Digital Dashboard Digital Prototype
This has been a challenge. It’s an interesting one, and one I intend to continue thinking about and working on over break, because I know my design is not where I want it to be. I realized I don’t have as good of a grip on working within Axure as I thought, and some of my ideas didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped. But without further ado, let me tell you about my project.
I chose to start by recreating pieces of my paper prototype and the physical interface in Sketch, which lets you create graphics superior to Axure’s but offers no options for designing interaction. I found, however, that I was thinking a lot about the details of design and not enough about the overall interface, so I jumped out of Sketch after putting together my basic homescreen and physical space and I went to work giving these elements interactivity.
I created masters and used hot spots to add functionality to the images I’d designed and exported as PNGs from Sketch. I was proud to get the first set of images on the side to scroll both using the arrows and on swipe. However, I ran into trouble trying to get my focus to work the way I wanted it to.
I tried a variety of different variable combinations, attempting to get my volume slider to function as I wanted it to. I Googled solutions, but couldn’t quite figure it out. I’m sure when I come back to it I will be able to eventually get it working, but I chose to instead focus on other aspects of the design that I knew I would have more fun creating and that would turn out a wholesome final piece, despite imperfections.
Make sure to check out the animations in the Talk to Tom screen and to give one of your favorite contacts a call. Thinking about how animation and loading indicators worked was an interesting part of designing the user experience for me. While my initial focus didn’t turn out as planned, I have a better grasp on how the micro-interactions and subtle animations may indicate to users what is going on behind the scenes.
I tested these cues with my dad, a 55-year-old father of two who probably would’ve appreciated the helping hand of Tom, the car’s AI, and easier ways to navigate a vehicle’s features despite bickering children in the backseat.
He wasn’t especially familiar with the idea of asking a digital AI to take you somewhere or answer your questions, so the Talk to Tom screen was initially confusing and required some explanation. He did understand, however, that the pulsing screen was asking him to speak.
When we tested the phone call screen, I realized the problem with using a similar animation for a phone in the process of connecting and a microphone ready and waiting for speech. Upon seeing that same type of symbol, my dad expected to be able to talk. The call hadn’t yet been made, though, and he was speaking to no one. In my next iteration I will be modifying that piece of the design and possibly using an ellipsis to indicate that the phone is connecting.
View the interactive prototype at: https://mbgxhp.axshare.com/#c=2
Credit for the iconography I used from The Noun Project:
heat feet and window by Richard Nixon from the Noun Project
Lock by Setyo Ari Wibowo from the Noun Project
Music by Popular from the Noun Project
Microphone by Jivan from the Noun Project
Location by prakruti from the Noun Project
Phone by barjibut from the Noun Project
Settings by Landan Lloyd from the Noun Project
Compass by jeff from the Noun Project
Snowflake by Landan Lloyd from the Noun Project
