team 4 (16/17) – DigiCivics @ APL

Blog 10: User Tests

Here we are again, nearing the end of the project and this week we have completed two user tests on our app. The two who participated were Peter Kellet and Steve Emsley, Peter works at the university as a senior lecturer in Architecture, he has a strong interest in the environment and sustainability. Steve is formerly a social worker , now retired , he is a resident in Jesmond and has a very keen interest in renewable energy , with a PVC panel installation on his own home now for over 10 years as well as an active member of the local Green Party.

Last week we spoke about what we planned for the user test so that the tests would run smoothly and all went to plan , so this week we will be filling you in on how they went, fingers crossed!

Now to take you through how the user tests with Peter and Steve went, to keep it simple we will discuss Peter’s answers first with Steve’s following after.

User test with Peter Kellett 14/12/16, Claremont Tower

Peter participated in our first user test, so it felt right to discuss our findings from this first, most importantly to discuss first is how they reacted to the prototype we had created with it being the first time they had ever seen it.

Openly admitted he “wasn’t the most tech savvy person on the planet” however would give the best feedback he could based on what was in front of him, but all things considered he managed to navigate the app successfully without becoming stuck on anything and being very vocal throughout with constant feedback and everything he was doing/interacting with.

Peter provided us with good feedback for us to further develop our prototype with reflections such as:

A yearly consumption figure perhaps not such a good idea, and broken down two figures, one for summer and the other for winter as consumption patterns would be very different in those two, in addition energy providers typically take quarterly meter readings.
Integrating a pop up on the app projecting a well informed hypothetical figure for the user if that particular user should not have solar panels.

With lots of other feedback on colour schemes, button’s, size’s etc.

We felt as though Peter interacted with the prototype as we expected him too with a good understanding of all the content, a good insight in to the goals we’re trying to achieve. The only thing I would say is that he didn’t really interact with the social media side of things but understood why we had it on our product.

Now, we move onto our user test with Steve who of course we already know from when we back at our research stage so it was good to meet up and show the progress we have made as a group.

User test with Steve Emsley 15/11/16, Jesmond Library

Much like Peter, Steve managed to navigate the prototype well and understood all of the content we had and didn’t have any negative comments towards colour schemes, text, sizes. We did feel as a group that the app wasn’t thoroughly tested by Steve as on the occasion there would be a long pause between using the app to talk about other matters that weren’t part of the interface.

However we did feel like we got some good feedback from Steve towards our project objectives as we had a discussion about fossil fuels and renewable energy. Steve expressed that he understood the link between the two but people should be buying their energy from renewables only companies which isn’t widely publicised on the app itself, so as a group we feel this is something we could push on with for our project and make Jesmond push towards being a renewables only using area with the right information and understanding throughout the app.

The general feedback we got from Steve in regards to the app was that it needed to be more informative with more text, pictures to ensure and enhance that understanding of energy and renewable energy in a simplistic way for everyone to understand.

In Conclusion

We felt that both our user tests went well and that we learnt a lot through the process but there are some things we would change if we was to do it again. I think the main one being that we kept the whole process a little too open which caused it to go off onto other subjects or start conversations that weren’t in regards to the prototype. So add a little more structure with it still being open discussion type feeling.

Now that we have come towards the end of the project as a group we can reflect that in spite of a hesitant start with the understanding of where we envisioned the product we have persevered and we are all pleased with the progress of the project and also the character of the group . We are satisfied with where we have taken this prototype and got the concept of a dashboard not just for the individual homeowner but also one that resonates at community level off the ground! We are happy to develop this concept through further with the client and have expressed this to them!

Blog 9: User Test Preparation

Firstly, before the test we need to prepare as a group and this is how we have managed that.

It may seem obvious but we made sure to begin with that the prototype on marvel was complete and everything was in working order ready for the tests.

We assigned the roles to team members for the day of the test and agreed that our schedule would allow for holistic input in addition to the Interviewer’s schedule from individual group members to the user if they thought it were necessary to do so. Each team member was asked to familiarise themselves with the schedule first.

