Author: b6072158

8) We love Bikes Prototyping and its challenges

Lecture​ ​8​ ​about​ ​prototyping​ ​was​ ​quite​ ​helpful​ ​because​ ​we​ ​saw​ ​why​ ​we​ ​need​ ​to​ ​do​ ​a prototype​ ​of​ ​our​ ​project​ ​and​ ​what​ ​different​ ​ways​ ​we​ ​could​ ​do​ ​it. Indeed,​ ​this​ ​activity​ ​must​ ​be​ ​taken​ ​seriously​ ​as,​ ​first,​ ​it​ ​allows​ ​us​ ​to​ ​see​ ​if​ ​this​ ​project can​ ​easily​ ​work​ ​when​ ​we​ ​trying​ ​to​ ​put​ ​it​ ​in​ ​a​ ​prototype​ ​and​ ​therefore​ ​meets​ ​our desired​ ​objectives​ ​for​ ​our​ ​project.​ ​Secondly,​ ​it​ ​is​ ​an​ ​interactive​ ​way​ ​to​ ​show​ ​how​ ​far we​ ​are​ ​in​ ​our​ ​work​ ​to​ ​our​ ​stakeholders​ ​and​ ​let​ ​them​ ​have​ ​their​ ​own​ ​point​ ​of​ ​view​ ​on the​ ​suitability​ ​of​ ​it.​ ​This​ ​interaction​ ​also​ ​is​ ​a​ ​test​ ​of​ ​our​ ​overall​ ​design​ ​of​ ​our​ ​prototype to​ ​see​ ​how​ ​easy​ ​it​ ​is​ ​for​ ​our​ ​stakeholders​ ​to​ ​use.​ ​This​ ​use​ ​test​ ​is​ ​important​ ​as​ ​before releasing​ ​the​ ​final​ ​version​ ​we​ ​want​ ​to​ ​be​ ​sure​ ​that​ ​the​ ​design​ ​is​ ​easy​ ​to​ ​navigate​ ​and not​ ​confusing​ ​for​ ​the​ ​end​ ​user.

Then,​ ​this​ ​session​ ​put​ ​the​ ​light​ ​on​ ​the​ ​concept​ ​of​ ​the​ ​prototype’s​ ​fidelity​ ​and​ ​more precisely​ ​the​ ​difference​ ​between​ ​the​ ​low​ ​fidelity​ ​and​ ​the​ ​high​ ​fidelity.​ ​Our​ ​focus​ ​on the​ ​high​ ​fidelity​ ​application​ ​is​ ​the​ ​progress​ ​bar​ ​which​ ​will​ ​show​ ​the​ ​accountability​ ​of the​ ​forum/council/webpage​ ​and​ ​it​ ​will​ ​be​ ​easy​ ​for​ ​the​ ​user​ ​to​ ​see​ ​at​ ​what​ ​stage​ ​of​ ​the progress​ ​the​ ​issue​ ​is​ ​at.​ ​To​ ​make​ ​it​ ​easier​ ​for​ ​the​ ​user​ ​to​ ​understand​ ​the​ ​different parts​ ​of​ ​the​ ​progress​ ​there​ ​will​ ​be​ ​different​ ​pages​ ​explaining​ ​the​ ​steps​ ​and​ ​allowing users​ ​to​ ​comment​ ​on​ ​each​ ​separate​ ​step​ ​to​ ​increase​ ​levels​ ​of​ ​accountability. Information​ ​that​ ​the​ ​council/forum​ ​can​ ​add​ ​to​ ​the​ ​different​ ​steps​ ​of​ ​the​ ​process​ ​and the​ ​users​ ​will​ ​also​ ​be​ ​able​ ​to​ ​add​ ​and​ ​read​ ​comments​ ​regarding​ ​the​ ​issue​ ​and​ ​the process.

In​ ​our​ ​opinion​ ​the​ ​hardest​ ​part​ ​to​ ​overcome​ ​during​ ​the​ ​prototyping​ ​stage​ ​will​ ​be creating​ ​an​ ​interactive​ ​and​ ​interesting​ ​way​ ​to​ ​show​ ​off​ ​the​ ​different​ ​reported​ ​issues and​ ​their​ ​progress.​ ​The​ ​most​ ​challenging​ ​part​ ​of​ ​this​ ​is​ ​designing​ ​the​ ​prototype​ ​to display​ ​all​ ​this​ ​information​ ​and​ ​the​ ​accountability​ ​of​ ​the​ ​council​ ​whilst​ ​still​ ​being​ ​easy for​ ​the​ ​end​ ​user​ ​to​ ​understand.​ ​We​ ​are​ ​attempting​ ​to​ ​overcome​ ​this​ ​challenge​ ​by​ ​not overloading​ ​the​ ​user​ ​with​ ​information​ ​they​ ​would​ ​have​ ​to​ ​click​ ​on​ ​a​ ​pin​ ​to​ ​reveal​ ​its information​ ​to​ ​avoid​ ​the​ ​screen​ ​from​ ​appearing​ ​cluttered.​ ​We​ ​will​ ​also​ ​use​ ​a​ ​colour scheme​ ​on​ ​the​ ​pins​ ​to​ ​illustrate​ ​the​ ​different​ ​stages​ ​of​ ​each​ ​project​ ​in​ ​a​ ​simplistic approach,​ ​with​ ​green​ ​showing​ ​the​ ​project​ ​being​ ​completed,​ ​orange​ ​illustrates​ ​the project​ ​is​ ​in​ ​progress​ ​and​ ​red​ ​means​ ​the​ ​projected​ ​hasn’t​ ​yet​ ​been​ ​started.

