Interview 1: Daphne Hsu (Software Engineer at Marin Software)
For the first interview, I wanted to find someone with a technical background. Daphne was a Computer Science graduate from UC Berkeley. In fact, she had taken CS160 when she was a student at Cal. We started off the interview with how she found it difficult interacting with her phone. Her answer was that “it’s never been a problem.” From this interview, I realized that difficulty a relative term. If you can’t conceive of something better, how could you considered something else as bad?
Through the next couple questions, I found that Daphne actually had some fantastic usage ideas for a smart watch. She mentioned that she mainly uses her phone for messages, facebook, and instagram. When asking her to imagine using a wrist interface for the above, she immediately responded with “it would be really hard since I would want a qwerty keyboard.” However, she did mention that she looks at her phone many times throughout the day, but doesn’t unlock it or do anything with it. Some of the things she imagines doing with a smartwatch includes checking the weather, checking the status of her commute (i.e. nextbus) dynamically based on GPS location, being able to read text messages and emails, having a feed of news headlines scroll by and tapping a headline to save the full article for later, and using a smartwatch to monitor the elderly (e.g. with GPS location, body temperature, pulse, etc). From these questions, I learned that because of her commute on public transportation, Daphne would want a way to fill up her brief idle moments (a couple seconds) by checking the weather or looking at a couple news headlines. Even though in the beginning of the interview she had stated that she has never had any problems interacting with her phone, there actually many times throughout her day where a smartwatch would be useful.
Interview 2: Diana Lu (Software Engineer at Twitch.tv)
In contrast with the first interview, Diana could think of some difficulties interacting with her smartphone. Specifically, she mentioned how difficult it is to handle raw meat while cooking and then looking through her phone for the next step in a recipe. She also mentioned how hard it is to drive while using her phone for GPS and phone calls.
For the questions about a smartwatch interface, Diana felt that it wouldn’t be very useful for her. She mentioned that the things she could do with a touchscreen on her wrist could all be done on her phone. One of the things she did think was useful was a reminders list on her wrist, since she always forgets to do things such as respond to messages / emails. Some of the things she imagines doing with a smartwatch include a navigation assistant, reminders list, and a touchless cooking app.
Brainstorm:
1. Weather checker
2. Public Transportation information based on movement and GPS location
3. News feed - have a list of interesting headlines scroll by and then tapping to save the articles for alter
4. Monitor for the elderly - GPS location, pulse, body temperature etc
5. Lost Item Finder - look for a lost phone, or any item with a micro wifi chip i.e. a keychain
6. Cooking assistant - timer for food, recipes
7. To-do feed - anything that needs to be done in the next couple of hours
8. GPS / Maps notification - Hands free driving assistant
9. Music player - wireless headphone integration
10. Stock feed
11. Safety alert - Notifications based on gps for earthquakes, tornados, shootings, etc
12. Reddit on the go - burn time easily
Reddit on the go
First and foremost, a smartwatch is a watch. Therefore, it should display the time prominently. When the user is interacting with the device, the time should disappear to make room for other things. Swiping a specific direction will open up specific apps and double tapping the bottom button will take you back to the home screen (defaults to the time). Once a user navigates to the app (a swipe in a specific direction from the home screen), a single link from reddit will appear. If the user is not interested in the link, then a swipe right will bring up the next link, and a swipe left will return the user to the previous link.
Because there is very little screen real estate, the headline page will only have 3 actionable items, upvote, downvote, and open link (hyperlink). The article page will have no actionable items to reduce the likelihood of accidental navigation. Swiping up and down will scroll. A swipe left will return the user to the headline page, and a swipe right will take the user to the next headline page.
Testing
I went to Durant Ave, and went around asking people to try my prototype. My willing participant’s name was Thomas, a graduate student at UC Berkeley. Rather than telling him how I imagined navigating the app, I asked him how he would want to get from page to page.
Initially, he was confused about how to navigate to the app itself. In hindsight, swiping a specific direction to get to a specific app is really flawed. It would be much better to have a list favorite apps at the bottom of the phone. Once he got to the app, he asked how he could see more links. Again, in hindsight, swiping right to see the next link is pretty unintuitive. It might make more sense to have the links scroll from top to bottom. On the body page, he was confused about how to get back to the previous page. After my suggestion of swiping left to go back, he said that would make sense.
