Scavenger Hunt: An Empirical Method for Mobile Collaborative Problem-Solving

A scavenger hunt can serve as an empirical method for evaluating mobile collaborative system prototypes and learning about planning and action in fieldwork. The scavenger hunt method is a lightweight alternative for collecting usability data and avoids some challenges of more complex field studies, while supporting significant mobility and collaboration in a controlled testing environment. It can be used prior to a product's deployment to identify usability issues and is a viable option for user testing during an iterative design process. A rudimentary collaborative problem-solving system that uses the scavenger hunt method found usability flaws in a dummy product.