Model Prototype

SCENARIO

​The OXO brand is known for applying universal design to deliver well-designed, comfortable, and easy-to-use tools for cooking and food prep. They're exploring opportunities to expand their business in new areas that incorporate sensors and digital UIs for precision results, as well as expanding into new types of product lines. 

For this project, I designed a 3-D lo-fi prototype of a shower control interface to demonstrate how OXO might apply their core competency in new ways. The design included the following criteria: 

• product controls and interface/display must fit within the dimensions of approximately 4x4x2 in volume 
• product weight is approximately .75 pounds, and should be able to mount on a wall 
• digital display will show settings such as temperature, volume, values (tub spout, shower head, or handheld wand)
• physical affordances and controls must be easy to use when visibility and dexterity are challenge by soapy hands, steamy showers, and absence of corrective lenses

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DESIGN

My first priority was to design a forgiving concept that accommodates challenging visibility and dexterity setting because the other design criteria can revolve around this. As a solution, I incorporated an audio, voice-command system to enable hands and vision-free interaction. Inspired by Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana, my product can be triggered by command of, "Hey/hi/hello Sally."

To minimize the learning curve, I chose universal icons (that are also captioned) to represent various features. Furthermore, I used universal colors to help users associate the hot and cold with corresponding temperature settings. 

One important aspect to note about my design is that "volume" represents "pressure." I interpreted volume as the various levels of water pressure that can be released from the shower head and handheld wand. 

INITIAL SKETCHES

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PROTOTYPE

My prototype highlights simplicity and intuitiveness. The goal in my design was to make the product easy-to-use in the shower by offering a large digital screen and 3D temperature dial since that's the most basic shower tool. The transparent paper used in my prototype provides a glossy appearance which is representative of a digital screen. This prototype is water-proof as foam floats and does not absorb water. The permanency of the sharpies are also water-proof. 

MATERIALS

Foam (2 types) - white hard foam to form 4x4x2 volume, blue soft foam to secure sides 
Transparency paper - digital screen 
Magnet strips - used to mount to wall 
Velcro (2 types) - black strip for side speakers, white circles to secure water-bottle cap 
Used water-bottle cap - water temperature dial 
Sharpies (pen + marker) - used to draw digital interface
Expo marker - to draw over digital screen for prototyping purposes
X-Acto knife - to cut forms
Ruler - to measure pieces and serve as cutting guide  

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ANALYSIS

WHAT WENT WELL

I conducted usability testing with three participants. Though this is not enough to draw a representative conclusion, it still provided an idea of what did and didn't work well.  A few aspects that worked well with my prototype included: 

• The model was intuitive
  
• 1/3 users described the prototype as "easy because [the] features were clearly labeled with good symbols" 
• "It was easy to distinguish between each button." 
• "It was simple, it didn't ove complicate with unnecesary steps" 
• Addition of a voice command capability was innovative because it enabled users with soapy hands and challenging visibility to control the device
• The video demo showed clear instructions on how the prototype functions
• It was clever and cute to draw water droplets in the video demo to show that the shower head was on

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Based on user feedback and observations, my design and prototype can be improved by implementing the following: 

• Instead of assuming that volume means water pressure, I should clarify with the client (OXO)
• Consider how water pressure could be controlled through the water spout 
• I drew an icon for "user," but never used this icon in any of my tasks which confused my participant. Either don't add the icon, or make sure to utilize it in a task
• Draw in holes to represent speaker holes instead of using Velcro strips because the 1 user thought the Velcro was the audio controller
• Relocate the "pause" button to the top of the product instead of having it be the same button as the temperature dial because multi-purpose buttons have a steeper learning curve
• Come up with other ways to mount the device on a shower wall because the magnetic strips weren't 100% sturdy
• Clearly label what the "pause" button controls--music or water? 
• Add a "back" button on the digital interface
• Demonstrate how to start the water once settings are selected 
• Add 3D elements to the prototype instead of drawing on icons/features

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CONCLUSION

Overall, my model prototype is an effective representation of the design I was aiming to communicate. Considering feedback from my participant and OXO's design principle, I'd say my first model prototype satisfied OXO's brand characteristics of being comfortable and easy-to-use, and if I were to implement the feedback and suggestions I got from usability tests, then the prototype would better meet the guidelines of being well-designed. 

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VIDEO DEMO