Hi-Fi Prototype
Important: Please view the prototype in FireFox (2.0+). This is due to inconsistencies in browser handling of CSS. More time was spent on the actual functionality than on cross-browser capability, hence why it can only be viewed in one browser. Sorry for the inconvenience. -- Maria
Click here or the image above to begin. (Opens in a New Window)
Sample Tasks:
- Create an alarm that is for 9:00am, Mon-Fri, and starts on 12/4/06. Set the alarm to use a MP3: ymca.mp3
-optional: Change your mind and delete the alarm when you're done. - Add the event "Winter Recess" on 12/23 to your calendar.
- Add to your To-Do List the item "HCI Paper".
- Listen to all your MP3s.
- Look at photos Jeremy and Maria took and then view the slideshow you previously made.
- Change the skin to "Flame".
-optional: And then you can change it back to "Water" when you get tired of it.
Report Introduction
When modifications are made, the unit will come with an internal calendar. With the available programmable menus, the user is able to view dates, make appointments and create schedules. Along with the standard FM/AM radio, the user is able to store up to three hours of music on its flash memory drive. Songs are transferred while the device is synced with the computer. Also, the alarm clock is capable of displaying a limited number of photographs on its LCD screen. The user can also ask for the clock to show images as a slideshow. This feature can run as a background feature as a wallpaper, behind all text.
Based off of potential user responses, the Chronos Multipurpose Alarm Clock needs to be very intuitive when allowing users to input calendar and alarm times/settings. The advent of programmable menus may not be the most useful feature of the clock, so all reasonable uses should be accounted for in the firmware development. Because of current cell phone capabilities, the Chronos Multipurpose Alarm Clock needs to be more focused on the input/output methods and calendar/alarm settings and usability. The touch screen, wallpaper, and mp3 features are well-liked and useful features of the Multipurpose Alarm Clock and will be carried out on the final design of the clock.
User Group
In deciding the target audience of our project we considered those who have hectic lives and could use a multifunction alarm clock to help them manage their tasks. As a result, we came up with two distinct representative users: a student and a worker.
Students: Students need to manage their school work as well as their personal lives. They need to track homework due dates as well as birthdays. Students have a unique problem in that their daily schedule will vary based on class schedules. If they have a part-time job as well this will increase the variability in their schedule. Based on talking to students we felt they could use an alarm clock that could be personalized to their needs. Furthermore, many students would enjoy customizing options this product employs. While we are considering a wide range of ages for students, we do not recommend this product for those under 16. We determined this age range based on the technical the product will employ as well as the lack of interest anyone under 16 would have towards this product.
Workers: Workers have their own distinct needs. For them, they need to manage their work and personal lives. Work includes having business dinners, meetings, and deadlines. Personal would include birthdays, anniversaries, and parties. This multipurpose alarm clock could be used to help them organize all these tasks in a handy solution. These users may also enjoy the MP3 and photo options to customize their product.
At least half work for the computer labs at Rutgers. Most people in my set did not object to carrying an alarm clock. Many mentioned that since they already carry a cell phone, it should be something around the size of one (but bigger than a Razr). About half said they never hit the snooze button whereas the other half reported they hit this feature too often. Most agreed that they hardly hit the button if something important needs to be done. Again, the statistics were divided when we talked about the use of multiple alarms. One half said they use multiple alarms when they absolutely must wake up or be reminded of an event whereas the other half (two people) said they never use the feature. The majority voted to have touch screens, with only one person concerned about breaking the actual screen. Majority ruled over the customizable options as well (mp3s, photos). One person, however, remarked how this seemed too much like a cell phone. The average number of appointments people wanted to set was three. The number of appointments for a week was variable, but many agreed between fifteen - twenty should be sufficient. The most popular kinds of appointments were: birthdays, exams, work (schedule and what-to-do), waking up and appointments, among other misc. things. Past entries should be kept, but let the user have the option of deleting expired ones. Sadly, the majority would not use an alarm clock that can do many tasks.
Only two out of the five people I submitted questionnaires to responded to the extra questions. They both would like to have the option to customize the GUI and exterior of the device.
Changes from Lo-Fi Prototypes to Hi-Fi Prototype
Based off on our cognitive walk-through, a few display and functionality features needed changing/tweaking. Foremost, the day’s date was added to the status bar. This helps make the Chronos a better alarm clock by having a more advanced feature be more initially visible on the clock. Keeping with the status bar, we changed its background color to white to have better contrast between the “body” of the alarm clock and the static status information display. This also adds more consistency to the alarm clock, rendering it more user-friendly.
The next changes had to do with icons. In this respect, a “home” icon was added to the bottom of each feature “body” to allow quick access back to the main display of the Chronos alarm clock. The “home” icon also doubles as a cancel button if a user is unhappy with the current progress of setting an alarm or using other advanced features. People are also familiar with the “home” metaphor due to its popularity with Web browsers and Websites. (Keep in mind Chronos users are more advanced, often business users and would all know this metaphor quite well.) The home page also received icons (with text) instead of pure text for the features to increase consistency and visual appeal within the design. Also, people have better visio-spatial memory and the new icons should increase the speed at which our users perform tasks on the alarm clock.
The next change had to do with input. Inspired by the new Nintendo Wii, we added an on-screen keyboard to replace our handwriting recognition input. (much like some Palm Pilots input system) Also, the keyboard seems to have a better fit visually and while walking through the design again, it was more functional in the prototype and is an overall better fit with the style of our device.
On the Alarms screen, we decided to combine elements from both Lo-Fi Prototypes. On the Lo-Fi Prototype #2, the currently used alarms appeared on the screen as well as options to add an alarm and to modify them. We decided to eliminate the necessity of going to another screen in order to view the current alarms by placing it on the main Alarms screen, thereby combining elements from both Lo-Fi Prototype #1 and #2.
The last change was pretty minor. We decided to add a “currently playing” button on the music page. This helps users receive not only aural feedback while playing the music, but visually as well.
Lessons Learned from Prototyping
Through the creation of two different prototypes, we learned a great deal about how one uses and corrects their designs. The iterative process helps you to understand how different designs have flaws and advantages. After making the two different prototypes, it is evident that there is no way to know that your design is perfect unless you build it and test it.
We learned that there are advantages of low-fi and hi-fi prototyping. The low-fi prototype does a good job at showing the general organization of the system, allowing the testers to interact with a simple interface. The interface is utilized so that corrections can be quickly made, without having to reprogram the whole system or rebuild the entire project. At the same time, its easier to make sure that there aren’t any problems with the design at this point. We could have ended up finding problems after doing much more effort. You can easily go through many low-fi prototypes because they are not complicated or costly, yet give a good idea of how the system may interact with the user. We discovered that we could use power-point to make the prototype, which was not very difficult and easily changeable. Testing could then be used to discover problems with mapping, and making sure that feedback was accurate.
The hi-fi prototype introduces a higher branch of interaction. At this point, the feedback is more real, and the tester can have a better idea of what to expect. We used a different type of prototyping medium, which was web based. This allowed a little more interaction, but took more time to finish. The hi-fi prototyping taught us about the way we can use the web to emulate a real product. This was one of the biggest ideas we acquired. We can use different programs to emulate the system for testing. Then, changes can be made before we do too much programming or creation of an actual system.
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Information
Chronos Alarm Clock Project was created by Group 6 in Professor Jacek Gwizdka's Fall 2006 HCI Class.
Group 6 Members:
Peter Holt
Maria Musillo
Jeremy Pharo
Anisah Syed
This page was last updated on Wednesday, November 29, 2006