Mobile Application User  Experience  Design:  

UXDi:  Project  1  

SARA MICHELAZZ0

Needfinding,  Scenarios,  Rapid  Prototyping  (POP)  

Statment of the problem

Solution

James wishes he were a better cook. He enjoys cooking, but doesn’t have much time for it. He looks for recipes online and makes up his own, but usually cooks the same 5 basic recipes. When he cooks, he tends to modify recipes on the fly without keeping track of the changes. This makes it difficult to reproduce the same recipes in the future.

I designed an app to make James a better cook. It helps him keep track of successful recipe alterations and build his own recipe collection. The app also gives James inspiration to continue cooking his favourite recipes and to add more variety to his repertoire.

How do I get it?

Needfinding

Needfinding The first step of the project involved focusing on the problems. Needfinding included: -  getting ready for the interview, -  conducting the interview, -  audio recording the interview and taking notes.

Then going through all of the materials again.

When the results are not as I expected I get a bit frustrated.

“ “ Me: “Great … there is a little problem I can work on!”

Key findings James  enjoys  cooking;  he  used  to  cook  every  day  before  he  got  married  9  months  ago.  Now  he  cooks  2/3  +mes  a  month  and  someLmes  during  the  weekend  with  his  wife.  James  tends  to  prepare  basic  meals,  usually  with  the  same  5  recipes.  SomeLmes  he  looks  for  recipes  online  and  he  makes  his  choice  based  on  the  pictures  and  the  ingredients.    He  usually  changes  recipes  to  suit  his  taste  but  he  doesn’t  keep  track  of  the  changes  he  makes.  The  result  is  that  he  oPen  gets  frustrated  because  the  recipes  don’t  always  taste  the  same  every  Lme.  

I look for recipes online and I make my choice based on the pictures and the ingredients.

“ “ Me: “Yep he is used to browse the web for recipes ! ”

During the downtimes while cooking I read news on my iPhone.

“ “ Me: “He has an iPhone and he uses it while cooking!

I am willing to learn because I really enjoy the process.

“ “ Me: “He wants to improve so he will be willing to invest some time to

become a better cook!

The solution

Goals: •  Help James to

remember successful changes to recipes.

•  Collect his recipes.

How do I get there?

Brainstorming

I  have  sketched  new  ideas  on  paper  to  keep  track  of  them  but  I  didn’t  read  them  back  unLl  I  had  finished  analyzing  the  problem  and  the  user’s  needs.  Usually,  new  ideas  become  a  great  source  of  innovaLon  later  on  in  the  process.  

User flow

In  order  to  define  the  main  flow  I  sketched  the  whole  process,  underlining  the  decision  points  and  the  interacLon  with  external  resources.  

Site Map

Designing  the  site  map  helped  me  to  understand  the  hierarchy  of  pages  

Improving design through validated scenarios.

When you sketch a scenarios ask yourself if it is plausible. Tell a story, but tell a plausible one. I had the chance to validate these scenarios with James. Every scenario leaded me to very interesting features driven by the user need.

Usually  before  James  create  a  new  recipe  he  goes  to  the  market  for  inspiraLon  and  to  buy  ingredients.    APer  he  eats  if  the  dish  looks  good  he  takes  a  picture.  

Scenario 1 Very  frequent  

Scenario 1 Very  Frequent  

Usually  people  who  are  cooking  have  dirty  hands.  This  is  why:    -­‐  the  main  informaLon  should  fit  on  one  page,  so  there  is  no  need  to  scroll.  -­‐  the  iPhone  shouldn’t  turn  the  screen  off  while  on  the  recipe  page.  

Scenario 2  Frequent  

James  wants  to  cook  a  recipe  he  made  a  few  months  ago.  He  can’t  remember  the  ingredients  and  he  looks  them  up  on  the  app.  He  decides  to  modify  the  recipe  on  the  fly  and  the  result  is  awesome:  it  tastes  much  be\er  this  way.  

Scenario 2  Frequent  

James  likes  to  alter  recipes  but  usually  the  changes  are  small.  This  is  why  I  should:    -­‐  insert  a  clone  bu?on  so  James  doesn’t  have  to  fill  the  new  recipe  form  from  scratch  and  he  can  save  Lme.  

Scenario 3  Less  frequent  

James  prefers  to  look  for  new  recipes  online  using  his  desktop  because  he  finds  the  bigger  screen  more  convenient.  This  is  why  he  needs  a  tool  that  synchronizes  his  desktop  with  his  phone.  

Scenario 3b  Less  frequent  

The  sync  applicaLon  should  include  the  following  features:    •  Send  a  link.  •  Send  notes.  •  Select  a  picture  

from  the  url.  

Rough scketches

User Feedback

Rough scketches

User Feedback

“Fixed” scketches

Usability testing

POP Prototype

Click  to  try  the  interacLons  on  POP  website  

WATCH  IT  LIVE  

Link:  h\ps://popapp.in/w#!/projects/52cd332fde3003842e000370/preview  

The  prototype  is  at  a  very  early  stage  and  was  created  with  a  POP  app.  The  main  goal  was  to  understand  if  the  app  could  meet  James’  needs.    InteracLon  with  the  camera  and  the  photo  stream  haven’t  been  explored.  

Design iteration & user feedback

Usability  tesLng  the  prototype  helped  me  to  fix  layout  problems  and  interacLons:    Key  findings:  

•  Refine  the  home  page.  •  Modify  sync  page.  •  Add  back  bu\ons  to  navigaLon.  •  Refine  the  recipe  page.  

Thanks  to  James  feedback  I  was  able  to  improve  some  pages  and  add  new  ones.    Key  findings:    •  the  sync  with  the  desktop  is  now  on  the  

home  page  •  in  the  recipe  page  the  main  content  fits  

on  one  page  •  the  image  on  the  recipe  page  can  be  

enlarged  •  the  "edit  recipe  page"  now  follows  the  

design  pa\ern  of  the  recipe  page  

Thank you Special  thanks  to  James,  Cheryl,  Karen  and  Mitch.  

SARA MICHELAZZ0