5) We love bikes week 5 mid term presentation

After the midterm presentation it was made clear that we needed to rethink our design and function of the project. One key point that was brought to our attention was the fact we needed to find some way to improve the accountability of the council to the forum. After research we found a webpage called “Fix my street” that involves an interactive map where people can point out different places in the city that they find problematic, upload images of the issues they find on the spot and also leave a comment where they can describe the issue and also make suggestions for improvements. The council then address these problems and change the status of the issue to fixed so people can see that the council is accountable to these problems.

Another issue that needed to be addressed was that the notes and minutes don’t always get sent out to the forums email list and that the minutes on the internet were not easy to access and not organised clearly. During our research to remedy this  we found an organisational website called Trello that clearly organises information and shows which are the most important issues that need to be dealt with first, software like this would be ideal for the forum so that can rob can see which issues of cycling in newcastle need to be tackled first.

We started to think about how we could make a website that would address these issues raised above. We settled on a webpage due to our user research findings that showed this to be the most accessible format for the communication of information. The main feature of the website would be an interactive map of newcastle that would show all the areas that have been raised as an issue for cycling. Clicking on each individual point would show comments made by the forum and profile users on the site and also show a progress bar that fills when the comments have been addressed by the council and if these issues have been fixed to improve the accountability of the council to the forum which might encourage groups such as the newcastle cycling campaign to engage with the forum. There will also be a way for people to vote on which issue needs to be addressed. We’re choosing this as a feature so that the organization of the issues raised can be improved and rob and other council members can see which areas of newcastle’s cycling infrastructure needs to be improved first. When each issue is selected on the map it will redirect you to a page where there is more information on the issue and an area where you can view comments on the issue and write them yourself. A side note to the website will be a page that clearly and chronologically organises the minutes from the meetings so that people can access these whenever they want in a clear format. We decided to do this as this was one of they key problems that the stakeholders brought to our attention with the minutes from the forum.Users have the ability to create their own profiles on the webpage this will allow them to receive notifications and emails about the progress of projects this is in order to keep people interested in the projects taking place. Users involvement in the website is also rewarded for raising issues and voting on projects users will gain points which will gamify the website encouraging more user interaction. Once users have received enough points the can be redeemed for financial rewards.

3) Cycle Stakeholder Forum Week 3

For our user research and before planning to meet different stakeholders, the first step is to use internet research to understand exactly who we are meeting with and their role.  That means attempt to get as much information as possible about the users, such as what are they doing in life, how old are they approximately and what they look like.

We involved Robert Snowball who works in the transport department at Newcastle city council and also Heather Evans who has been attending the cycling stakeholder forum meetings for an extended period of time and currently takes the minutes for the forums meetings. Meeting with Heather we hoped to gain further insight into who currently attended the meetings in terms of their demographic and gain a better understanding of its running.
We hoped to gain insights into how the workings of the forum and the interactions which took place within it, by understanding the functioning of the forum we would be more aware of the problems it faces such as lack of representation of all different kinds of cyclists and its problems in getting information regarding it out to the public.

The meeting with Robert Snowball was based around design research, we carried out several activities with him to try to have a better understanding of the project and its issues. This was done through the use of various materials like post it notes and diagrams on posters. The meeting with Heather Evans was totally different. We performed an interview with open questions, which allowed her to speak as much as she wanted about various specific topics and questions that we carefully prepared.

For the user interviews, we met and planned the questions we were going to ask Rob Snowball and Heather Evans,to get the most out of our meetings with them. This involved focusing our questions around the roles, which each of them undertook, so for example Rob’s interview questions revolved around his work at the council and the creation of the forum. Heather’s interview involved more around her own opinions and experiences of being involved in the process and some of the history of the forum to further our own understanding of the meetings and other individuals and groups that are involved.  We tried to leave the questions we chose open to their own interpretation rather than leading them to answers to understand their own opinions on the cycle stakeholder forum. For example asking their own opinions and experiences on the forum rather than asking if they have any negative opinions or experiences from the forum.

Furthermore, we just want to add that we have three interviews remaining with Mark, Andrew and Rorie.