cat_watch_prototype.pptx | |
File Size: | 1578 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Prototyping Strategy
One of the main reasons I decided to use a low fidelity prototype was so users would focus on the design of the system and the interaction with the system. I was concerned if I used a high fidelity prototype, users would focus on the aesthetics of the system, such as fonts used, colors, etc., compared to the system’s actual functionality. I wanted users to provide feedback on the user experience and how they interacted with the tool. This topic was discussed in our HCI 521 The Cognitive Psychology of Human Computer Interaction course. According to the book An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering, “users don’t focus on interface details, such as the type of font, and therefore give more substantive feedback to the functionality of prototypes that are obviously low fidelity (Wickens et al., 407).”
Another reason I decided to use a low fidelity prototype for the Cat Watch tool was the ability to make design changes to the system easier. Low fidelity prototypes are, “can be modified more easily during usability testing; since designers are less invested in work, they are more willing to change or discard ideas (Wickens et al., 407)”. As I was creating my Cat Watch low fidelity prototype, I was testing some of the design. I was doing some usability testing and decided to make some slight changes to make the Cat Watch design more intuitive and user friendly. It was easy for me to make the changes because I was very focused on making the design better. I did not have to be concerned with how the changes were affecting the font color, color scheme of the tool, etc. I was able to spend all my time focusing only on the design.
Another decision I had to make was to decide which type of prototype to use – paper or digital. In our HCI 595X Visual Design for HCI course, we discussed the important difference between sketches and prototypes. According to the book Sketching User Experiences, “Sketches dominate the early ideation states, whereas prototypes are more concentrated at the later stages where things are converging within the design funnel (Buxton, 139)”. We learned the sketching and prototype phases are two important aspects of the design process. Before I created the prototype, I created sketches of the Cat Watch design on paper. On paper, I was able to flush out my design ideas and explore options. I decided to use paper for my sketching stage and digital for my prototyping stage. With a digital prototype and help from my sketching papers, I was able to create a prototype that would more closely represent the final system.
In my digital prototype, I wanted users to be able to interact with the prototype in a similar way they would interact with the real Cat Watch system. If users wanted to click on a button in the prototype, I wanted them to go through the same motions as they would to click a button in the Cat Watch system. With a paper prototype, users would point to the button they would click or say they would like to click a button. I wanted the user to be at a computer and physically click the mouse or trace pad and have the prototype display the next screen, similar to the Cat Watch system. According to the book Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems, “We also need to design an interface between the machine and the person-knobs, dials, displays, controls-so that they can interact at some level (Greenbaum & Kyng, 31)”. I believe a digital prototype will provide a better interaction experience for the user and yield better user experience and interaction feedback.
Description of Prototype
The Cat Watch prototype is a low fidelity, grey scale, digital prototype made using Microsoft PowerPoint. Areas identified in blue color or visited hyperlinks are the interactive portions of the prototype. When the user puts the Cat Watch prototype in full screen mode and mouses over an interactive portion of the prototype, the cursor arrow turns into a hand. When the user clicks where the hand displays on the blue/ visited link interactive portions of the prototype, the corresponding Cat Watch screen or action will display. In the Cat Watch prototype, I tried to give users an idea of how each of the different Cat Watch features works and how they would interact with the system to accomplish tasks. To view my interactive prototype, please open the Cat Watch prototype PowerPoint file and view in full screen mode.
Some of the tasks and features the Cat Watch prototype supports, include:
One of the main reasons I decided to use a low fidelity prototype was so users would focus on the design of the system and the interaction with the system. I was concerned if I used a high fidelity prototype, users would focus on the aesthetics of the system, such as fonts used, colors, etc., compared to the system’s actual functionality. I wanted users to provide feedback on the user experience and how they interacted with the tool. This topic was discussed in our HCI 521 The Cognitive Psychology of Human Computer Interaction course. According to the book An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering, “users don’t focus on interface details, such as the type of font, and therefore give more substantive feedback to the functionality of prototypes that are obviously low fidelity (Wickens et al., 407).”
