GR3: Paper Prototyping

Prototype Photos

The following images span both iterations, and may feature changes made from the first iteration to the second.  These instances will be noted accordingly.

Opening Screen

This is the screen the user first sees when the application starts.  The crossed-out line is a result of our second iteration.

New Race Screen

This is the screen that appears when the user wants to record a new race.  In our second iteration, the text of the "Start Race" button was changed to "Ready".

Save race screen

Once the user stops the recording of a race, he or she is prompted to save the race.  In our second iteration, the text of the dialog says "Enter Title of Race Below".

Select a recorded Race

If the user wants to select a saved race to follow or playback, this screen appears.  The changes in this view are a result of combining ghost paths and races to simplify the race replay and following functions.

Description of a recorded race

This is the screen that describes a race that has been recorded.  The buttons on the right take the user to detailed plots of the data recorded, and the buttons on the bottom allow the user to replay a race as it was recorded, or record a new race following the recorded path.  The buttons on the right were changed in our iteration to include specific descriptions of what the user should expect when the detail button is pressed, and the text of the bottom-right bottom right button was changed to "Follow This Race".

Briefing

You are a coxen of a crew (rowing) team--the person who sits at the back of the boat and uses her hands to make steering adjustments.  Additionally, you give the rowers encouragement and set the pace for the race (though you do not actually row).  Rowing generally takes place in a river, and rowers use oars to propel the boat.  The boat will accelerate/deccelerate based on oar movement.  Each pull of an oar is one "stroke."  The time it takes to row 500 meters is referred to as a "split." A Spring race generally lasts approximately eight minutes.

A coach is usually alongside you and tells you what your goal is before a race. For example, the coach may want the coxen to keep a close eye on the stroke rate and the split.

This application serves to monitor various race data, such as the stroke rate, split, total strokes, coxen's notes, and trail (the path taken through the river during the race).  It allows for monitoring of race data during a race as well as playback functionality to study race data after a race.

Your iPhone running this application will be mounted to the boat, directly in front of you.  Because you cannot use your hands to manipulate the application during an active race (they are busy performing steering adjustments and the like); you must pre-set all settings for this application before the race begins.

Scenario Tasks

1. Set up a new race
   1. Re-order data considering stroke rate is the most important datum for this race and split is the least important
2. Start recording race data and cox (encourage and guide) your rowers through the race
3. Stop recording and save race data after race has finished
4. Playback recorded race data

Observations

Listed below are the most important observations we made during the testing sessions, reformatted for easy reading:

1. None of the users realized that dragging and dropping rows of information on top of each other would result in combining the two pieces of data into a “scrolling row” which would show both rows over time.
2. Our concept of ghost trails is confusing; even actual rowers didn’t realize what they meant. Some users thought that ghost trails would make your race not actually be recorded, others thought that it would cause an old race to be replayed in the map row.
3. Some users were annoyed that they had to re-enter a race’s name when they finish a race.
4. Most users didn’t know how to get the controls onto the screen after they faded away (this is during playback). Some users figured it out by pressing the screen, others just ignored the playback features.
5. One user was confused about the “Back” button on the race summary page, since this screen is invoked immediately following a race’s completion; the user thought that it would return him to the race, instead of going into the “completed race selection screen”. The same user thought that the “Stop” button on the playback screen would have the same result as the pause button in the playback controls.
6. Every user thought that a rower should see a countdown to the race start after pressing “Begin Race”, since in a real race the user would have to press the button, then pick up the oars and race.

Prototype Iteration

Listed below are the changes we made for prototype 2. They are indexed by the observations listed above.

1. We removed the combined data rows, since no user found it intuitive or necessary.
2. We removed the concept of ghost trails; we also placed an Edit button on the map data row, which invokes a “Follow Race Course” screen (see images above).
3. We removed the requirement of entering a race title after a race if the rower has already done so; if a race name was entered before the race, it is automatically saved with this name. If no name was entered, it uses a default name that can be changed on the review race screen.
4. We added a button on the top right of the screen that toggles the controls overlay, allowing users to have complete control (sic) of when the controls are shown.
5. We changed the “Back” button to say “Saved Races” on the race summary page. We also changed the “Stop” button on the playback screen to say “Done”.
6. We changed the “Begin Race” button to say “Ready”. When this button is pressed, it shows a 10 second countdown over the race screen. When the countdown hits 0, “Race Started” is displayed over the screen and the data begins populating.