An important part of the user test is location of the test and also creating an interview schedule to keep us on track so that during we remain on topic for the user and leave ample time for useful feedback.

Whilst one of the user tests is in an office on university campus the second user test will be taking place in a public library in Jesmond. As previously mentioned we keep it a very open experience without overly instructing the user what to do on the app, this way they are able to navigate the app freely and instinctively.

Google Developer’s usability testing video among others on youtube were able to guide us to make a 5 step process for the user interview ,as a schedule this will consist of: 1. A friendly welcome 2. Context and user background 3. Introduction to the prototype 4. User Tasks and 5. Debrief/ Final Feedback.

Examples of our format could include:

Setting the tone to the user and reassuring them that “We aren’t testing you, we’re just testing the prototype” This will make them feel at ease right away.
Ask the user a bit about themselves and why they are interested in the project/product.
Introduce the app and the activity that we have planned for them to try. Play down the app a bit and explain it will be developed further.
Set the user a task to do on the app and see if they can remember from memory what to do/where to go. Continue to prompt questions such as like, how, why, what do you feel worked well/didn’t work well. Observe what they are doing whilst using the app. Keep asking them to think aloud throughout to ensure the feedback is good quality.
Gather general feedback of what they thought of the product and finally thank them for the time!

We now go again for the user tests, thank you.

Blog 8: Jesmond Energy Production Platform Prototyping

This week we have been working towards starting making a prototype for our project collating all our data and refining all the content we want to include in our product and with this session we were aiming to see how we use all this within our prototype to show Tony.

We felt the session was pretty clear on what we needed to understand when working on the prototype and that was the fidelity of our prototype and how we should be going about using this to our benefit and not hindering us when it comes to the user tests.

When prototyping depending on the product/idea you’re trying to get across to the consumer is which type of fidelity you should using whether it’s low or high.

We were told that it is sometimes better off using low fidelity prototyping rather than high, due to it being a prototype and will probably be edited, scrapped etc and then you don’t waste high sums of money on the prototype stage. Low fidelity can also sometimes cover the feasibility of it as well.

We feel as our project is based on renewable energy in Jesmond, we felt that the best subject on our app to prototype is this section as it would be the most interacted part with on our app, therefore is the most important to make sure is correct for the users not only with the user ability of this particular section that also all the content is easily accessible and understandable.

On our prototype we’re using Photoshop to create images which we show through the marvel app and edit them on there so it works like an app on the iPad when pressing on the screen for the hyperlinks so that the active parts of the prototype work like they would as if they were using them on a tablet such as the iPad we will be using for our user tests.

As a group we all decided to go with in between low and high fidelity and go in the middle so you can see the real potential with our prototype without it costing much money. We class our fidelity in the middle because of the software we are using to make and show our prototype on with using Photoshop, marvel and an showing it on an Ipad like an app and not for example on low fidelity which would be classed as low fidelity.

You will be able to see from these images how we first started prototyping with and have then progressed in on to something more in depth and better quality which we will take on to use for the user tests.

When we first started prototyping with paper (We have progressed our thoughts into a more in depth conclusion)

paper-1 2. Multiple different pages we’ve all linked together through marvel.

thumbs

3. This is our prototype up to date and ready to be user tested in the coming days.

Blog 7 :Our approach to prototyping

A prototype is typically a physical manifestation of ideas or concepts and its form can range from a rough to finished take on the proposed end result(Stappers,2014). In the case of our product, we wish to test this with the user in week 10. Knapp (2016) suggests that a prototype mindset which follows 4 principles are key to the success of the prototype and feedback it evokes altogether. A “goldilocks-quality prototype” , that appears 90% real is recommended in order to gain the most from the feedback phase, whilst ultimately remaining time efficient.

knapp

Knapp et al. 2016 “Sprint : how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days”

In the case of our Community Energy Dashboard a set of facades that are real enough to test and temporarily ready for simulation in the user test is our ideal approach , however we would hope they still equally evoke honest feedback results.

