mohit.santram

User Research #1

I presented the sample devices to a group of mp3 player users here at ITP. The group consisted of ten people. The devices were all still in their raw wooden form. While each person liked the shape and texture of each sample, they all had differing thoughts about the appearance of the devices. I explained the project and the idea that our user testing phase consisted of giving each device to a user and asking them to apply laminated buttons, displays, knobs, and controls to the objects. I feel this way they will not only give us feedback on our idea, but also show us firsthand how they would envision the device.

I showed the devices to:
Phaedra
Carlyn
Hans
Laura
Dedi
Keledy
Christina
Emily
Jeff
Jamie
Jason
Meghan
and elected individuals from my Materials class.

From the initial research, most people liked the texture and feel of the objects. Some people especially liked the idea of holding a blank device in their hands, while others stated that the natural wood took the user away from the intended experience. So I painted the objects white and created sample lamninated wireframe objects. When we begin phase two of our user research, we’ll start by doing the following:

1) Prescreen the users and determine their level of comfort and use with digitial mp3 devices.

2) Present our first half of our questionnaire to our testing audience and gather their feedback.

3) We’ll then give the users an introduction into the project, our thoughts and initial research.

4) Next the users will play with the sample devices and map controls and give us feedback.

I am hopeful that we can gather siginificant feedback from users once we have established a better understanding of our user’s train of thought.

I have to laminate the sample wireframe controls I made, and repaint the objects. I am hopeful that we can have another user testing session on Monday afternoon. More thoughts and updates to come.

Product Mock Ups

Radio:

Palm & iPod:

Swiveler 1 & 2:

Cell Phone & Mini Swiveler:

Questionnaire

Interview Questions

Where do find new music?
When do you find new music?

Who recommends music?
You
Friends
Friends of Friends

Blogs
iTunes
Amazon.com
Magazines
Books

Radio
Internet Radio
Sirius/XM

Television/TV Shows/Movies
Listening Booths at CD Stores
Concerts
Cafes/Restaurants

What do you do when you hear something you like?
What do you use to listen to music?
Portable Devices
iPod/MP3 device
Cassette Player
Cell Phone
Palm Device
Laptop

CD player/Stereo
Home Computer
Radio
Car Radio
Bars/Cafes/Restaurants

Do you download ringtones?
What sorts of electronic devices do you carry?
How frequently do you carry them?

TO DO List

TO DO

1) write up thoughts in blog
2) scan images of sketches
3) add cl post
4) monitor cl posts - add new ones

5) mock up wood versions of
MP3hone
RadioBox
scrollRod
Handheld iPod/Palm Pilot
Notebook

6) Layout Maps in Illustrator
7) Write up Questions for interview

Craigslist Posting

User Research Project

We are two NYU graduate students working on a creating a pie in the sky music device.

The idea is not so much to develop an actual device to market, but to gain an understanding of how one would create a digital product from the ground up.

We are looking to get feedback from the Craiglist community, namely people who enjoy reading, discovering, listening, and sharing new music. The people we are interested in meeting find out about new music by reading mp3 blogs, indie music magazines, recommendations from friends or even perhaps recommendations from commercial websites like amazon.com. We have some ideas of what the device would look like, but we are interested in hearing from you and gathering feedback about our ideas.

We would like 15 minutes of your time this weekend where we could speak to you about your habits of discovering and sharing new music. We are two graduate students, so we can’t pay you for your time, but we can bribe you with home cooked food/yummy baked goods.

Sound interesting? drop us a line!

Cellphonia Final Presentation Proposal

For My Final Project, I would like to further push development of a cellphone application to be used with flickr and bickr. Currently flickr offers their registered users the ability, through a unique, dedicated email address per user, to upload images from their camera-phone or email client to their flickr account. Users may automatically tag these submitted photos, but these photos are not automatically published into a group pool. I would like to write an application that uses the Flickr API to submit photos automatically to group pools. This is a continuation of my midterm project.