Week_2 : User Testing a Digital appliance
I have decided to use my mobile phone/PDA a Moto Ming A1200 for user testing. It is a Motorola device with unique features such as touch screen, a stylus, a transparent flip and it makes use of a Linux OS.
I predict that most users will not know how to use this phone at all. It is not user really friendly and I feel the learning curve is pretty steep but once you over come this obstacle it is pretty fun to use. The first hurdle for users will be trying to figure out how to open the flip as it is not very obvious on how to flip it open.
Another which should be simple but is not is making a simple call. A task which should be simple is not quite simple on this mobile device for those not familiar with the operating system.
Tasks: Making a call using the mobile device and also using the camera to take a picture.
Buttons: Phone, keypad, call, green dial button, camera button, home button
Making a call on the Moto Ming is as follows:
Step 1: Open the flip
Step 2: Remove stylus from the back right corner of the phone
Step 3: Locate phone button on the phone for the virtual keypad to appear on screen
Step 4: Dial the number using the keypad buttons on the screen
Step 5: Press the call button on the screen or the green dial button on the body of the phone
This process of making a call in most other phone would have used only step 2 and 3.
Taking a picture:
Option one:
Step 1: press home button
Step 2: locate the camera button which is situated among all the other buttons
Step 3: Press capture button on the screen
Or
Press the centre of the joystick on the body of the phone
Or
On the side of the phone there is another camera button which can also be pressed to take a picture
Option two:
Step 1: press the camera button located on the side of the mobile device.
Step 2: any one of Step 3 from option one.
Analysis:
Once the user opens the flip it is possible that they will be overwhelmed with the options in the main screen as there are 9 buttons which performs 9 distinct functions and a battery meter, time, signal strength and the operator logo along with the date. So locating the phone button on the screen is quite a task.
Improvement Suggestions:
The keypad with the numbers should be on the main screen as soon as the flip is opened. The main function of the phone is merged with the rest of the smaller features which should not be the case. The basic fact that the main function of a mobile phone is to make calls. The tasks of opening a browser or turning on the Bluetooth are similar to making a call. The time that a user takes to activate Bluetooth in this device is similar to that of making a call.
Also I realized that people are not aware that the device has a stylus which is used for navigation on the touch screen. I partly blame the emergence of the Apple iPhone for this since the iPhone does not have a stylus and users are expected to use their fingers they forget the stylus. As this device was engineered and released much before the release of the iPhone the designers cannot be blamed. Is the stylus era over?
Observation:
As predicted none of the three users even thought about the stylus on the mobile device. They were not used to using a stylus so they were completely dumbstruck when I asked them why they did not use the stylus.
Two of the three users made the call with ease even though it took them a few seconds to locate the phone button on the screen. One user had trouble pressing the phone numbers on the screen to make a call as it is quite sensitive and the numbers are spaced pretty close together.
The other user had no idea that the device was touch screen and was trying to make use of the joystick to locate the phone button to make a call but gave up when they could not find it.
User Manual for making a call and taking a picture for MOTO Ming A1200 mobile/PDA:
To make a call:
Step 1 : open flip
Step 2: dial number through number pad on the screen
Step 3: press call
To take pictures:
Step 1: press the camera button located on top centre of the screen
Step 2: press capture
Step 3: save or delete as you wish
User test with paper prototypes:
Conclusion:
The users immediately knew how to make a call with this mobile device as soon as the flip was opened as the number pad was the first thing they saw. So it was quite obvious that it was the only way to make a phone call. Also as soon as the call button was pressed a clear acknowledgement was given on the screen telling the user that a call was in progress and could end the call by pressing the end button on the screen.As soon as the end button was pressed it went back to the main screen with the number pad. From there the users were easily able to access the camera as I added the camera icon on the top right hand corner of the phone. Previously the user would have clicked the menu button and then would have had to search for the camera button, but this way it is right on the screen.
Something which surprised me was that none of the testers were still aware of the stylus even after having been shown the manual. One tester even loaded the camera by using the built in button on the side of the phone instead of finding it by going through the menu which means that some of the design aspects are good enough for users and that they even like to do things the hard way instead of being spoon fed.