Another reason I decided to use a low fidelity prototype for the Cat Watch tool was the ability to make design changes to the system easier. Low fidelity prototypes are, “can be modified more easily during usability testing; since designers are less invested in work, they are more willing to change or discard ideas (Wickens et al., 407)”. As I was creating my Cat Watch low fidelity prototype, I was testing some of the design. I was doing some usability testing and decided to make some slight changes to make the Cat Watch design more intuitive and user friendly. It was easy for me to make the changes because I was very focused on making the design better. I did not have to be concerned with how the changes were affecting the font color, color scheme of the tool, etc. I was able to spend all my time focusing only on the design.
Another decision I had to make was to decide which type of prototype to use – paper or digital. In our HCI 595X Visual Design for HCI course, we discussed the important difference between sketches and prototypes. According to the book Sketching User Experiences, “Sketches dominate the early ideation states, whereas prototypes are more concentrated at the later stages where things are converging within the design funnel (Buxton, 139)”. We learned the sketching and prototype phases are two important aspects of the design process. Before I created the prototype, I created sketches of the Cat Watch design on paper. On paper, I was able to flush out my design ideas and explore options. I decided to use paper for my sketching stage and digital for my prototyping stage. With a digital prototype and help from my sketching papers, I was able to create a prototype that would more closely represent the final system.
In my digital prototype, I wanted users to be able to interact with the prototype in a similar way they would interact with the real Cat Watch system. If users wanted to click on a button in the prototype, I wanted them to go through the same motions as they would to click a button in the Cat Watch system. With a paper prototype, users would point to the button they would click or say they would like to click a button. I wanted the user to be at a computer and physically click the mouse or trace pad and have the prototype display the next screen, similar to the Cat Watch system. According to the book Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems, “We also need to design an interface between the machine and the person-knobs, dials, displays, controls-so that they can interact at some level (Greenbaum & Kyng, 31)”. I believe a digital prototype will provide a better interaction experience for the user and yield better user experience and interaction feedback.
Description of Prototype
The Cat Watch prototype is a low fidelity, grey scale, digital prototype made using Microsoft PowerPoint. Areas identified in blue color or visited hyperlinks are the interactive portions of the prototype. When the user puts the Cat Watch prototype in full screen mode and mouses over an interactive portion of the prototype, the cursor arrow turns into a hand. When the user clicks where the hand displays on the blue/ visited link interactive portions of the prototype, the corresponding Cat Watch screen or action will display. In the Cat Watch prototype, I tried to give users an idea of how each of the different Cat Watch features works and how they would interact with the system to accomplish tasks. To view my interactive prototype, please open the Cat Watch prototype PowerPoint file and view in full screen mode.
Some of the tasks and features the Cat Watch prototype supports, include:
- Sign up for a free, 30-day trial of the Cat Watch application.
- Login into the online Cat Watch application.
- Select the pet the user wishes to view, if he or she has multiple cats registered with Cat Watch.
- Get a view of the number of times your cat ate, the number of times your cat drank, the number of times your cat used the litter box, the number of hours your cat slept and the number of hours your cat was active.
- Select the day the user wishes to view his or her cat’s metrics.
- Click a video, which is an animated diagram of the user’s cat’s movements, and watch the path his or her cat traveled throughout his or her house.
- Select the day the user wishes to view the video about his or her cat’s movements.
- Analyze the number of times your cat eats, drinks and uses the litter box compared to the number of times your cat ate, drank and used the litter box in the past.
- Select the day from which the user wishes to compare his or her cat’s past metrics.
- Compare the number of hours your cat sleeps and the number of hours your cat is active to national averages.
- Select the day the user wishes to compare his or her cat’s metrics to national averages.
- Post a question or comment about the user’s cat’s behaviors.
- Configure the Cat Watch application with the user’s personal settings.
- Contact the Cat Watch team with questions, comments or suggestions.
- View an online help showing how to use Cat Watch.
- Sign out of the Cat Watch application.
owdij_woodson_-_hci_598_-_m4.docx | |
File Size: | 4947 kb |
File Type: | docx |