Sunday 27 March 2016

Usability Design analysis on ubiquitous devices

Hello Readers :) 

This week we are going to present you our analysis on usability design of two ubiquitous devices. We have chosen below devices for this purpose.
  •    Apple Watch
  •    Smart Mirror

Our analysis mainly focuses the primary usability factors like Efficiency and Effectiveness.

1. Apple Watch (Inch Category)

The Apple Watch is a smart watch developed by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking and health-oriented capabilities with integration with IOS and other Apple products and services. The device is available in four variants: Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Hermes, and Apple Watch Edition.  Apple Watch relies on a wireless connected iPhone to perform many of its default functions such as calling and texting. It is compatible with the iPhone 5 or later models running iOS 8.2 or later, through the use of Bluetooth. Let’s analyze the usability issues of Apple focusing on its interaction design with the users

Efficiency-As we previously discussed in our earlier blogs, efficiency can be defined as time taken to complete the user tasks. A good usability design should have higher efficiency with faster rates of completing the tasks. Below are the issues faced by Apple Watch based on this efficiency factor.

Smaller app icons and touch targets

Apple watch comes with very tiny targets than we will see in our normal smartphones. Basically to ensure that users can reach touch targets quickly and reliably, the recommended target size is 1cm × 1cm (0.4 in × 0.4 in).Because of the these tiny targets people with FAT fingers is difficult to reach the targets successfully. To unlock the screen you have to type your pin on a minuscule numerical pad.




And the application screen uses a plethora of tiny circles (representing apps) organized in a focus-plus-context visualization — the center of the screen is the focus and has the largest circles, and as you get further out, the icons get smaller. Launching an app is an adventure.      
                                       

Hand off

Hand off refers to allowing users to continue the task started on the watch on their phone. With the Apple Watch the hand-off is a lot more painful, for two reasons: (1) not all apps allow users to continue their tasks on the phone, and, more importantly, (2) the interaction cost of resuming the task is fairly high. Unlike with the Samsung Galaxy Gear, your iPhone is not automatically unlocked when the watch is in its immediate proximity. So you have to swipe up (not touch) a tiny icon in the bottom left corner of your lock screen — an utterly bizarre interaction design — and then unlock your phone before being able to continue the task on your phone. Hand off is a powerful tool that should be used not only for getting more detailed content that cannot fit the watch screen, but also, more generally, for tasks that cannot be done on the watch. In particular, designers should help users recover more smoothly from errors using hand off.

Apple watch also has its advantages with respect to interaction in some cases like below which increases the Effectiveness of the device.

Deck of Cards Works Best

The tiny targets have some important implications for design. Because using navigation elements such as buttons and links is so tedious, in fact, what works best on the watch is the deck of cards, a pattern that definitely is not optimum for other devices.




2. Smart Mirror (Yard Category)

Shopping is an entertainment and pleasure for some people while it’s something to get through without visible or psychic damage for some others. These emotions are likely to be heightened with the debut of new MemoryMirror (MemoMi), a digital mirror that rolls videos, 360-degree viewing and provides social networking.

The end of fitting room queues? This smart mirror lets you try on different clothes without visiting the fitting room in in-store clothes shopping. Mirror uses cameras and sensors to track the shopper's body in real-time. They can virtually try on clothes and change colours using hand gestures. It uses augmented reality to show how clothes will fit.


Do you also need a second opinion while shopping alone? The MemoMi lets you capture a variety of whole body stills and video images instead of resorting to a poor quality selfies. These can be shared with friends and relatives via email, social media, etc. This also helps the sales associates to gather history details and preferences to send recommendations to the customers directly from the mirror.


Neiman Marcus is the first retail outlet to introduce MemoMi to its customers





Red or green? MemoMi creates avatars of the shopper wearing various clothing. MemoMi uses Intel integrated graphics technology to create avatars of the shopper wearing various clothing. It also lets people add accessories, and see outfits from different angles without straining their neck or using a wall of mirrors.


The rooms use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to recognise all the items of clothing in the room and offer alternative sizes and colours that are available to buy. It additionally allows consumers to build personal profiles of their favourite items, which can be purchased later online. It then tells the customer the best way to improve their look, appear younger, what to wear to look thinner, and more.


Pros
  • Makes the users feel excited about their new virtual shopping experience
  • Products and materials available are categorised by various models, colors, sizes, etc. so that it is easier to choose and decide what to buy
Cons

  • Novice users might initially feel difficult to understand the gestures and the usability of the device
  • The device is too big that it does not ensure privacy for the users

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