Merchant Navy Touch Screen Application Project Evaluation

Project overview

I was asked to develop an interactive product for The Hull Independent Merchant Navy Association (HIMNA)

The Hull Independent Merchant Navy Association (HIMNA) had a long standing aim to raise awareness of the wider Merchant Navy (and not just the Hull branch) contribution in times of conflict.

They wanted a product that allowed members of the public and fellow merchant navy mariners to access and search some of the amassed content and information now held by the association such as imagery, records, lists of sailors who lost their lives in service etc.

I am the only Interactive Multimedia designer in my year group, I was given this project suited towards my course discipline but it meant I would be working on my own rather than in a group.

This had its advantages and disadvantages I had to work wearing many hats so to speak. I have had to work as project manager, designer, developer, data inputter and user tester, this has presented its own problem but overall I believe it has helped me develop a greater understanding of the entire process and it has given me a good understanding of the individual roles within designing an interactive project.

During this project with help from my lecturer Gareth Sleightholme I have worked hard on creating a strong visual theme for this piece and I am happy with my accomplishments. I have explored possibilities and made educated decisions to enhance the feel of the final product.

For a more detailed overview please see below:

Merchant Navy Touch Screen Kiosk Application Overview Booklet.

I had a few technical issues along the way working with flash and PHP together but in the end the product works fine with only one problem. The roll of honour does not paginate multiple pages of results but this is a problem that I believe could be solved in time or with the aid of a specialist scriptwriter.

With this been a client project I have had to work closely with my client liaison Lesley Binks, I have tried to meet the needs of the clients whilst also tailoring the product to meet the needs of the end user. In my meetings with Leslie I have done my best to empathise and I have tried to make the technical issues as easy as possible for her to understand. I have successfully met all deadlines and I hope that Leslie and the HIMNA are pleased with the product I have produced.

This has been a fulfilling project and I am very pleased with my own contribution. I am very thankful for the opportunity to have been involved with a project that represents a tremendous effort and service that ultimately cost many their lives so we could live in a free world today.

User Testing

User Testing is an invaluable part of the development process; it gives direct feedback on how real users use the application. There are different methods that can be applied to evaluate a user interface and I have chosen to monitor users while they complete a task sheet that I have designed. I designed a user testing sheet after adding to my knowledge of the subject from previous projects by looking at online usability websites and guidelines

http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/usability-testing.shtml

http://www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/usertestingonabudget

I also took on board information from a book that I am currently reading

Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert.

I monitored the testing in order to make observations of the user’s experience and this was very useful. The aim of my monitoring was to observe people using the product in the hope of discovering errors and areas requiring improvement. I was looking at the user’s efficiency, accuracy, recall and emotional response whilst they completed the tasks.

I could see the logic they used in determining how to complete the tasks set and I could also see how they used that logic in exploration. I was also looking for frustration as this would be a sign of aspects that may not be intuitive or easy to use.

The aim of my usability testing was to test the applications capacity to meet its intended purpose in this case I particularly was interested in the user ability to successfully interact with the application using a touch screen monitor as this is the intended interaction method for the final piece. The purpose of the application is to deliver information so I am also looking for feedback on amount of and the arrangement of information displayed upon the page. I also wanted to gain some feedback on the aesthetic appeal of my design and the merits of the idea behind the project.

User research is a crucial factor in the development process and I put a lot of effort into getting feedback on the project. I sought advice from my lecturers and fellow students at regular intervals whilst also having regular consultations with my client throughout the project to make sure that I met the needs of the user whilst also providing a product that satisfies the requirements of the client. User testing provides a way of finding out whether the research, planning and advice in the earlier stages of the design process have delivered a successful product.

Overall user feedback was extremely positive but a larger focus group may have produced more varied results.

The response to the thematic design and information delivery came back with extreme popularity. The usability in particular button sizes and positioning in terms of navigation and on screen keyboard provides 100% success rates. I did notice that the page turn in the gallery feature was useable but not as easy as I had hoped although that is partly due to the response of the touch screen that the application was used on.

There were a few problems that were discovered as a result of the user testing:

Problem

The start button in the navigation seemed to imply an action to some users.

Solution

I have changed the start button to a welcome button this echoes the first line in the information on that page

“Welcome to the Hull Independent Merchant Navy Associations public information portal.”

Problem

One of the navigational buttons linked to the wrong page and two buttons had selectable text labels.

Solution

I linked the button to the correct destination and made the text unelectable on the buttons in question.

Problem

The delete button was not working on the onscreen keyboard.

Solution

I checked the Action Script and made the required adjustments.

Problem

The audio player did not stop playing when the stop button was pressed.

Solution

I removed the audio from the timeline and the application now controls the audio using Action Script.

There was one more issue that I wish to address as a result of user testing, a number of testers tried to press the URLS in the resources section expecting a them to take them to a page. I have not done anything about this as they information is valuable and it would be inappropriate to allow users to connect to other sites as part of the application. I believe that the desire to click the links so to speak is a result of users associating the application to a website when testing it on a normal computer. If application was being displayed in a thematic kiosk casing in a museum setting people would not associate it as being a website. I do not wish to provide users with confusion but in my opinion the need to provide the user with information out ways any slight confusion in this case.

