28/01/2015

Future plans

In the future doing further research could bring some insights.

The last prototype can be tested and improved in terms of looks and design. The current prototype was focussed on functionality and usability. The current prototype can be expanded with all the necessary features to function properly.

A new paradigm of spreading responsibility and action needs to be evaluated. With this new paradigm, people can organise a meeting together. One person sets up a meeting and selects friends, other can add friends, add locations, add proposed meeting times and meeting names.

A focus on the application in a more professional setting could bring more insights. The focus would be on having a quick meeting with the people that know or need to know about a subject. They can be invited to a meeting in a matter of hours.

Focus on removing the need for meetings by spreading the information in an easy way. This is based on the assumption that some meetings are solely for sharing information in a team or between teams.

To automate the planning phase of a meeting is a difficult task. This is caused by several reasons: people do not have the required information ready in an approachable format, people do not want to share the information or people do not trust the automated process. This can be solved by keeping the user in control and give (automatically generated) suggestions.

The final decision making process could be improved. Sometimes people wait long or forget that they have proposed a meeting. More research could bring interesting solutions.


21/01/2015

Article review "Why I Just Asked My Students To Put Their Laptops Away"

Should media use be limited or not?

During class I often try to limit myself. I don’t want to miss the important bits of a lecture I can benefit for and I (indirectly) paid for. For me, paying attention is also about paying respect to the expertise of the lecturer. But there is sometimes a moment I need to respond to small questions. I also allow myself to drift off when the lecture(r) is boring or in some other way useless. That is why I think it should be free to choose. There is a condition: a student is not allowed to interfere or hinder the lecture for other students.

Should a teacher be responsible for the content or also on the culture?

Focusing on content is easy. Most of the time, content is freely available on the internet, sometimes even in a curated form. Even if a teacher is not good with content, he or she can use the content from other teachers. Using other peoples content is a widely used solution. In this case, the teacher as a person is not important anymore for content alone. The difference between a teacher and a good teacher is the way the content is delivered. This includes an environment and a culture.

The insight from a research

I read “Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers”.
While the outcome is not a surprise the strong significant change in results still shocked me. Multitasking is not only distracting the multitasker, but also his peers, that most of the time have no choice in this.

20/01/2015

Reflection of work Eelco Wisselink

Practical activities


  • Made summaries of articles 
  • (The New World of Work, Track Runner, Travel Remedy Kit, Medium)
  • Helped with stakeholder map
  • Did observations and interview with 3 persons
  • Helped with the experience flow
  • Did the preparation and interview Datumprikker
  • Defined two challenges
  • Made a persona
  • Discussed the design and metafor
  • Made a storyboard and drew the pictures for both
  • Helped with the expected experience flow
  • Gave feedback on the test plan
  • Made a prototype
  • Organised the pilot test
  • Made the Meet Mot Report
  • Made the prototype plan
  • Helped with the research plan
  • Set up the proto.io prototype and created the first version with help from Joerian
  • Interviewed 3 people with the new prototype
  • Analysed the results from the research
  • Made the changes to the new prototype 



Value contributed to the team

As group leader I initiated every meeting and kept track of all deadlines. I had to manage the tasks and I tried to give everyone the task that fitted well with their ability and willingness to learn. When Micha didn't deliver, I stepped up to do his work and tried to talk with him to come up with a good plan. I helped with almost every activities in the group. The other group members would ask me for help. I was a supportive and enthusiastic idea maker, and I didn't shy away from the hard work.



Reflection Yani Dokov

Individual reflection

1) Practical activities



  • Observation and interviews(Gathering information and insights) 
  • Experience flow (Visualization) 
  • Preparation and Interview Datumprikker(Making questions group work) 
  • Summary of the “Time and Place for trust in ICT network Organizations” article 
  • Summary “Creation is in part merely the business forgoing the great and small distractions” article. 
  • Idea Poster 
  • Prototype “Catch up”(paper prototype no typing just click) 
  • Test plan (group work) 
  • Pilot test + Report (Results of the test) 
  • Creating a schedule based on the chapters for all Chronotypes(Visual) 
  • RITE (methods 68) testing - (7 people (2 girls + 5 boys)) No reports just insights after which the prototype has been improved with the insights. 
  • The A2 poster for the final presentation 


These are the main functions which I was engaged during the module. This is not all of them because
some are not very central in my opinion like: trying to stay positive, created a nice atmosphere, always came to lectures and to group meetings, attended all group-teacher meetings, etc. You can be the judge of that they are all relevant.


