DESIGN PROCESS
01. Problem Finding
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Exploration of Societal, Technological, and Consumer Trends
In less than a decade, many of these trends will be embedded in our daily lives. The world of technology and digital solutions has exploded in growth and continues to evolve at a frantic rate. The advancements in consumer technology
have been the principal driving forces behind the diversifying social media landscape.
However, the rise of technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence has prompted essential questions surrounding the effect of technological advancement on user experience and human culture as a whole. A need has risen to reimagine the future, understand human pain points, and use technology in a leading way to keep up the pace in the changing world. Consumer Trends for the future are analyzed and solutions are proposed based on implementation feasibility and the area that it's addressing using societal, technological, and consumer trends
It started with one of our group members, an athlete, who had difficulties using fitness apps/wearables while running as they were always distracting. He was wondering if there might be a solution to better train himself and fellow athletes or fitness aspirants to train better to understand their pace while running, distance to be covered, and being mindful of the track of heart rate to avoid fatigue. We have brainstormed in this problem space and got some leads after research on how AR can be leveraged as a potential solution for better training purposes.
02. Method kits
Using the method kit cards to brainstorm multiple ideas and products related to the interests we had. We first began by gathering the Tech Building block cards into categories like Tech, Health, and Transportation before we realized we needed to use the cards for themes for ideas we wanted to work on.
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Tech Building Blocks
Methodkit tech building block encourages creative playing and reshaping of ideas. Our team was given methodkit blocks and was asked to brainstorm, and think of multiple scenarios and areas where we can identify problem scenarios using the cards. Discard the irrelevant ones and nest the cards based on the 3 scenarios chosen.
2. Product development
MethodKit for Projects can be used in a range of different situations. Prioritize tasks, define the scope, map projects, sort out what is important, and discuss with support from the cards. Use them to create project grids, follow-up meetings, project walls, mind maps, grids with overviews of projects, evaluations, client meetings, structure in meetings, and brain dumps.
We organized them into four different categories including, Problem definition & Goal setting, Planning & Design, Implementation & Testing, Production.
03. Primary research
We conducted a survey with cross-country athletes on the Humber Team to ask about their current training methods and what tools/products they use to help them with training. We also asked questions on how much data they prefer and how often they use data to help them with their performance.
The feedback we got gave us a better understanding of the problem space we focused on which is helping athletes train better. We got more direction on what kind of data trainers need to improve their performance and how we can provide it in a simple interaction to the runner.
Key Insight
The key insights that the team discovered during the project are:
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Runners mainly use wearables to track their data when running.
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While training runners tend to focus on speed, pacing, and distance with the pacing being the most important.
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They tend to prefer to train together with other runners
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They don’t mind sharing this data on social media within their community.
Other insights found were the successes and failures of the Google Glass glasses which helped to determine our approach to the design of the AR glasses. With google Glass failing because of the lack of clarity on why the product should exist.
04. Secondary research
Garmin Forerunner 935
Whether you’re a casual jogger or seasoned marathon racer, a decent running watch is a great way to help improve your performance.
The Garmin Forerunner 935 has a built-in heart rate monitor, activity and sleep tracking, displays notifications from a connected smartphone, tracks all manner of sports, features a barometric altimeter and compass for tracking and even has maps options.
Wearable devices that can monitor heart rate were integrated with tracking technologies that include global positioning system (GPS), accelerometer, and gyroscope sensors, which are used to describe the athletes’ movement and physical demands.
The 935 is comfortable to wear, day and night, meaning you find yourself leaving it on for true lifestyle tracking – I often forgot I even had it on and panicked and started looking for it. The 50 metre depth waterproofing means I showered with this on without even thinking about it.
Solos cycling smart glasses
Once you have begun your workout, the Solos glasses will tell you what your power/heart-rate/cadence should be(depending on what you are working to) and how long you should be cycling or running for at that metric. After the workout is complete, you can then analyze your data or even share it with your coach so they can analyze it, too (and make you work harder).
AR and VR glasses are the most common gear that introduces us to the AR and VR world. Increasing trends of e-commerce and mobile application technology are the major factors that may bring evolution in AR and VR smart glasses market.
Google Glass for cyclists helps you keep your eyes on the road.
Looking like a bit like a sporty version of Google Glass, Solos will let you see key running and cycling metrics like pace, heart rate and power without having to take your eyes off the road.
