Reflection
Final Thoughts and Reflection
Project Reflection
If we had more time, there are a few things we would do
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Do more user research to collect more data: Our user research was limited to interviews of only three people and a short observational research session. The sample size is too small to accurately represent the needs, wants, and pains of all or even most pet owners.
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Go back to the users for feedback on our set design idea: We based our design idea on the data we received in user research. However, it would be useful if we went back to the interviewees with the design idea and asked if they want and use the product. Then, we can be sure that this product would actually be used to deal with a user need.
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Get more people to test the usability of our app: For every step of the iteration, we only had two or three people giving us feedback on our flow and layout. Most of those people were also in the same design class. Testing among people with different technological proficiency, backgrounds, and thought processes would help us design for a variety of people.
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Make our projects interactive: An interactive prototype will be more realistic and make usability testing more applicable for the creation of the actual product.
Team Reflection
Through this project, we learned a lot about group work. Group work is difficult because you might have to compromise on ideas that you may be passionate about. Even though we got along well, one of our biggest difficulties was just being able to compromise on one design idea. Each of us put a lot of work into our own ideas and wanted to pursue them further. As a solution, we went back to the user interviews and tried to pinpoint what the users valued or wanted most. We eventually noticed that all interviewees stressed the importance of their pet's health and less on convenience. We then took two prominent ideas that centered around health and merged them together to create a product that address different aspects of pet health. Each of us developed good communication skills and learned to be open minded to new ideas because of this project. But working in a group is also really rewarding when people can bring different skill sets to a project and when you work together to produce a really great idea or project.
To conclude this portfolio, we would all like to thank Andrew Berry and Bella Chiu for their amazing instruction and feedback throughout this project. We would also like to thank our interviewees and participants who provided valuable feedback. We are excited to continue learning about the UCD process and can’t wait to see what the future brings!