Prototype Photos
...
...
...
...
...
| Section | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
|
|
...
|
...
|
...
|
...
|
...
|
...
|
...
|
Briefing
The purpose of the application is to use emerging Smart Grid technologies to help home users manage their electrical devices more efficiently – reduce energy consumption, lower cost, and make profit.
...
- Because we had made up our data, numerical values were not necessarily consistent between different graphs. Several users expressed confusion about this inconsistency. In response, we modified our data to ensure that it was realistic and consistent between graphs, allowing users to make accurate comparisons between views.
- We allowed users to view exact numeric y-values after touching an x-value in the graph, as suggested by user 2. We also displayed a horizontal dotted line with a label showing the average for the graph. We hoped that this change would improve users' ability to compare different values in the same graph, rather than having to switch views.
- Many users expected to be able to schedule a transaction from the "storage" view. We made this possible by adding a "sell power" button for each device in the "storage" view, comparable to the "edit settings" button for each device in the "usage" view. Clicking this button switches the user to the "grid" view and launches a new power transaction from the selected device, essentially acting as a shortcut for the "schedule transaction" button. We hoped that this change would both improve the learnability of the "grid" view and increase the internal consistency between the "usage" and "storage" views. For more information, see Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2 below.
- We changed the wording of the "daily averages" heading to include the date from which the data was taken, hoping to address the ambiguity noted by user 3.
- We moved the "day," "month," and "year" tabs and made them larger, so that they appeared to apply to the entire view rather than just the graph. We hoped that this change would also help disambiguate the meanings of the data given in the bottom pane. For more information, see the "Prototype Pictures" table below.
- We noted that no users interacted with the checkboxes that change which devices are displayed in the graph. To test the visibility and usability of these checkboxes, we created an additional subtask for users to perform, as noted in Scenario Tasks, above.
- In the "usage" view, we provided a dotted line which showed the predicted usage values for a short period after the current time. We hoped that this change would give users feedback about the results of a settings change, as user 2 had requested. For more information, see Figure 5.2.1 and 5.2.2.
After Round 2
The user feedback from round 2 gave us additional ideas about modifications we could make to future iterations of our prototype.
...
- We made several efforts to clarify the function of the "grid" view (for instance, by providing a snippet of data from the view on the tab itself, and by sending users there from the "storage" view when they pressed the "sell power" button). But despite these efforts, most of our users still did not understand the meaning or function of the "grid" view. It may be necessary to change the name of this tab to provide better information scent.
- The naming of the "device tree" and "device list" views also seemed unclear to users. Again, changing these names could provide better information scent for sorting in the list view, and for viewing by group in the tree view.
- It may be useful to show a warning before leaving a page without saving, as suggested by user 4's failure to save his changes to device settings.
- We hoped that users would find shortcuts for checking/unchecking boxes in the tree view--for instance, by unchecking the "all devices" button to deselect all of the boxes. Most users did not use such shortcuts. Further, these shortcuts are not possible in the list view. "Select all" and "deselect all" buttons would help improve the efficiency of the checkboxes.
- Most users did not pay attention to the snippets of data shown on each top tab. We hoped that this data would improve both learnability (by providing an example of the data available in the view) and efficiency (by reducing the need to switch tabs). While we still feel that these snippets are useful, we may need to make them more prominent in order for users to notice them.
Rounds 1 and 2 - Prototype Pictures
The table below shows some of the changes we made to our paper prototype between round 1 and round 2.
...
| Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|---|---|
Device tree tab selected |
| |
In round 2 we added a "sell power" button to each device. |
| |
Transaction scheduling |
| |
Monthly view |
| |
Other | | |
After Round 2 - Prototype Pictures
The table below shows the changes we made based on the user feedback in Round 2.
Changes | Round 2 | After Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Changed the caption and the icon of the Grid tab to Sell Power and a $ sign, so users without smart grid knowledge can easily understand it. | | | |||
Renamed the Device List tab to Sort-able Device List. Hopefully this change could give users a stronger hint on what the page will do. Also added a Select All and a Clear All checkboxes to make selecting and un-selecting all devices more efficient. | | ||||
|
|
| |||
1 - The second tab in the bottom pane is named Device List | | ||||
Added a warning dialog if user leaves the Device Settings page without clicking the Save Settings button after he or she has made changes – we have seen users forgot to do so. No dialog will show up if user has already clicked the Save Settings button. | | |
|
|
|
