ROLE
I was key in brainstorming what our app would be and I created the paper prototypes. I also went into illustrator and made the screens for the prototype. Following what we wanted our app to showcase, I instructed my teammates which buttons led to which screens. This was difficult because we had over 17 screens and interactions and the order of the screens was key to creating the prototype. However, we were able to figure out which interactions we were missing and produce a good final prototype.
OUTCOME
We prototyped the app using inVision. Some of the features included in this app was a list of types of parking spaces. When you select a parking type, it will highlight the areas on campus that meet the parking space type requirement and it will show availability of spots denoted by the green highlight. There is also a search bar to make finding the parking space you are eligible for easier. We also have a zoom in and out feature to make finding the green highlights easier and a timer feature that will notify user when their pass or meter is almost out of time. In the settings menu, you can also choose to turn the GPS on or off, and set the timer to notify your parking expiration at a certain time. Notifications would likely be a vibration or any other form of tactile sensory. The link to the prototype is no longer available.
USABILITY TESTERS
We explained what the participants were testing and encouraged them to think out loud. We put the original and our prototype side by side so that participants who haven’t recently interacted with the application could differentiate the differences between the two. Because our prototype can only carry out certain functions with certain steps, for our testing, we directed each participant through a series of tasks that corresponded to our redesigned app. These directions included zooming in and out, selecting and deselecting the IU school building and IU residence hall toggles, and searching for a building, specifically Wells Library. After walking the participants through the test, we encouraged them to explore the prototype on their own while giving us feedback. When it seemed like the participants didn’t have anything else to say, we asked them some questions planned out beforehand, for an example, what they thought about the contrast between the text and map. When we didn’t have any more questions and when participants didn’t have any more input to give, we thanked them for their time and sent them away with some chocolate.
