Rapid Prototyping iPhone App

iCatalogUX Design by Suhasini VempatiStudent Project 1- UXDi 2014

General Assemb.ly

Monday, 27 January 14

Project Brief- An iOS app

- An interactive prototype based on a sketched interface- Photo documentation of the user flows, rough sketches and finished designs

- A statement of the problem you wanted to solve, and how you believe you solved it

- A statement on how you iterated your design in response to user feedback


About the product

iCatalog is an iPhone app that informs the user of the availability of a particular book by providing the user with collated results from libraries around them


Case Study

Problem Statement: I always borrow a book before I can think of a purchase

My solution: A simple interface where the availability of a book in libraries near him, is provided to him.


ResearchUser interviewThe class was divided into pairs. Each pair were give 15 minutes to chat with one another to find out more about each other. This may include likes, dislikes, person’s routine, chores they may perform etc

Once a sufficient rapport was established, we were given the task of writing interview questions based on one aspect of their life that we may have uncovered during the brief chat.


Findings• Likes to educate himself on various topics by reading

• He reads any time of the day • Enjoys composing music • He is not particularly interested in fiction but will read one to find inspiration for his lyrics • He tends to not remember books that he has already read, and therefore when he wants to refer to one again he cannot • How does he pick up any book?? .... he may find something interesting or an idea might pop into his head

• When he wants to pick up a new book he usually goes by recommendations- author recommendation, books of similar topics, reviews, previews • He will always borrow a book before he decides its worth buying • He goes to the library to borrow books


Design iteration 1Ideation

Since my user Michael likes books and finds it hard to remember good ones he has read, how about an app that will contain

1. Barcode scanner- so he can scan a book as soon as he completes reading it. This will display information on the book and he start to create a list of read books2. In-build camera: to take a picture of the cover3. Search functionality: search by title, author etc4. A personal planner that will create a list of books he has already read, future reads, reference only books etc5. He could sign in with his Gmail account

ExplorationI looked at a few apps with similar features like Good books, iBooksI also looked at how Amazon worked with ratings and reviews because Michael trusted Amazon.

ValidationWhat did my user think of the app so far?

- “It looks like a lot of work”


User Profile creationTo gain more clarity and insight into Michael


DiscoveryGoing back to my interviews and questions, I found another aspect of Michael’s life that had a pattern to it. And where pattern exists, pain points can exist.

Michael prefers to borrow books for the library

User Journey


Design Iteration- 2

Create an efficient process for Michael to borrow his next book


App flowMy hypothesis: -- “Automagic stuff” taken care of---•All backend code in place• Amazon search, rating• Google search query• Geolocation• Google search with voice• Catalogues from Libraries all nicely collated

My solution- A notification or display of the next book to read, its review on Amazon, title trivia and its availability in the libraries near the user’s location with the ability to reserve it


Testing2 designs with different functionality. Tested both designs with the user

Test resultsFirst design: cumbersome and effortSecond design: simple and useful

User liked the idea where catalogues from different libraries were collated into one and presented to him ( as he feels that libraries don’t share information with one another which means that he needs to go to each library to find a book).


Sketches

- On paper only- Paper prototype made clickable using Popapp

Iteration 1- Map- Libraries around the user’s location- Amazon rating- Book synopsis- Book availability - Ability to reserve a book


Iteration 2- Secure login to reserve a book: Membership ID, 4 digit pin code for verification - Email notification sent to user upon reserve- An information button to reveal reservation process

Demo created using popapp: https://popapp.in/w#!/projects/52cf5461c6043e8b0600005c/preview
