Concepting, testing and a research model
Progress in a couple of areas this week.
Most exciting was the development of the button sketches. There were six concepts that we discussed — I’ve only included a couple below to give you an idea of the direction it’s heading. It’s quite an interesting design challenge: how to make a very simple, functional object look premium and interesting without looking indulgent and over-designed. I think we’re in a good place. It will be interesting now to go beyond the form to seeing some of the material finishes in the first 3-D renders.
Obviously seeing these made it feel a lot more real. Although I have got quite attached to my ugly prototype. Pondering whether Race.Radio Remote is a better name than button or ‘smart button’— it arguably makes it clearer there’s a connected app and maybe suggests a bit more intelligence? Not a big deal.
Michael and I have been doing more testing with the prototype app and button/remote out in the field (or rather, on the paths and roads). It’s throwing up some challenges right now with variable audio quality. At times it’s crystal clear, at others scarcely audible, partly due to wind noise across the headphone/earbud mic . There’s a couple of things to be explored. The first (and preferred) option is to look at building algorithms into the app to identify and reduce wind noise or to adjust the low frequencies. We could also consider bundling a single earbud with a mic that’s designed or positioned to minimise the effect of wind noise.
We’re now on build v5 of the app and more functionality has been added. It’s now possible to change channels with a click of the button, with an audio cue to tell you which channel you’re in. You can now see a message history for each channel within the mobile app (rather than having to use the web app). And the default setting for channels has been set to silent unless headphones/earbuds are connected — this should avoid issues with people unwittingly broadcasting through the phones of their friends and family.
I’ve also made a little progress with the research paper. I’ve adapted a version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) — a 20+ year-old methodology for predicting the adoption of new technology, first used by IBM. It’s evolved over the years to go beyond factors like perceived usefulness and ease-of-use to encompass social influence and safety, among other things. The plan is to get people to complete this questionnaire after viewing a web page describing and promoting the product. Ten additional buttons are on order for group testing — this should be the really insightful part of the research process, where I hopefully get to see how people might use the product in ways beyond my current imagination.
Over and out.