[sorry im having issues embedding the videos directly to the blog thats why i have listed the youtube links]
Week_1: SMS Applications
One of the best SMS applications I heard about was when I was attending the Mobile Nations Conference in Toronto
Canada march of last year. This SMS application was actually a interactive musical comedic television show called Accidental Lovers which was created by a Finnish lady called Mika Lumi Tuomola. It was a story about a 60 year old lady who is a cabaret singer and a pop star half her age, who fall in love with each other.
In this show viewers were able to chat on screen via text messaging. During the chat random words were selected which affected the relationship. I found this interesting due to the fact that the audience was an active part of the narrative as they could have easily guided the narrative in the path they wanted to see buy sending a simple text message.
Technologically it is not such a very big task as all it required was a server and an algorithm to randomly select words from the user chat which was also displayed on screen. The way the creators utilized the technology is what amazed me. I feel that it is a new way of using mobile technology for interactive narratives and also for television.
The creators made 12 episodes which were each 28 minutes long. The series had over one million viewers and over 3000 text messagegs sent in.
Week 1 :
User-Centeredness of a Taxi Interior :
The purpose of the product is to provide comfort to the customer for the duration of the drive. The customers usually relax in the taxi so comfort in the interior is very important. Also newer taxis also contain a touch screen in the center of interior which provide information to the customer such as weather updates, traffic news, even the exact GPS location and the estimated time of arrival to the destination. This feature allows users to obtain knowledge of their whereabouts during the ride which provides a level of self satisfaction of knowing where the user is at all times. There also is a credit card system attached to the screen which allows users to pay the taxi fees with ease and with speed.
The users of this product vary from business men and women to students to almost anyone who travels and can afford taking a taxi.
Another striking feature of a taxi interior is the division between the taxi driver and the customers. There is also a small window in between to communicate with the taxi driver if needed. It does provide privacy from the taxi driver, personally I think the separation is very similar to the separation found in police cars. This division should be re-designed so that there can be privacy for the user without the aesthetics of a police vehicle.
The seats of the taxis are not plush or that comfortable probably due to wear and tear. It could off more comfort for the user. Another aspect of a taxi interior is leg room. Most taxis have just enough leg room for a person of average height. Personally I feel that the leg room in a taxi could be increased even if it was by 4 to 6 inches.
In the design of a taxi interior I feel the designers concentrate mostly on the physical factor of the user. The physical factors include the height and width of the seats, the amount of leg room in the interior, the materials used for upholstery etc. With the given amount of space to work with I think the designers have done a commendable job on the physical aspects.
The GPS system which allows users to know where they are is proof that some amounts of thought have been put into the cognitive factor.
There is not much consideration given to cognitive, emotional, social and cultural factors. An example of not giving consideration to emotional and social factors is the division which is put up between the front of the taxi where the driver sits and the back.
The product is user centered but can be more user centered by giving more leg room as mentioned before. Also some form of entertainment should be installed in the interior such as giving the user control over the radio, or even using satellite radio or television, maybe even supply an iPod jack so that you can listen to it on the car speakers. Another way to improve user centeredness is by redesigning the division. It is required to have a division but it could be more subtle. Two tone interior upholstery could be used so it is more inviting and less monotonous.
week 1
3 ideas which i got while brainstorming for the design of a clock for the blind.
All are very simple and to the point.
1) On top of the walking stick there is a button which can be pressed and the time will be told through a speaker concealed in the stick itself.
2) similar to idea number 1 which makes use of the walking stick. Instead of having a button and a speaker to tell time, there will be a holes grouped in rows and columns of 2 . It is a mechanical type of braille so that the blind person can feel the braille and be able to tell time. Inside the walking stick there can be a drum which rotates to change the numbers and a circuit which can tell the drum when to turn.
3) it is similar to idea number 2 but it is an independant device which makes use of braille to tell time. It can be a keychain so it will be in the pocket and the person need not take it out of the pocket to know the time. They can just feel it and they will know the time.
The reason behind my ideas are that people should be able to get the time easily and not need to learn a new language. So making use of the existing language these are the ideas i developed.
To make things easier for the users i had another idea. Set the time using RSS feeds. That is the device can connect via wireless to an RSS feed every few hours so it can update the time and when not updating it can use a circuit which can maintain the time. This will be useful for daylight savings or when travelling.