“If the quality is too low people won’t believe the prototype is a real product, if the quality is too high , you’ll be working all night and you won’t finish”(Knapp,2016) .It is also highly likely that the longer you spend on working on something the more attached you will become and the less likely you will take negative results to heart.

We have chosen marvel software to develop the facades of our dashboard application in addition to this a group member allocated the role of asset collector will source for the 2 makers/designers some data and empirical looking visualisations for the dashboard itself, which will require basic use of adobe photoshop 10 to weald these data based visuals such as gauges and graphs together.

The information display in particular regards to consumption and production is integral to our concept, however also is the role in promoting the user to think about their collective neighbourhood energy consumption, thus engaging them and creating a “buzz” to think about these issues and share their thoughts with their local community is also key, so the team is willing to invest time into providing a friendly space for thought and reaction to these topics, also equally important is the tone we deliver to the user.

Blog 6: Storyboarding our product

Before we jumped straight ahead into prototyping, the team had reservations about the number of potential conflicting concepts we had. Therefore, we approached the means of storyboarding to set the design in context , which would help us to visualise the app itself and clarify the key function we would like to include for our prototype.

Plot

Set: Friday night

After a long working week, our main character, Mr. X went back home and planned to have a chill out night. He then took out his iPad, went on Facebook and starting to browse his wall.

Suddenly, a notification from Jesmond Community Energy Dashboard pops up, saying ‘your estimated monthly bill for the end of the month: £124’. Mr. X was shocked, he didn’t expect to pay that much, since he normally pays £50-70 for a month.

He then went on the app, checked on the energy usage and found out the main source of energy usage was the radiator in the living room, which he always forget to turn it off when he doesn’t need it.

He’d like to share this experience with his family and friends, warning them not to leave any electric applicant on when not using it.

Luckily, there is a share button in the app, making it a convenient way for Mr. X to share it to his friends and family.

storybvoard-1

Unfortunately, this was the storyboard specifically for the app only. There will be some alteration so that there’s an influence to install a solar panel for their house, aiming specifically to the Jesmond Community. However, we’ve managed to determine that there are several key aspects that we would like to include in our dashboard prototype.

Monthly Energy Consumption (i.e. the graph that shows how much energy used for the month)
Estimated Monthly Bill (what all users care about the most)
Energy Consumption Pattern of user
Graph that shows the amount of energy used for the past months (Archives)
Push Notification (smartphones and tablets specifically)
Social Media Buttons for easy shares
Of course, some extra minor widgets to add a little spice to the app.

However, after feedback on our first storyboard we as a group decided to alter our storyboard and we now have a new story based on the most important feature of our project which is renewable energy.

storyboard2-feedback

The concept is very much the same as previous just slight alterations.

They are as follow:

Setting is now end of July and the new production figures have come through from the company, so he/she goes signs into the app, goes onto the production page where last month’s figures for June are present, they then select the add new button which then takes them onto another page where they can enter the new data, once that has been done they can then submit the new data which updates on their production stats. Then finally they share their monthly figures with everyone on the JEPP app to show how much energy they’ve made for the month.

We have now finished with the storyboarding and are now moving on to start thinking about making the prototype, watch this space!

Blog 5- Refining our Concept of an Interactive Energy Dashboard

Following constructive feedback from our ideas presented to the class on the 1^st November we took initiative to reassess the core functions of OUR dashboard and who it could effect. An energy dashboard typically meters and displays quantitative energy consumption data primarily through reading the interior energy inlet and CAN provide a starting point to raise awareness. Sub metering is also an optional strategy that provides a broken down consumption figure based on external appliances from the main inlet in the home.

Ultimately the dashboard we wish to create will highlight real time consumption data based on the national grid provider with projections of informed hypothetical figures regarding renewable resources too. However we wish to motivate and engage the average user, whereby we see the homeowner as the impetus of change and to share an energy saving culture. The drive to “do better” than others would be an encouraging step towards energy saving. This way the neighbourhood will feel as though they each have a part to play in the broader context as a global citizen too.

