PAPER PROTOTYPE
Assignment
Make a paper prototype of a fitness tracker app for smartphones and smartwatches. The app's features include: starting and stopping tracking in response to user input; tracking the burned calories, travelled distance, and current speed; displaying the tracked data to the user in real-time; and displaying the tracked data per day/week/month.
Iteration
Smartwatch
For the smartwatch, I inspired myself from current fitness tracker apps, focusing more on the right placement of the interface than aesthetics. Furthermore, the interactions should be smooth and familiar, without letting the users guess what's behind the function, especially while running. Therefore, I considered using clickable errors that indicate you can either swipe to the right or click on the button, so two possibilities with the same outcome and the users don't have to guess how to "Pause," or "End" the session.
After some running sessions, e.g., after 1km of running, the watch app suggests you drink water to stay hydrated, an additional function I added as well as seeing your current heart rate as most of the current smartwatches have this function.
The smartphone app won't have a different design approach but a very similar one. However, with the smartphone app, the users have a more detailed overview of their sessions and past ones.
Testing Protocol
Introduction
Hey, my name is David, currently studying UX Design at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and for my class "Building Engaging Prototypes," I want to test my paper prototypes with you.
I created two paper prototypes, both being a fitness tracker app, one for a smartwatch, and the other for a smartphone. Yet, both don't differ in their functionalities.
This testing session's goal is to assess the quality of the interactions and wireframe structure. The data collected will be kept anonymous.
I will provide you with small tasks you have to undergo and for that, I ask you to "Think Out Loud," so basically, just tell me what you are doing, thinking, for example, saying out loud: "I click on the start button to start the running session now."
User testing
1st task
Start a running session and walk for like 10sec.
2nd task
Ok, now you get the notification of taking care of your hydration level; please Think Out Loud and name your actions!
3rd task
Keep walking for about 10 sec. (Waiting). Ok, you want to Pause the session to take a little break.
4th task
Continue the session and keep walking. (Wait again). Now end the session and have a look at your data from the day.
Follow-up questions
- Were there any problems during the testing session?
- Which elements were confusing for you or do you need more detailed information?
- Is there anything you would like to see an improvement on?
End
Thank you for participating in my user testing!
Findings
The findings for the smartphone apps were not as detailed as for the smartwatch one. With the smartwatch, the user actually wished for a countdown after clicking on the session so they would know or be more prepared for the running. Also if you don't want to drink right now, you can skip that part. Also, if you pause the session, integrate a continue button so the users don't have to guess where to click to continue!
Reflection
Overall, paper prototyping is a quick and easy way to sketch for applications. The overall process was easy, yet, thinking about how to test it to get valuable results were way harder than I expected. As it is a very rough sketch without any details or immediate clickable prototyping features, you have to carefully think about how to test it to get any valuable information. But after writing a testing protocol the actual testing went quite smooth. Especially as, like mentioned above, it's rough sketching, I don't need the most detailed feedback and valuable pieces of information, it's more about the flow and if the process is understandable enough for the user.
