Major Studio II: Week 10
After creating the Low-fidelity prototypes, I conducted user interviews to get as much insight and feedback as possible.
Users found setting push notifications after stopping an alarm to be helpful, since they remember the dream only for a short while after waking up. All interviewees would prefer to record their dreams and depend on voice dictation upon waking up, given that they’re still too lazy/tired/sleepy to type lengthy text. However, they still agree that the ‘type’ option should be there for cases were recording is not convenient, such as having someone next to you still asleep, or remembering the dream later during the day and wanting to type it. A user also suggested having a “record later” button in case users couldn’t remember their dream instantly, or remember it later during the day.
→ having both record + type options
→ add a button that says write your dreams in the next 10 minutes.
→ in addition to no thanks, have 2 options: “didn’t dream” or “can’t remember now, maybe later”
All users preferred Option B where the app automatically recognizes the visual symbols as tags. It is still important to keep an option to manually add a tag (as seen with the + sign). Also, most interviewees felt that the only valuable information out dreams is symbolism, and there’s no need for additional questions regarding mood and dream clarity. However one user preferred having more dream specific questions so that users can analyze their dreams. Another suggestion was to add a visibility option when sharing a dream, in case the user did not want to share it publicly with others.
→ having the algorithm generate tags
→ still having the ability to manually insert tag
→ no need for further questions
→ add a visibility option when sharing dream (public vs private)
→ are journal entries accessible through different times of the day? or do they just represent the typing option?
Most users preferred a visual representation of dreams in the feed, rather than a text based one. One user preferred not having any visuals because they said it’s more exciting to imagine it for yourself. All prefer not having a like or comment option because it gives off the vibe of social media app, when it is a personal one. One user suggested having the option to turn visibility on or off (tell or don’t tell), and commenting on or off as well, given the fact that some dreams could be bizarre or too personal to share or discuss. Another suggestion was to have a ‘discuss’ option rather than the comment button. One user suggested to have the option to save a dream in an archive.
→ visual grid for dream feed
→ discard like & comment buttons
→ ‘interesting’ & ‘discuss’ button as alternatives
→ put option to either show as text or images? and whether full length stories repeatedly or snippets? (expand & collapse options)
→ add a save dream option?
→ add a highlight option?
Most users actually suggested a combination of both options. The dictionary opens with Option A, a scroll down list of letters, and click on a letter takes you to a the first screen of Option B, where the visuals for each letter are there. All users explained that the list view of letters is necessary because it’s a lot easier to navigate and it’s more instinctive. Users appreciated having the counting of symbols in their recurrent dreams. One user suggested having the list and the grid together by adding a horizontal scroll option.
→ dictionary takes a scroll list form
→ click on a letter leads to a grid of images for each word
→ keep the recurrent symbol count
→ under each letter, add a horizontal scroll for the images and words
All users felt the calendar is necessary to track trends and patterns of dream frequency visually. One interviewee suggested color coding the dots that symbolize the dreams to represent either a nightmare or fantasy. When asked if having the calendar view and journal view together is too redundant, users disagreed and said they are both necessary as they have different purposes.
→ calendar view for tracking frequency and patterns
→ color code fantasy and nightmare?
→ remove journal entry option in calendar
→ instead of dream entry text box, have that space to show that day’s dream entries
→ have a button to record/insert dream to take you back to the main journal entry screen
All interviews had similar reactions to this prototype. They appreciated having a ‘dream profile’ to show a user’s characteristics. For Option A, most users thought having a profile photo is unnecessary. In Option B, users all felt that the ‘friends’ panel was taking up too much unnecessary space, and instead suggested only showing the number of friends as a button, and clicking on it would take the user to a separate friends list drop down page, where you can add and remove friends. All interviewees disliked having a messaging or chat option because it gives a social media feel. One user suggested having access to the calendar from the profile page, rather than to the journal.
→ keep the dream characteristics
→ remove profile photos
→ discard friends panel, replace with button instead
→ remove messaging or chat option
→ consider adding the calendar to the profile rather than the journal
Next step: Mid-Fi Prototyping!
