The way you update an observable is like this:
var someObservable = ko.observable(""); //setting to "";
someObservable("Something else"); //updating to "Something else"
Not like this (which you are doing above)
var someObservable = ko.observable(""); //setting to "";
someObservable = "Something else";
This is overwriting someObservable with a string of value "Something else" and so is no longer an observable which is why it will not update the ui.