The Diagram below highlights a real time production/consumption energy dashboard interface for the home.

cropped-filonik

Features such as the energy quota bar (bottom left) are customisable so that the user can track their own progress of kWh consumption.

Source: Filonik ,Queensland University of Technology

Designing Interactive Dashboard Interfaces

On the 9^th November members of the group put together dashboard interface concepts which they considered to be core to the function of the product.

Also factored into our concepts was means of engaging the user in a stimulating way, for example provoking the individual to think about the role they could play in doing their bit and encouraging their neighbours to likewise for the good of the community.

This reiterates that in order to influence the individual’s consumption patterns and to encourage them to be the “impetus for change” in their neighbourhood. Setting this data in context and educating the user contextually could be the answer to this.

welcome

Above is a sketch of a welcome page that attempts to grab the attention of the user and their immediate surroundings in Jesmond

9^th November, Meeting with Delvin and Geremy from Open Lab

The team organised a meeting with Delvin Varghese on the 9^th November, Delvin was able to critique our designs and provide a useful insight into what makes a good dashboard interface that easily interpretable to the homeowner as well as stimulating to use. Delvin undertakes research in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and so it was useful to hear from his perspective about what makes a simple but stimulating experience for the user that fulfils our task.

Proposed design to Delvin which assumes a website format:

layout2

This design comprises 5 navigable web pages:

(1) Home Page – Aiming to grasp the user by both identifying and familiarising them as a key member of the community that can facilitate change for themselves and the good of the community. One is also prompted to “sign up” on this page.

(2) About – The second page to navigate to is the “about” page which provides contextual information of the drive of the co-operative , as well as community personalities Tony and Steve and their visions ( which the neighbourhood can hopefully relate to)

(3) Stories (with picture wheel)-This page is an area for users to interact with each other, such as sharing their energy saving tips. These will actually be featured articles although users will be encouraged to send over articles. A factor for consideration would be moderating the suitability of the content to enter the public domain or “go live”, so this would most likely be in we form format.

(4)- Introducing the dashboard -The concept of an energy dashboard is then introduced and how one interprets the data so one can utilise it to their personal benefit as well as the wider communication and the environment.

5- Contacts

The content of this page would list the steps the user would take to install the solar energy hardware and a directory of recommended renewable energy providers.

Information on additional hardware such as SMAPPEE energy monitor box devices which measure consumption of individual household appliances would also be available.

Reflecting upon roles of the dashboard in engagement and fulfilling our task

A recent study by oxford university “open to change project” highlighted that game designers are good at representing quantitative measures of performance as qualitative indicators of social capital. It was echoed by Delvin also that the user may understand the cause of saving energy but to set it as a trend the best process to do this is by instilling reward by social capital in addition to obvious individual financial gain.

It became apparent that engaging the user so that there was some sense of immediacy to the data or put into a relatable context would be far more effective and interpreted more instantaneously.

A customisable “quota function” as a progress bar so that the user can set themselves goals.
Visual/contextual prompts for energy saving displayed in different measures such as money and also kWh converted to kg of C02 saved.
Gamification of the savings could also make co-operating to save energy amongst the community more appealing for example to share your progress and challenge individuals and groups.

Moreover it would help us reach the goal that underpins our project .

“Support residents, organisations and businesses in Jesmond in adopting a more energy efficient approach to their current consumption patterns”

Blog 4 – Energy Dashboard

After reviewing on our interviews with Tony and Steve, we have evaluated our goals again for initial development on our designs. We had ‘to support residents, organisations and businesses in Jesmond in adopting a more energy efficient approach to their current consumption patterns.’ as our initial ultimate goal, and this does not change.