2) Value contributed to the team

In the beginning I started to contribute to the team with the project scope and got to know the guys
which I worked with a little better. This helped us to break the ice, which I believe is very important step. Helping the team by discussing everything, so that we can make sure we are on the same page was something that I loved to do. I always attended all the meetings except one because I was sick. We had great experience the way we met and worked regarding the project. Personally, I feel that my biggest achievement to the team was the iterations that were a result of a 7 interviews which I made, crafting the prototype in a functional and serviceable way. The poster that I am scheduled to make for the presentation of the app is also something that I can feel motivated to do. I learned a lot for the
prototype process and enjoyed working in a team.

Reflection of work Joerian

Practical activities
Summary of an article
Full
Project scope
Partly
Observations and interview
Two respondents
Experience flow
Partly
Preparation and interview Datumprikker
Partly
Pre-Research report
Partly
Summery
Full
Customer journey
Partly
Persona
Partly
Design and metafor
Partly
Challenge
Partly
Story Board
Partly
Expected experience flow
Partly
Test plan
Full
Idea Poster
Partly
Prototype
1 Prototype of the tree
Research
Partly
Meet up Report
Full
Flow chart new prototype
Full
2nd Prototype
Half
Research
4 Respondents
Iteration report
Partly
Besides direct productive input I was always there in the lessons and had a positive and active attitude in the group sessions
Value contributed to the team I have the feeling I contributed to a lot too the project. I was always there and had an active and positive attitude. Furthermore I took always tasks and responsibility at me. And I am not the group leader. The thing I maybe score less will be the quality of some work I contributed. But when that was the case I communicated that and was willing to learn. I tried, they corrected me and it was fine.

13/01/2015

Catch up Prototype

Personal Experience

Just before the paper prototype testing was very insecure what people are we going to meet and how are they going to comprehend our proposal. I had some doubt, but after the first test subject walked in I started to feel more confident. I believe that the people we tested were going to feel a bit careful with what they say in order not to offend our work. I got overall, sufficient results with the “Catch up” application. There were things that the users did not understand and they wondered what they were doing because they could not interact with the prototype. This is reasonable, since it was a paper prototype.
Evaluation (planning)

In my experience we needed a bit more time to be fully prepared. Our 3rd prototype was done in a flash due to unexpected reasons. This is a variable that we cannot predict but we know that it is out there in the future. The time was not enough to interact with the users deeply enough to get what they feel and think. There was a language barrier in some situations which was avoided by simplifying words and sentences. Most of the applicants(mainly young people) had an idea how to use the application but some had no clue what was going on(mostly older people).



Questions (Catch Up)


1)    Did he/she try to type?

Yes – 0
No – 8

2)    What do you think about type or click in this context?

Click - 7
Type - 1

Typing is more annoying and they try to avoid it if possible. Participants stated that clicking is more convenient for them because it is easier.

3)    What color gets your attention the most? Why?

4xThe blue color on the clock appeals to me the most. It feels more relaxing.
3x I like the red on the Google maps. It is clear that it is important and the red color is showing that.
1x I don’t know. I don’t know why(smile).

4)    What would be easier click a date, to type a date or to use voice command? Why?

2x Voice command

-       I like to speak
-       I try to use voice command more often

6x Clicking

-       It is faster
-       It is less involving
-       I create the illusion that I am going through the process faster.
-       I don’t have to type or speak

5)    Did you like the pin the location component? Why?

-       I like the idea but I am not sure if I know the map well enough.
-       It is very cool.I like the simplicity.
-       I like that you can use your fingers and not type.

