Ideation
To explore the various creative avenues exposed by our user research, we utilized several idea generation methods.
First, the N-3-5 method was used to create a large amount of initial ideas in small amount of time. Each of us individually generated three ideas in five minutes. Each idea sheet is then passed to another team member. Using the existing sketches as inspiration, we each developed three new ideas in another five minutes. At the end of this method, we came up with 48 individual ideas in approximately 20 minutes.
There were three major ideas that were devised through this process: gamification, visual/auditory interfaces, and holographic projection.
Concept Evaluation
In order to select the final three design candidates, the 51 ideas were first filtered using an affinity diagram in order to find distinct design categories.
Ranking the idea groups in order of most to least promising based on the Pugh chart:
Hexagon Structures / Wearables
Holographic Projections
Virtual + Physical User Interfaces
Bubble Maps / Novelty Devices
Robotic Interactions
The final design candidates are highlighted in green on the Pugh Chart. While there was a tie between candidates four and eight (holographic projections and controllers, respectively), we decided to proceed with the former as the latter should be an important feature in any design. Therefore, it will be subsumed within the final candidates.
Final Candidate One: Hexagon Structure
Final Candidate One: Hexagon Structure
Final Candidate 3: Holographic Projections
Design Solution
The first idea was the one we ended up selecting.
In order to determine which features we should focus on in our time management system, we came up with a list of potential features to include. We narrowed it down by thinking about how three of our main persona groups would value each feature; we then sent out a follow-up feature list questionnaire for further validation.
With the feedback we got, we categorized the most important functions our system into 5 main groups: Creating a Task, Creating Groups, Completing a Task, Task Synchronization, and Task Delegation. We decided to create a physical device and a companion app that includes these features.
Low-fidelity Prototypes
Mid-fidelity Prototypes
We created a prototype app using Sketch and Invision that the user could interact with on a basic level. The app had the capability to demonstrate several interactions such as reassigning tasks and creating a new task.
To test the functionality of the physical device (hexes), we printed a graphical interface on cardstock and attached it to foam board to demonstrate the tactile sensation of grouping physical objects together. We printed out a variety of screens to show how the hexes would interact with each other and to create the illusion of interaction with the companion app.
Usability Test
We designed our usability tests to examine the basic elements of our time management system.
We carried out the usability tests on 4 participants; on each of them, we tested the usability of both the physical device and the app, and got general feedback about the design and the integration of the time management system.
We identified and summarized nineteen issues during the usability tests.
Among these issues, 3 of them were particularly critical:
Participants experienced confusion and frustration with the navigation system we implemented in our apps.
The hexes did not offer any visual cues to help participants figure out how to use them.
the terminology (hexes, groups, tasks, categories) was confusing to the users.
These insights informed the decisions of our final prototype. We updated the hexagon user interface to improve their intuitiveness and corrected the navigation and language usability issues on the companion app. We also investigated various solutions on how we could better convey the purpose of the hexagons and their relationship to time management. We also updated and added several new information visualization features that were commonly requested from our users.