As for the idea itself, Thomas said he could see himself using it. He browses reddit when he’s in class or when he’s sitting around with some free time, but not when he’s moving around. One of the things he really liked was being able to interact with the paper and pen prototype. It really helped to simulate the experience of the smartwatch app. He also mentioned that the convenience of having the application on his wrist would actually allow him to browse in many situations where his phone would be a hassle. One of his examples was in the Evans Hall elevator.
Key Insights:
Intuitive navigation - Something that seems initially intuitive to me, may be very confusing for other people.
Specific uses - The convenience of the smartwatch actually allows a user to actually do something in the brief idle periods of the day, e.g. waiting for the elevator.
Value of a low fidelity prototype
Transcript 1: Daphne Hsu
When was the last time your found it difficult to interact with your phone?
It’s never been a problem, because I can pull out my phone at work - maybe if I went to the grocery store
Where do you usually keep your phone?
In a pocket (pants or jacket)
When was the last time you used your phone?
5 minutes ago
and what were you using it for?
I was checking my texts and responding to people
What do you usually use your phone for?
Facebook messenger, instagram, keep up with friends, texting, check work email (have push notifications
Can you describe one of these things you just mentioned?
I pull out my phone, tap on the app and then I scroll?
Tell me about the last time you couldn't find your phone?
Like 20 minutes ago
How often do you lose it?
Once every couple days. Usually I forget where I put it at home
How often do you look at your phone, but not unlock it or do anything with it?
Probably once every 30 minutes?
Imagine using a touchscreen wrist interface?
I would imagine it would be really hard since I would want a qwerty keyboard. If i wanted to read an email, that would be easy. Displays would be good
What else could you imagine doing on the touchscreen wrist interface?
Weather, or if you have nextbus synced to your phone, ummm, schedules in general based on your gps locations, just being able to view text messages or emails in
read only. kind of like the news where the stuff scrolls by that would be useful. time and weather
other things like instagram, it's not useful if its really small. I guess for news - top 10 headlines to fill in the very small gaps while I'm doing other stuff.
Then you can tap to have the full articles saved to read later, but honestly I would use my phone for all of these things.
Are there times where you wish you could look at your phone, but you don't have time to or it's not appropriate?
When I'm driving. It'd be nice to see if I'm getting any missed calls, texts, emails, etc
Is there anything else you feel like a smart watch would be useful for?
uhhhh maybe for like elderly people and people with disabilities, just stick a smart watch on them with a GPS tracker to make sure they are ok. you can even check for body
temperature pulse etc. just thinking about my parents getting old, I'd want to make sure that they're ok
Transcript 2: Diana Lu
When was the last time your found it difficult to interact with your phone?
Just the other day, I was cooking and had to check my phone for a recipe, but I had just touched raw meat, so I didn’t want to get my phone dirty. I ended up washing my hands each time I needed to see the next step of the recipe.
Where do you usually keep your phone?
I usually keep it in my purse
When was the last time you used your phone?
An hour ago?
and what were you using it for?
I had a phone call, oh also, it’s really difficult using my phone while I’m driving.
What do you usually use your phone for?
Well, when I’m driving, I check google maps or take phone calls. SOMETIMES I text.
Can you describe one of these things you just mentioned?
Which one? Um, for google maps, I take my phone from my cup holder, and then unlock it, read the directions and look at the map, and then i put it back in the cup holder.
Tell me about the last time you couldn't find your phone?
It was a couple days ago? I was on my way to work and I couldn’t find it.
How often do you lose it?
Not that often
How often do you look at your phone, but not unlock it or do anything with it?
All the time. I always forget to respond to people.
Imagine using a touchscreen wrist interface?
I’m not sure how useful it would be. I feel like if I were cooking, then I’d still have the problem with touching the screen with my hands.
But, I think it would really convenient if I could use it while I’m cooking and I could navigate without touching it. That way, I wouldn’t have to unlock my phone with my dirty hands.
What else could you imagine doing on the wrist interface?
I think I would mainly use it to read a text or notifications or maybe navigation instructions while I’m driving.
Are there times where you wish you could look at your phone, but you don't have time to or it's not appropriate?
Sometimes. If I’m in a meeting, and I receive a notification, I could glance down at my watch rather than pull out my phone.
Is there anything else you feel like a smart watch would be useful for?
I guess if I had to think of something, maybe a disaster alert? Like for earthquakes and shootings etc.
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