PROJECT
CN80 Mobile Device
Redefining what it means to be a rugged mobile device.
My role: UX Designer and User Researcher
My contribution: I validated the new industrial design language and led the UI development for a variety of pre-loaded software applications.
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Introduction:
We were introducing a new industrial design language to reshape user expectations of what it means to be a rugged, mobile device. We called it "Refined-Ruggedness". However, there were some concerns with the new design direction that needed to be validated. At the same time we were updating the UI for some of the integrated software applications.
Hardware Evaluation
I put together a test plan and protocol to conduct a total of 18 semi-structured interviews with 4 different form factor variations across 3 different environments, focusing on the following attributes.
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Usage
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Ruggedness
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Ergonomics
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Weight & Balance
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Size
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Keypad Usage
Results: Overall, the new form factor was well received with only minor tweaks needed to improve the perception of durability.
Design Sprint
The embedded software applications needed to differentiate this product from the competition. The Setup user experience was a well known paint point for customers, so I led a Design Sprint on how we could improve the Setup experience.​
What is a Design Sprint?
A Design Sprint is a quick and optimized process for accelerating a project, and generating results in a few days.
How do you run a Design Sprint?
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Understand the problem deeply and get inspired.
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Use constraints to help you focus and make progress.
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Cultivate ideas by working alone, in small groups, and in one large group.
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Create prototypes to get concept-level feedback, not usability feedback.
Design Sprint Output
We came up with some step, jump, and leap solutions that were quite inspiring and could help differentiate us from the competition.​
An on-device setup wizard
Multi-device cloning
Touchless device provisioning
UI Design
Now that we had a clear direction forward, we were able to focus on the UI design work for several small software applications. I helped guide the design team in creating wireframes, visual designs, and red lines for the following software solutions:
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Setup Wizard
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Enterprise Provisioner
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Scan-to-Connect Bluetooth Scanner Pairing
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Digital Scan Button
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Utility Applications
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Battery Maximizer
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Battery Monitor
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Battery Hot Swap
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Custom Soft Input Panels
Usability Testing
I led traditional usability studies to identify usability issues and to provide updates on if we were meeting our predetermined user experience goals. This information was key in verifying if we were on the right track or if we needed to re-prioritize our work or resources.
Tenets & Traps Heuristic Evaluation
Additionally, throughout the project, I would periodically run Tenets & Traps heuristic evaluations of the user interface to identify an possible shortcomings. However, evaluating the hardware was more difficult. At the end of the project, I performed a Tenets and Traps Heuristic Analysis of the hardware to identify any key heuristics that were being broken, so that they could be fixed before release.
What is a Tenets & Traps Heuristic Analysis?
Tenets describe the basic rules of a good user interface. Traps describe common UI design problems. Decrease the number of traps to improve the user experience.
How do you run a Tenets & Traps Analysis?
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Identify a user task.
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Walk through completing the user task.
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Identify any potential usability issues and what trap they represent.
Sample Final UI Designs
Setup Wizard
Scan-to-Connect Bluetooth Scanner Pairing