-       I sometimes don’t know where things are on the map. My orientation is very bad.

6)    Did you find the group selection option at the end?

-       It was not clear to me how this worked.Well,I cannot click on it and see what it is.
-       I think it has something to do with friends but I am not sure how this works.
-       I guess this button does this….(Not sure what she is doing.)
-       What is that?

7)    What detail in the prototype did you like? Why?

-       I liked how you did not have to type, only click. I am tired of typing.
-       I liked how you can pin the location very fast. It is kind of new to me in an app.
-       I liked the clock idea. It is hard to use from first glance but once you figure it out it is genius.(This one I got most)

8)    Will you use it for catch up meetings? Why?

6 X No

-       I am used to What sup
-       I am not used to this app.I prefer Facebook
-       I don’t know if I would ever need to set an appointment of the sort
-       I don’t set my appointment through an app I call.

2 X Yes

-       It is in some way new.
-       I really liked the idea that you only click.


Receiver

1)    Did he/she try to type?

8X No
0X Yes

2)    Do you think that a distinguishable notification sound can help the user to understand the context before even he looks at his phone? Why?

-       I think that this is a great idea. It will let me know before I even see what is going on in my phone.
-       It will make the communication easier.
-       It will make me more aware of what is going on.

3)    Is the message from Jessica clear and easy to respond? Why?
All the respondents answered YES!

-       The massage is very clear. Straight to the point.
-       If I want to change the time what can I do?
-       It is pretty clear.

4)    Are you missing something in Jessica’s request (Design/Function wise)? What?

-       I don’t know, it seem fine to me.
-       The part with the selecting friends is not very clear.
-       When you pin a location have the opportunity to write as well.
-       Put title at every new action.

5)    Did you like the end message and is it clear that you have sent an answer?

All participants answered yes.




This idea is Convenient

Inconvenient   1          2          3          4          5          Convenient

User mainly answered 4.

This idea is Easy
                          Not at all     No       Bit      Yes    Very Much
Difficult           1          2          3          4          5          Easy

All the users except 1 stated 4 because the friends selecting needs to improve.


Pros about the prototype
Only click action
Simple response
Easy to understand the program
Clock is clever

Cons about the prototype
No swiping
Selecting friends needs to be fixed
Add type a location if possible
Show how the clock works



Conclusion


In my opinion the prototype testing went a bit more rushed than it had to be due to minor time intervals. The results that we have gathered will help us to refine our product and retest it with all the insights gathered from our previous test. We would need more time and a better preparation, so that the users can give us more accurate results. We would need to formulate a better test plan in order to leave enough time for us to record in detail our findings. The ideas we had appealed to the users and they found our concepts useful. In our next testing it is maybe wise to use the RITE method described in the book Universal Methods of Design. It will help us to adapt to the answers and refine the end product before it is built.

Research report Meet Mot


Personal Experience

The tests all went well. Sometimes the participants where late or didn’t even show up. I really liked the enthusiastic responses on the prototype. Both on the idea and the execution.

Evaluation (planning)

Next time the tests should take more time to show the prototype and to ask more questions. Now we didn’t had the time to show everything to everyone.

Questions (Meet Mot)

Do you like to select the motivator and why?


  • Useful, funny
  • For close friends
  • Fun things!
  • I have lazy friends
  • Good to give the options
  • New and unique
  • Fun to react on triggers
  • Options are good
  • The slider isn’t clear

Will you be triggered to respond faster with a motivation and why?


  • I want to avoid punishment
  • Learning this app helps
  • It is more for long time catch-up
  • Someone else will be later
  • I don’t see reminders
  • You don’t need to switch apps now!

Pros about the prototype


  • It’s fast
  • It’s fun to use with friends
  • The options are helpful

Cons about the prototype


  • Location is missing
  • Punishing sounds aggressive
  • Meet mot is not a very good name, mot is Dutch for fighting

Conclusion

To punish your friends when they are slow with responding is a good idea, but the prototype has some edges to be smoothed. And we should change it to something like MotiMeet