Rememberence card

I have been producing last minute content for the application and one of my favourite bits is the remembrance card. In the content given to me by Leslie there is a picture of a burial at sea and I thought it would be a good idea to turn this into a remembrance card. Remembrance cards are enduring mementos of lost loved ones that usually feature a religious or meaningful verse and a picture of the person to be remembered. They do not usually feature a picture of the burial but in this case I feel it works as a symbol of the meaning behind the card.

disaster

Not much to say, flash crashed and I have lost two weeks worth of progress, I will have to work twice as fast and hard now.

3 weeks left

This week we now have a working role of honour to a point, the way in which the results are shown and the pagination of multiple pages of results needs to be added, this is not going to be easy as I understand the principle of pagination within php web pages but the needs of flash are entirely different as I have found out so far and this may present some problems.

I had a meeting with my client liaison within the last week and this went very well, she has provided me with some nice visual content for me to incorporate into the application and she is very happy with the current state of the application and my approach thus far.

Working on this project has been very fulfilling for myself but I have had to fulfil many roles within this project, I have had to liaise with the clients this involves listening to their needs and hopes for the finished piece and I have needed to research, listen and learn the importance that this project has on a personal and emotional level. I have had to empathise with their needs whilst remembering my role as an industry practitioner this means I have also had to consider the technical restrictions, the users needs and experience and the time constraints for the purpose of this project.

This project has also given me great experience of the restrictions and problems that working with a client may present, my clients have been extremely easy to work with but working with clients is different to working with other industrial professionals. When working with fellow professionals you expect them to provide you with information and files in the right format, at the right size, within strict deadlines and if this does not happen you would be within your rights to complain and request the appropriate files or content to be resent in the correct manner but when working with people who may not have a knowledge of technical problems or best practices you must anticipate and over come any problems that may arise. Files may have to be edited or reformatted, information may need to be adjusted for the purpose of suiting you user’s needs etc…

I have had to work as project manager, designer, developer, data inputter and user tester, this has presented its own problems but overall I believe it has helped me develop a greater understanding of the entire process and it has given me a good understanding of the individual roles within designing an interactive project, if I was to be working as part of a team in the future I now feel I would have an understanding of the other team members roles and through this I could have empathy for their needs.

I have been extremely lucky so far but I am still lacking content and with the deadline been only 3 weeks away I need to start putting some finishing touches in order to put the application through user testing.

one step forward two steps back

Nothing is working again, I noticed that I was only getting single results where there should have been multiple results and i'm stuck again, I'm getting worried about finishing this on time.

better week

Much better week this week, I have had some help via the newmedia forum from Dave and the final bit of help came from Jay and we now have a working roll of honour. I have been working on the page that precedes the Roll of Honour and the following page as well. The images are below:

I have started inputting the rest of the roll of honour data and I am twenty pages in, it is very boring but necessary, the script Liam Smith built is making it a lot easier but I have learnt one thing, I won’t be applying for a job as a data inputter anytime soon.

I have also been designing a retro tape deck and an old television, at the moment there is no plan for audio or video content to be used within the application but I am developing ways in which any future audio or video content could be displayed within the thematic design of the piece, see the development below:

I am feeling more positive now and the momentum is building again as we head towards the finishing line.

Not much progress

Hi, been working hard this week but with not a lot to show for it, I have been working on the roll of honour and integrating the flash and php at the moment. I know my php works as far as searching the database and finding results but somewhere along the line my search from flash isn't reaching the php file and or it is not displaying the results from the database in the flash file. I am having similar problems with my other project at the moment. I have ordered two books that will hopefully help me solve the problems but there is going to be a delay with any progress as I wait for delivery.

On a more positive note I met with Leslie this week and showed her the onscreen typewriter that I had created to facilitate the role of honour search functions and she seemed to enjoy using it and she also said it was beautiful and she was very impressed.

The positive reaction from the client lifted my spirits as I have been feeling down with regards the amount of time and effort that I am placing on this project with hardly any return in terms of progress. I have been very stressed and I feel as though I have been neglecting my responsibilities as a father recently but the positive response from the client reminded me that I am doing something that I can be successful at and the time and effort will pay off in the end.

meeting the clients, developing the database and the future of kiosk interfaces

I forgot to upload last weeks post so here it is.

I had a meeting last Friday for the first time with my clients from the Hull Merchant Navy Association, it went very well. I had the chance to show them the work that I have already produced in development and more importantly it gave me an opportunity to understand my client’s needs and to gauge a feeling on how important this application is to them. I need to produce a piece that is usable by everyone but it also has to sell the message that the client wants to deliver and it is up to me to sell that message in the accessible way for the end user to understand.

I have been working on the database for the roll of honour section of the application, there are sixty pages of data to insert into the database and this presented a slight problem. It is possible to insert the data using phpmyadmin if the data is organised in a consistent way, this is where the problem was. I needed to find a way to check and prepare the data for insertion into the database. I called on the services of superstar php guru and fellow student Liam Smith who developed a script to check the data’s consistency and for that I am very thankful.

I have decided to develop my onscreen keyboard in the style of an old style typewriter, I have researched and developed the design for the keys and thanks to my lecturer Gareth Sleightholme I have been given the opportunity to photograph a real old fashioned typewriter to incorporate as part of my design. Here is my design process for the onscreen keyboard so far:

I was thinking about the future of information kiosks especially museum based pieces and I believe that the new technology “multi touch” would provide increased interactivity options that would offer a more interesting experience. Using multi touch would allow the user to resize different elements, so increasing accessibility for the visually impaired. The user would also be able to restructure the information bringing the parts they are wishing to view to the front of the display and this means that user has increased control over the content they wish to see. If I needed to develop a kiosk in the perfect world I would choose a multi touch interface.