We built three initial paper prototypes corresponding to the three designs we did in GR2 - Designs . We tested each of the prototypes on users and incorporated their feedback on our revised design.
Briefing
This is what we told the users:
* ShutterConnect aims to make it easier for people to find photographers, and for photographers to advertise their services.
* As a user, you are interested in finding a photographer's services for a particular event. After the event, you will also probably be interested in reviewing the photographer.
* As a photographer, your main task will be to create a profile page with some sample work uploaded, so as to advertise yourself to potential customers.
Scenario Tasks
Task 1: Finding a Photographer
You're looking for a photographer for your wedding, which is in 3 weeks. You want a wedding album and full coverage (i.e. the photographer should be there all day). Your budget is $2000. You also want to make sure that you get the digital files, and you would rather not pay for any travel expenses incurred by the photographer.
Task 2: Adding a Review
You used the services of the photographer "Ansel Adams" two weeks ago. You were very happy with the service and you want to leave a good reivew, highlighting his agreeable personality and the promptness with which he delivered the great photos.
Task 3: Creating a Profile
You are a photographer whose business is called "Awesome Shoots Inc." You want to describe yourself as a photographer primarily involved in portraiture and as who loves working with seniors. You have 3 sample photos to upload and you charge $500 per shoot by the hour. You live in Cambridge, near MIT.
Prototype Designs and Observations
Design 1
Observations on the above design:
Users had some difficulty understanding how to add photos inside the photo gallery widget. We had hoped that having a "click to add photos" dummy picture in the gallery would give sufficient hints, but we found that the widget was still quite foreign.
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For writing a review, it is implicit that the user finds the photographer first, so they can use the find-a-photographer functionality. We don't need a separate search for review writing.
Briefing
This is what we told the users:
* ShutterConnect aims to make it easier for people to find photographers, and for photographers to advertise their services.
* As a user, you are interested in finding a photographer's services for a particular event. After the event, you will also probably be interested in reviewing the photographer.
* As a photographer, your main task will be to create a profile page with some sample work uploaded, so as to advertise yourself to potential customers.
Scenario Tasks
Task 1: Finding a Photographer
You're looking for a photographer for your wedding, which is in 3 weeks. You want a wedding album and full coverage (i.e. the photographer should be there all day). Your budget is $2000. You also want to make sure that you get the digital files, and you would rather not pay for any travel expenses incurred by the photographer.
Task 2: Adding a Review
You used the services of the photographer "Ansel Adams" two weeks ago. YOu were very happy with the service and you want to leave a good reivew, highlighting his agreeable personality and the promptness with which he delivered the great photos.
Task 3: Creating a Profile
You are a photographer whose business is called "Awesome Shoots Inc." You want to describe yourself as a photographer primarily involved in portraiture and as who loves working with seniors. You have 3 sample photos to upload and you charge $500 per shoot by the hour. You live in Cambridge, near MIT.
Revised Design
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Observations on the
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revised design
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- One prototype tester suggested that the 'sign up' field was so prominent that it was not clear that a user can search without signing in.
- A positive criticism was that the help prompt in the search box was useful in hinting at the syntax to use while searching.
- One prototype tester took some time in deciding on how to move from the results of a photographer search to the photographer's page. The prototype tester suggested that we add a button or a clearly afforded hyperlink on the photographer's name to this effect.
- We plan on implementing a slider to facilitate selecting a user's budget. One tester suggested that we add a number to the slider, so that a user gets immediate feedback on what her selected budget constraint is.
- It was also not clear how to conduct a new search while currently viewing results of a previous search. One prototype tester mentioned that clicking the logo to go back to the home page and start a new search was not obvious.
- It was also suggested that we add functionality such that entering a photographer's name and hitting enter immediately took the user to the photographer's profile page.
- Instead of adding a visible status message whenever a user changes one of the parameters of a search, one test user suggested that we eliminate the status message altogether, and just use the check box on the left-most column of the search page to indicate that a parameter has changed.
- We were also advised to add a popup with "Save/Cancel" buttons whenever a user clicked on an object to make it editable instead of just having the user assume that editing an element automatically saves it.
- As part of each photographer's page, we have a sample gallery that displays the photographer's work. One prototype tester asked that we have an 'X' on the top left corner of every photo that allowed a user to delete the photo. In addition, it was suggested that we have a placeholder icon named 'Click to Add Photo' always be in the left-most position in the photo gallery. Lastly, one prototype tester recommended that the photos on the gallery be draggable, to allow a photographer to edit the position of the pictures.