# City Ditty: An Inmersive Soundscape Sketchpad for Professionals of the Built Environment
## 3 Evaluating City Ditty with a Usability Study
### User Engagement
[P06]: \"[_[I'm] totally new [to virtual environments] and I think that was the most frustrating aspect of it... navigating the environment was really challenging_\". On the other hand, P06 shared that the menu system and the instructions were very clear--even a complete novice could follow the instructions, navigate the interface, and complete the required tasks. E.g., [P06]: \"_I found your menus simple... I guess everything related to the sound I found easy and enjoyable, so adding objects, modifying their volume, and the time frame when they/re active. That part was very simple to me_\". Overall, this feedback shows that City Ditty is on track; it can be followed by complete novices and operated by anyone with a single short training session. However, it still requires some modifications to support rapid prototyping after the initial learning phase to avoid becoming taxing to use. **Focused Attention (FA)**  
Focused attention refers to when users feel absorbed in the interaction and lose track of time. Users were generally observed to be highly involved in the tasks at hand, were interested in the activity, and rated this positively on the UES (Figure 4). E.g., [P04]: \"_It was pretty enjoyable [experience] actually. I definitely did get like lost in it. Like, the hour slipped by pretty fast, and it was also just kind of neat to experience those different sounds._\"  
That said, the UES data only gauge the overall impression at the end of the experience and is limited in that regard. However, FA can fluctuate during the course of the experience, which was not directly measured. Low periods of FA can be suggested when the users experienced breaks in presence or experienced usability issues which needed researcher attention. While P02-P05 had little problem operating the software on their own, P01 and P06 provided different insights which may help them focus better. As an advanced user, P01 expressed an interest in shorter visual vignettes with less text as a way to keep themselves moving forward with less reading, as they did not need the soundscape info--just a quick introduction to the functionalities. P06 on the other hand was often stumped by the very existence of some of the objects available for placement during the free design tasks, as they were not explicitly introduced during the sound awareness session. E.g., [P06]: \"_There are moments when I ask myself \"what's the point\", you know? Is it for sound? Is it for design? The \"so what\" aspect of it, which I think whoever is using it for their job will know that, but for me it was kind of annoying._\"  
Currently, placeable objects are listed in a menu with just their name and a 'pre-view sound' button available. As such, when presented with objects like a drinking fountain, P06 was confused as to how these are useful in soundscape planning. To help combat this, a short, inobtrusive description of each sound sources design benefits--and cautionary tales--could be provided. This could both inspire new design ideas while reminding designers of other drawbacks or regulations, without requiring further sound awareness sessions. **Felt Rewarding (RW)**  
A rewarding experience is crucial to developing user engagement and potential future adoption; if the experience is not rewarding, there is no reason to use it again. That said, despite some issues, all users found this to be a rewarding experience (Figure 4). The novelty of the tool played a major role in this, as it not only raised sound awareness, but it helped users realize that they COULD do more sound planning, in a very short period of time, with very little effort. However, to further explore repeated use by PBEs, it must be helpful in their professional work. Integrate into Their Workload  
What would encourage users to re-engage with the software for their own projects? When asked if they would consider using such a tool in the future, participants gave positive responses which related heavily to the _Ability to explore different contexts in the same space_ theme.