With the details of what the client want in the energy dashboard we are going to developed, we tried to do some more in depth research on different dashboards as examples for us to get an idea on our initial design. Each of us brought in an example of an energy dashboard we found on the internet and indicate what is the pros and cons of every single detail of it, hoping to pull all the best things about each dashboard together to create the most suitable one for Jesmond. There were examples from America, Lincoln University and other companies, each has a different feature depending on the building it serves (eg. university campus, accommodation, commercial building etc)

However, we would still need different datas from the stakeholders in Jesmond in the future for further development. We would also need to decide on creating an app or a webpage for the Jesmond residents based on which one we think would allow more people to look at it constantly and conveniently.

Blog 3 – Energy Dashboard

Summary of our user interview

On Wednesday 19th October in Cafe 1905 in Jesmond the team met up again with Client Tony and a recommended contact Steve Emsley to get his knowledge, insight and opinion on Renewable Energy and the Jesmond area as a whole for the benefit of our research for our design concept. After tea’s, coffee’s were all purchased and all formal introductions were done we asked Steve and Tony whether it was ok for us to audio record the interview for us to review after to ensure we had everything they both talked about, which they were both happy with.

We had our interview schedule ready with all the questions we wanted to ask Steve and following on from this are all the comments and advice that Steve and Tony gave to us from the questions we asked that we thought would be helpful in continuing on the process of this project.

He is a retired social worker, has worked in environmental fields before, had written for the evening chronicle on green issues, has and still does many talks on energy saving and was involved in the transition newcastle campaign which ran till 2012.
Likes having a planet to live on.
Has done various talks on renewable energy and people came to his house to have a look at the energy system installed. Held a walk in session in Jesmond in 2012 at 1901 cafe where face to face conversations were had, had a strong interest from local people. People who wanted to engage did, it’s a slow process and very political. Tony also commented that political climate and financial constraint had a drop off in awareness of climate change from the government.
Fossil fuels to climate change are the serious problems which are also hard to understand not just renewables that people don’t understand, people don’t think of climate change as a problem. When doing his talks tries to present things in a simple way but it is a very complex subject so is difficult to convey in a simple way sometimes. Writes to newspapers to keep the subject alive. Stated renewables could be a way for people with money to find something to invest in as bank rates etc are no good. Tony also stated that good publicity was needed, that it needs to be made easier for understanding.
Steve shared his energy data in the evening chronicle, 20-30 articles. Thinks that existing users of renewable energy sharing their data is important for people to see that you can actually save/make energy, money etc. Stated as long as he was aware what was happening with his data he would be more than happy to share his data online, Tony also agreed. Steve also stated that larger companies who have financial power should be helping out with renewable energy. Tony commented saying that the local authority should lead by example using solar, double glazing etc. they aren’t doing enough.
Had a consistent level of production. 5 and a half years had solar panels now and very pleased, has now reached crossover point where Steve is now creating more than they’re putting in.
Doesn’t really have an opinion thinks they should all be going towards renewable energy. Will spend more time and effort getting his opinion and point of view across to the local people. Doesn’t believe that people can not afford it. Believes media has a role to play to raise awareness. Tony commented that it’s all about finding the cheapest company for their energy which is wrong, again mentioned that the government aren’t doing enough on the matter.
Peak oil has already been found, that’s why there are wars. Bears little relation with renewable energy. Saudi Arabia raised market prices. Carbon dioxide levels are disastrous, flooding, draughting, price of foods.
Based on questions 8 reaction, answers we skipped asking this question.
Hadn’t used an energy dashboard before, but would gladly put his energy data onto one and use it for beneficial purposes for the Jesmond area. Would be good to have comparative data on different types of energy levels. Energy performance certificates for homes are very important but seem to get pushed aside. Tony stated that city council do it for poverty, police for crime so their should be somewhere you can go for energy information, data, help etc.
Thought we’d cover a very good detail of work and was pleased we got to meet and wish us luck with our project and if we should need any further help just to reach out and ask.

