My assignment for the Interaction Design Capstone Project
I have been taking an interaction design (University of California, San Diego) online course at Coursera. This is the last assignment in which I have to explain my project on Medium. I made an app prototype for hikers. I would like to tell you about the design process.
Creating an idea
At first, I had to choose one of the design briefs: ‘Time’, ‘Change’ or ‘Glance’ for observe and interview. I chose ‘Change’ for hikers’ behaviour. Hiking is a great exercise and can be as easy as a walk in a park. Many people go hiking and enjoy the nature. However, there have been many hikers who have lost their way. The search and rescue groups in B.C. Canada reported nearly 1000 incidents involving over 1300 missing (lost) or injured persons every year. The accidents didn’t occur only on difficult courses; they happened on the easy courses, too. Why did they get lost? The hikers didn’t have a map or equipment. They didn’t think about the risks about going into nature. All parks and nature organizations announce hiking safety cautions but many hikers still do not pay attention or follow the rules. How will we change their behaviour? What will the parks prepare to decrease search and rescue of hikers? It might help to have an app on a smart phone or a watch type device.
I observed some hikers at a trail entrance and trail crossing points. I wanted to know how they use smart phones, maps and the course point signs. Through my observations, I think that I will be able to design an app for hikers’ needs. Many hikers follow the course map and direction signs but they just look at them quickly. They don’t want to stop and look at them carefully. I suppose that hiking is really a type of the exercise so they want to continue moving. In addition, many hikers also want to feel a sense of adventure. They don’t want to get too much information or help. It’s annoying, like Clippy in MS Office. However, they want to get help when they need it, like insurance. My ideas will come from these points.
Story boards (excerpt)
Paper prototype (excerpt)
Here is my full of prototype: Prototype 1 (GIF) and Prototype 2 (GIF)
Heuristic evaluation
Heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method for computer software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design. It specifically involves evaluators examining the interface and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles. I asked some people to evaluate my paper prototype. The feedback really opened my eyes. I thought that creating a hiking route was really a good idea but it wasn’t. I really agree that mobile apps should be simple in task and purpose. I admit that heuristic evaluation is very important for a first step in a project. Through the result, I changed my idea to a simpler way. Simple is the best. I considered a design such that users can use the app by feel and touch, without explanation. I hope the app will be able to help hikers and change their behaviour.
First prototype and user test (in-person)
I made prototype using InVision that the course recommended. It was OK but after all I regret using it. Anyway, I did a user test about how to find a route and use a map while someone is hiking. They used it without any struggles, but they gave me some ideas to change the footer area. When I was making the prototype, I couldn’t find a clear answer for the button layout. Do people want to click the hamburger button or want to see the route name while they are hiking or checking a route? When users search for a hiking course, do they want to see information about each course and the route map on the same screen? (In the prototype, it is a different screen.) I would like to know if people can recognize what buttons mean without a description. So I took out ‘check place’ and put only an icon on the footer in the alternative design. When people check the place, which one they will prefer? I also want to know if the ‘Goal’ button always has to show after the start button so I took out the ‘Goal’ button during recording. When people click pause, the goal button appears. Will they complete the hiking course?
Second user test (using UserTesting)
The course offered to use ‘UserTesting’ for four participants for free in 15 days. However, I was very disappointed with the results. None of the four participants clicked a trail from the list. They just clicked only icons. They didn’t read carefully the task to choose a trail; they just started flipping and scrolling to see the other pages. I didn’t put the pages following each task on InVision, so of course, they were confused. Two of them couldn’t go to the trail map, so they couldn’t click the start button which meant they didn’t see the page above.
On the bright side, all of them liked my idea. They also understood what the icons meant. However, I am very surprised three of them didn’t know that the arrow icon checks the current location on the map. All of them said that they don’t go hiking. It possibly affected the results, too.
Second prototype
I didn’t think that none of the participants wouldn’t click a trail on the list. I thought it wasn’t important for the user test so I didn’t consider it in the design so much. I don’t think I should change the design, but I should add something. I assume that many hikers need information about the route length and levels when they choose one course. The user test didn’t give me any significant comments.
However, I modified:
- Footer area (used bigger icons and added names below)
- Trail list on the park detail page (added an image and lines for each trail list)
- Park list on the top page (added images and lines for each park list)
You can see my prototype here: https://marvelapp.com/14hf44i
Video Demonstrating
This promotional video introduces how the app helps hikers.
Impression
I am very satisfied to complete this course. I already knew and worked with most of the course curricula but it’s good to re-learned UX design, because I wanted to know new-device design trends and technical skills. I also want to say thanks to my peers. We helped each other and discussed the assignments questions. If someone wants to learn UX design, I would recommend this course.
