Research
The first and the most important phase of the redesign process was the background research. Gathering information about the user, the device, frequent tasks performed by the user and the environment (scene) was at the core of this phase. The objective of this phase was to build a 'Big picture' of the Neuralyzer story by gleaning data from various resources like the MIB movie, comics in order to understand the overall composition. The outcome of the research was information about the user (Agent J), the tasks performed with the Neuralyzer (erase memory, download/upload memory) and the environment's characteristics (NY streets, busy day).
Data Gathering
User Research
Empathy Map
Task Analysis
Environment Analysis
Environmental Analysis is collecting data about the background where the user performs his task. This helps in identifying factors that affect the user which might not be captured in user and task analysis. Below is the environment where the user carries out the above mentioned tasks:
Scene: Look Right Here (Men In Black 3)
In this scene, an alien is apparently identified as hitting the ground resulting into lot of people gathering around. The user (Agent J) then takes out his secret weapon (the Neuralyzer) and tells them to ‘Look right at him’ and then Bang! Memories of all the witnesses are erased.
Weather: Pleasant, windy; Time: Daytime; Place: New York city; No of people present around: ~60
Ideation
So what next? What to do with the huge pile of data gathered from the Research phase? The answer was to solve problems and find opportunities which could make the Neuralyzer suit today's needs and make his life easier. But how? Ideation or brainstorming on how can we make it better was answer. I decided to replace the existing tangible interface of the device with an easy to use touch screen. The primary reason was to bring the power and ease of use of smart phones into the arcane Neuralyzer.
To visualize how the interface would look like, a quick and efficient brainstorming method was used called Paper prototyping. Here, I sketched different ideas on paper and got them tested by various users. An iterative approach was followed to further refine the prototypes.
Tools used: Pen and paper.
Screen design- Paper prototypes
Design
After the paper prototypes were created, it was time give them a bit of real feel by converting them to digital forms. But how? What tool should be used to create more sophisticated prototypes? No worries, Amy had a simple answer. PowerPoint! Yes, it was the only tool needed to create the medium fidelity digital prototypes. It had lot of benefits as well- no onboarding required, easy to use, quick and efficient, easy to share the prototype, and above all it is Free! Let me quote it for you to add more gravity to how useful could PowerPoint be.
MS PowerPoint/Google Slides is the God of Medium-Fidelity prototyping tools. Period.
Tools used: Google slides and some brains!
Medium-fidelity Prototype (Version 1)
Medium-fidelity Prototype (Version 2)
Story telling
Story telling is a powerful technique which could be used to demonstrate user-device interaction in a specific scenario. First, a story outline was created which was composed of the main scene, the event, the cause and the consequence. Next, to add more details about the user, empathy map was produced which listed various user traits and behaviors. All this information was utilized to create a storyboard which visually illustrated the complete story scene by scene. Lastly, a video demonstrating the user-device interaction was created by incorporating the data from the storyboards and the empathy maps.
Story outline
Technology saves the day- The flying saucer crash.
Once upon a time in the city of New York, there was a widespread rumour about aliens invading earth. Every day people used to speak about what would happen if the aliens capture their planet. They were terrified just by that sheer thought. One day an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) suddenly crashed on one of the busiest streets in New York. The rumour was no more a rumour now. This caused havoc and chaos in the city. People started leaving the city and migrating to safer places, as they thought the aliens might harm them. There was a huge rush and stampede at the place where UFO crashed, to see what actually happened. Onlookers had to be warned by the police to stay away from the scene, but nonetheless they were going frenzy and started attacking the forces. The situation was going out of control. People were getting hurt. Before the situation could go worse, and cause further harm to people, the MIB special agent J arrived as a saviour. He had the Neuralyzer which he conveniently pulled out and flashed on the mad mob. This event erased their memories of the UFO crash, bringing the situation back to normal. Rough day finally went well. Thanks to the Neuralyzer!
The Extraordinaire Card
Movie
As a final deliverable, the class was asked to create a movie which summarizes how, when, where and for what the user would use the gadget- the Neuralyzer. Below are the three different versions I created iteratively based on user's feedback.
Tools used: iMovie for Mac, Google Slides, Freesound.org
The Neuralyzer- Version 3 (Final)
The Neuralyzer- Version 2
The Neuralyzer- Version 1