it's fine; but it can be a bit of trouble for others. Those bins full of speaker wall warts are not fun to go through Brittany
• Takes up a bunch of space
• Reluctance to recycle anything
  • I'm getting conflicting messages for saving/recycling speakers. In the beginning, I was recycling speakers that weren't matched properly (especially if their subwoofer was missing). I think I got asked by Liane to try to save more speakers for grants and/or the classroom? So I started saving orphaned speakers & subwoofers...but the system definitely has kinks. Brittany
  • Would it be better to teach people to test speakers as soon as they come in? If it's slow, it's relatively easy; if it's busy, untangling/hooking up cords/cleaning/wrapping them nicely can take valuable time. Brittany

STRATEGIES

• Improved instructions

• visual examples (e.g. recycle something that looks like this)
• add some color to break it up
• clearly placed instructions, preferably on the wall

• Getting receivers to auto-recycle ugly keyboards and mice (to slow the flow)
• Embrace speaker recycling, recycle freely
• New keyboard testing software
• Smaller bins for tested mice with clear instructions on where to take full bins
• Change the physical layout (TV testing still happening in there?)
  • My impression from the store is that we don't have a lot of space to keep/sell TVs, so I usually auto-recycle most of them unless they are shiny & have a remote & there's time to test them. Which doesn't happen a lot either. I'm not sure what else to do to improve this process! Brittany