After this interview with Steve and Tony and all their comments on the different subjects we had covered we felt we had a good basis of information which we can start to use to help us in the designing of our prototype. Again the word that has kept cropping up and did again was the words awareness and understanding which re iterates back to our goals at the start of the project which shows we’re on the right track.

Blog 2 – Interview Schedule with Steve and Tony

Blog 2 – Interview Schedule

JEPP Interview with Steve Emsley and Tony Waterson

We’re meeting Steve Emsley and Tony Waterson today in Cafe 1901, West Jesmond. Attendance from the team: Entire group

We know a little bit about yourself would you be able to expand more on what you do and the previous roles you have played?

a. How do you relate to renewable energy projects?

b. We did a little bit of research and know you were in Transition Initiative Newcastle before? Can you tell us the experience during that time?

Why would you invest in renewable energy?

Have you ever engaged people with renewable energy before?

a,How you engaged people in Jesmond?

b. How would you engage people?

c. What worked well and what didn’t work so well?

What is complicated to understand about renewable energy in your opinion and how could understanding of renewable energy be made easier?

a. Have you used any techniques in the past to do this?

b. What might raise awareness to renewable energy in Jesmond?

What do you do with your energy data?

a.Have you shared your data before?

b. With your experience do you think it would be helpful?

c. What do you think of sharing your data?

d. Would you share your data digitally for other users to see what savings they could be making?

Has anything changed since you installed solar panels yourselves?

a. Are there any negatives?

What do you think about the people in Jesmond not using solar panels and do you know the reason behind them?

a, What will you do in order to change their mind?

b. Do you know how much energy in jesmond is produced from renewables; and how could this be found out?

When do you reckon ‘peak oil’ reaches and what kind of changes will happen? (peak oil – time when oil production peaks and then falls, never rises back up again
Do you think sending out messages of ‘peak oil’ incidence will change people’s mind on renewable energy?
Have you ever used an energy dashboard before? What was it like?

a. What was your experience using one? Did you find it helpful?

b. If not, what can be improved on the energy dashboard you’ve used?

c. If one was available to you, would you use it to benefit for you?

11. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us if you haven’t before?

Blog Entry 1 – A digital means to create and share energy in your neighbourhood.

Our group is called JEPP – Jesmond Energy Co-Production Platform.

Members: Crystal, Conrad, Rob, Chris and Brandon

Members of JEPP met with the client Tony Waterson of the Jesmond Residents Association on Thursday 6th October. Initial discussions with the client involved …

It was established that the team should approach the project by setting goals. The goals were discussed as follows:

To improve JEPP’s understanding of renewable energy principles and current technology systems, which include solar power and our platform of an energy dashboard regarding its role and ability in reaching the target audience.
To discuss the role that energy has as a resource to the target users in the locality of Jesmond.

To look into what is considered viable to the interest groups and what is not.
To foster a shared ownership of energy at neighbourhood level similar to those principles of energy co-operatives.

But ultimately,

we want to support residents, organisations and businesses in Jesmond in adopting a more energy efficient approach to their current consumption patterns.

Stakeholders

We have discussed about stakeholders with our client and decided business owners are the biggest stakeholders since they uses a lot of energy compare to other stakeholders – according to our client. After that, there are less important stakeholders such as, elderly and retired people living in Jesmond, young professionals and organisation based in public buildings, since they’re the ones who’ll use the energy dashboard.

However, the stakeholders are afraid of installing solar panels. They’re scared about the price of installing solar panels. If that’s the case, they need to be communicated in order to make them notice the importance of renewable energy and the message of using renewable energy can actually save them money in the long term. Then we’ve discussed about ways to communicate with them.

Advertising and publicity

We talked about ways of publicising the JEPP project:

We need to promote the JEPP project
Find out more about the Jesmond Residents’ Association
Have a forum to gather communitiy opinions and level of interest
Design an engaging email to send out to possible stakeholders
Deliver a message – the importance of renewable energy
See if we can use exisiting ways of advertising information to the local community ( e.g. through a display at the Library or by asking if we can have an advert on a school newsletter)