Concept development.
Having chosen to continue with the concept of a desktop and phone application in combination with a wearable to increase efficiency in both starting and reviewing a note or to do, the process of concept development began. The challenge was mainly in attempting to decrease the amount of buttons on the wearable device while maintaining as high a level of functionality as possible in combination with the development of the application.
App Development
During the process of designing the wearable and the buttons on it the app was developed simultaneously to keep the two designs in sync. When designing the app there were a few important points to consider:
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There needs to be both a phone and computer version
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The way in which the screen reader works needs to be strongly considered
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The user still has 5% of their vision which implies using bright contrast colours can help the user navigate more efficiently through the app
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The app needs to be kept accessible otherwise it becomes dysfunctional
How does the user’s screen reader work:
During co-design session 4 the user explained how the screen reader works on his PC and phone in order to allow us to optimise the app for their particular situation. The screen reader works by creating blocks out of the content present on the screen - menu bar, address bar, content block for example. The user can navigate through these blocks by pressing F6 and within the block the screen reader reads from left to right. Within the block the user is able to skip through sections using the tab key. When the screen reader is activated on the user’s phone then the user uses a forward and backward swipe motion to skip through these section blocks.
Although there were many more steps involved in the application development process, the most important illustrated steps are described in this report to show the decision making process accurately.
In the beginning of the app design process it was found to be quite difficult to combine category contexts such as work and study with time constraints. As can be seen the first idea was rather complex and required a lot of steps to be able to open a note in the category “study” for example. It was therefore decided to further simplify the app.
In this version of the app the process was simplified extensively by predefining the sub categories that the user would be able to sort his notes into. Although this definitely works in making the process quicker it is very limiting to the user as they are constrained to the predefined sub-categories. Additionally the notes or to-dos would have to be categorized by the user using the save pop up after the note had been made and the automation would be limited. At this point it was realised that all categories have a first category which is essentially to do lists and the second category is always for notes. For this reason it was decided to take To Do’s and notes as the first choice the user has to make.
In this iteration of the design the user specifically asked to include recordings into the function of both the wearable and the app so this category was added to the starting choice of the app. Additionally, the user wanted the categories of the app to be defined as general, private, study and work. In this stage the organisation of notes and to do’s for logical reviews was rethought. It was decided to use the Eisenhower matrix to organise the to do’s of the user. The matrix works by organising to do’s on the basis of urgency and importance.
These four categories would be numbered one through four and colour coded accordingly to help the user navigate through the application more efficiently. This system eliminates the need for the user to input time sensitive information in the save pop up of each to do and helps combine categories with importance and priority.
This system was simplified even further by removing the category association before the Eisenhower matrix as the user expressed that it was redundant. Additionally, this decision was made as category 1 of the matrix would be to-dos that the user would have to complete within two days regardless of the context in the user’s life that the to-do belongs to.
The same can be said for the rest of the blocks in the Eisenhower matrix as to-dos grouped in the same block would have to be completed within around the same time span. The life context categories therefore became irrelevant and only added an extra step to getting to the to-do itself.
Below the final draft of the app design is shown. This version was simplified quite drastically compared to the first app idea. This app additionally introduces a modular layer to the notes category where the user is able to input their own sub categories for each major category. This is relevant for cases such as the “study” category where courses change over time and the user may want to add and delete sub categories.
The app is intentionally kept very basic and in blocks to help the user to easily navigate through it with a screen reader and in the case of the co-design who has 5% of their vision, to be able to navigate through it with the use of bright contrasting colours in each block.
Button ideation.
The app is intended to be functional on both computer and phone without the wearable but the most important functionality of the wearable is to increase the speed and efficiency of opening and saving a note. Therefore it was very important that the app and the buttons on the wearable worked in harmony which we strongly considered when moving into the design of the wearable.
Important considerations of the wearable in combination with the app:
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Switch connection between the user’s computer and phone
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Sound and vibration feedback
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Minimise number of buttons
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Buttons to start new to-dos and notes
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Button to switch between categories prior to creating the note
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Save button
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Give buttons different functionalities
Co-Design Session Outcomes:
Once the concept was chosen an online meeting was held with the client to codesign the button functions. The client requested that a record button be incorporated into the wearable and the app and also wanted the categories defined as work, private, study and general. Below the ideation of the buttons and their functions can be seen.
Codesign Session: Evaluation of Chosen Idea
After finalising an idea of button combinations that would work on the wearable a model was made out of cardboard to discuss with the client. One point of improvement was to replace the top toggle button with a notes and to-do button and give these two buttons functions of both new and review. The design and model can be seen below.
Type of button choice
Final button choice
Flow diagrams explaining wearable and app in combination
