Speak Easy
Description
This was a group assignment for my Interaction Design class for my graduate program. I collaborated with three teammates during this project. As a team, we gathered research for the project by interviewing and observing people at a market. Afterward, I sketched out screens and created reports based on our findings. .
Solution
Tech based hostess in restaurants. Table number that a pub-goer gets depends on the survey results.
Details
Role: UX Designer & UX Researcher
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Observed two food markets
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Interviewed two people during lunch time
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Sketched a few screens for interactive prototype
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Volunteered to create the interactive prototype using Axure
Type of Project: Group Project
Course: Digital Technology for Communities
(Group Project Coursework 2)
Length: 3 Months
Objectives
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Select a community
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Interview people within the selected community
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Follow the user-centered design process
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Design an interactive digital technology for the selected community to enhance how individuals interact with each other
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Must use Axure for the interactive prototype
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Evaluation during the design process
Background
In the beginning, we decided to focus on street food market patrons in London. However, through research, the focus was now on pub-goers.
Design Problems
We found that London pub-goers of city-center bars needed a better way to connect with other people at the same venue socially. Pub-goers also felt socially isolated with group conversations. Some people only spoke to people they came with or already knew in the pub.
Design Process
1) User Research & Discovery
2) Conceptual Design
3) Detailed Design
4) Evaluation
User Research & Discovery
User research was conducted in three separate rounds.
1st Round - Street food market
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Searching to see any differences between time and day of the week
2nd Round – Different street food markets further away from university area
3rd Round - Bars and pubs
Learned
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The type of people that go to the food market near the university
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How weather can affect the market’s ambiance
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There was awkwardness and reluctance when it came to people sharing a table. This occurred at all the markets that we selected
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People were less likely to connect with other people over food when there was not that much time to spend
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Most people preferred to interact with other people over alcoholic drinks
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One particular bar people only connected with other people that they came with
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Crowds gathered in local pubs tended to be smaller and conversation were shared among tables
The observations finally shaped a community. We started with working moms, then changed to food markets after we found that the community was kind of difficult. Then, food markets turned into the pub scene. The first stage of the design process also helped with the design problems, audience stakeholder, and empathy maps.
Conceptual Design
Ideation
During this stage, we ideated, created, and focused on the design problems that were discovered in the first stage. We focused on technology for pub-goers as well as pub employees.
Outcomes
We came up with seating arrangements for pub-goers. The group then continued to build on the idea.
Sketch
Sketch option of inside bar layout
Sketch of possible outdoor bar layout for seating area
Sketch
Concepting
We drafted a set of requirements and sketched different design concepts. This was also the time that we decided on the final design. We had asked questions about the design problems and which design would provide the best way to enhance the social interaction between strangers at a bar or pub. The final decision was an in-venue seating assignment and ordering system kiosk.
Detailed Design
I worked on prototyping the final design and sketched a few screens. The group found that something like the McDonald's ordering kiosk was ideal for design sketches. The McDonald's kiosk also shaped how it would fit in a pub setting.
Beverage and different car name options
Payment and animals for spirit animal
Beverage and different car name options
Design Challenges
I wanted to code a random generator. However, I was not able to attempt it in the amount of time. I wanted the user to click the button, and automatically assign the specified table based on the results. The substitute version was just to assign one specific table for indoor and outdoor seating results for the prototype.
The second design challenge was making sure the smaller version of the prototype had all the interactions back. I created all the screens on the default view. However, after reviewing it, I had found that I had to zoom out to fully see the design that I had done. I had over 30 screens.
Button Generator
Prototype
Five users tested out the prototype. We noted down changes that needed to be changed to the prototype. One of the users was a bartender. The tablet was used to see what it would look like in the pub scene. The next image is of the full kiosk. The full kiosk is the final version of the prototype.
We conducted a guerrilla usability study with five participants in a pub in order to evaluate the interaction design.
Evaluation
Outcomes
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Focused only on the effectiveness and navigation due to limited time and scope
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Minor usability issues
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Iterated design, updated some instructions, and navigation after testing users
Reflection
The design that we created was basically like a hostess in restaurants like in the United States. In London, having a hostess isn’t really a thing. People will just walk in.
I had finished the prototype early and showed my group members. However, the default view was bigger on the website. Users would have to decrease the zoom in order to fully see the prototype. However, there was not going to be instructions to zoom. Therefore, I spent about a day or two, making all the interactive screens much smaller for the prototype. That way users would automatically know what's on the screen. It would have been awkward if a user had to interact with the prototype, and only see a blank screen.
Other Projects
TravelHG - An information-rich website that focuses on travel and hidden gems in London.