05. Affinity mapping
Based on the primary and secondary research that have been done by our team, and the ideas that surface in design ideation, we gathered all together to make an affinity diagram in order to write down different ideas and organize them into separate categories, then, prioritize them based on the importance of that idea, and how to improve the experience of runners.
We considered:
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Tracking the pace and inform the runner while running
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Minimizing the distraction
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Following an effective training session
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Making the training sessions more interesting with gamification
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Providing the feeling of training with a team while training on your own
06. Persona
07. Journey map
The journey map helped us define the moments that matter for the user and then identify the pain points that exist in those moments.
Since our target user is an athlete in training we chose the journey of an athlete training to compete for a race.
The 5 stages we defined are:
06. Storyboarding
John wears his watch and adjusts
it to become ready for running
He has to control the watch every few minutes to check his pace, heart rate, distance, etc
He turns his wrist to see the data while he is running, so that could be distracting.
He always has the difficulty to find his watch, so he has to take so much time to find it.
John adjusts and sets the data of his new AR glass and wears it.
At the beginning of the race, He is able to set the data, and start running
His trainer is able to receive the data immediately after the race and does analyzing and compares it with his previous data.
The data will be displayed in front of him while running without distracts him.
He has no difficulty to find his device, as he is able to find it by his smartphone with its sensor.
John is able to do exercise by his AR glass with his favorite coaches.
08. Physical Product Design
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The final form of the glasses was developed to be as functional while integrating the technology as seamlessly as possible. While the overall design is sleek and stylish, the form has been developed to be purposeful and functional. The large mono lens was used to maximize the user’s field of view and cut down on “blind-spots” where sight would be limited by thick frames. This style has been used for a number of years by companies such as Oakley and Scott. The frames of the Pace glasses attach to the bottom edge of the lens and swoop upwards before going over the user’s ears. The reason for this was to provide a surface where bone conduction could be used. Bone conduction allows Pace to communicate to the user with haptics and sounds which adds variety to suit the user’s preference.
In a few of the initial concepts, buttons were used to allow the user to switch screen modes and enable pairing. The decision was made to avoid buttons and use a touch-sensitive surface with gesture controls. The reason for this was that buttons may cause the glasses to be pushed off the user's face when being activated with one hand. The surface was designed into the frame of the glasses in front of the ear where the user could reach most easily. Using a gesture-controlled surface allows multiple controls to be integrated into a single user interface. For example, turning the device on could be done using a tap and hold, while switching screens could be done by swiping across the surface. Many other controls could be developed using inputs such as 2 finger tapping or sliding. Finally, the decision was made to add a rubber strap that would wrap around the back of the user’s head. While this solution is not ideal as it creates additional contact surfaces, the additional weight of electronics will need more support over a typical sunglass frame design.
09. PACE application
In order to connect the runner to his coach and give daily access to data based on his requirements, and further needs, we (User Experience Design Students) went through designing an application which is able to connect to the glass and sync the data between these two devices.
we conducted secondary research in order to get insight into the existing applications and what are their gains and pain points to improve the experience of the user to be more satisfied.
First, we did some rough sketches and came up with a variety of ideas to finalize them in order to define the essential features of the application to be more productive and increase the runner's engagement.
10. Low-Fidelity wireframes
After an intense session of brainstorming and sketching, the team converged to create these wireframes of the supportive mobile application using the online tool wireframe. cc. This helped us visualize and refine the following features:
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Pairing and Synchronization- Since it is a supporting application for the AR Glasses for athletes, thus the app must be capable of syncing with the device in real-time as well as through long distances.
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Customization- The app gives the user the ability to customize the visuals of the AR Glasses to provide the best possible user experience.
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Analysis of Data and Statistics- To improve and track their progress, the user requires a clear visual and easily understandable representation of data statistics and analysis.
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Sharing on Social Media- The app allows the user to share their progress with friends through popular social media platforms.
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Customized plans for the workout- Be trained by trainers that the runner has already chosen to do work out with based on the daily plans which are shared by coaches from all around the world.
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Finding the newest races- Being aware of the latest events and marathons that will take place in the following days to plan and become ready for that.
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Offering a specific diet- To stay fit and be ready for upcoming races you will receive the recommended diet to be on the shape.
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