Design Assignment 1
Part1 – Interview
I interviewed two people working in a restaurant as chefs.
I thought they would be a suitable target audience for a smartwatch because they have difficulty accessing their smartphones and answering calls during work.
To make things more realistic, I made a prototype of a smartwatch to be used when they are asked to perform tasks
Interviewee1:
Chef of Angelo's Gourmet Delicatessen
1. Places they keep their phone
Near the cash register while working and in a bag while moving
2. Tasks they want to perform when their phone is unavailable
Check missed calls, messages, and emails.
Write memos.
Interviewee2:
Chef of Himalayan Flavors
1. Places they keep their phone
In their pocket
2. Tasks they want to perform when their phone is unavailable
Check missed calls. Make calls to their son.
Observation
I have learned a lot in terms of the pattern and usages of smartphones.
Since they are older, neither are very comfortable with technology and devices. Even though they didn’t give me many ideas to brainstorm for applications directly, I came up with tons of ideas when they described the tasks they wanted accomplished.
They emphasized that they want bigger font and a simple interface.
Also they want a smartwatch that can be fully operated without any touching because their hands are not always clean when they work.
One thing I observed when working with the two chefs was that when they use their smartphones and the prototype of the smartwatch, they press or swipe buttons very firmly and strongly. They told me that they feel current smartphones are too sensitive to swipe and touch. I think when making applications for elder people, the sensitivity of screen should be adjustable so they can feel more comfortable using the devices.
Also, they looked uncomfortable when they clicked small button on screen. I thought that not using small buttons in the application could be better way for usability by replacing with swiping or tilting.
Part2 – brainstorm, prototype, and feedback
Brainstorming Idea – smartwatch application
1. Notification for orders in the restaurant:
(For chefs in the restaurant) to show how many orders in queue / to signal servers that the food is ready to be picked up
2. Integrated notification:
To check messages, missed calls and emails in an app
3. Simple answering:
To answer calling or text message by default message or voice message.
4. Voice and Tilting control:
To control smartwatch applications. Similar to “better touch tool in Mac,” users can setup finger gestures and actions. For example, sending current opening application to your smartphone by using two finger swipe
5. Smartphone alarm:
To find the location of your paired smartphone
6. Reading messages and emails:
To check the messages and emails while working
7. Fast schedule checker:
To check schedule. For example, simply asking “Do I have time at 3pm tomorrow?” Time interval between schedules can be setup.
8. Auto turn off:
Silent, vibration, non-alarm mode for smartwatch and smartphone
9. Opening doors:
To open car, home, and office doors by using NFC or Wi-Fi
10. Payment:
To pay with smartwatch by using NFC
11. Parking spot:
To check where I parked by using GPS
12. Voice memo:
To memo simple information quickly
13. Music controller:
To control music while doing work
14. Simple newsreader:
To see summarized news in pre-selected topics
15. Health care app:
To monitor heart rate and more. Alert function. (For example, when user is on a diet, it will show today’s activities and alert them when goals are not met)
Favorite Idea
I will combine ideas 2 and 6 which are Integrated notifications and Reading messages and emails because those can be put together in an app. Integrated notifications would be pre-installed in the smartwatch but I will make it more precise and concise by changing interface factors. Also I will add varying options that will filter out unnecessary notifications from the smartphone. This would be helpful when they want to get Facebook notifications on their smartphone, but not on their smartwatch.
Prototype
Since putting button on such a small screen would not be easy for user to control, I didn’t use any small buttons in this application.
The indicator on the bottom is just visual helper for motions, not buttons. They can be removed by unchecking the option in setting, when user becomes familiar with it.
This application can be controlled by swiping, tilting, or voice control.
User Response:
24 years old EECS student (not in this class)
Pros:
He said that it was very simple and intuitive. With limited screen real estate, he could imagine that it would be a challenging task to come up with simple and intuitive yet reasonable user interface. He liked the set of “rules” that was present. For example, instead of making buttons for each action, there was this unified rules of gestures that governed the UI
CONS:
He suggested more gestures possible that can be integrated. For example, it will be nice to think about how tapping, shaking and even tilting gestures can be integrated in order to enhance user experience and save them from limited screen size.
Also, it would be good to think about other common cases – what if there were multiple missed calls? Who’s name is going to show up on the missed call list? Most recent? All of them? In the same sense, what if there were multiple text messages received? Anyway to expose as many as possible? Or keep it simple and show the most recent one?
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