Implementing a Preliminary Experience Prototype

6.2.2 Translating the Experience into an Interaction Concept

In parallel to the implementation of the preliminary prototype, the experience designer of our team drew a storyboard (see figure 6.3) visualizing the interaction with Periscope as described in the story inspired by this first interactive representation (see figure 6.2). The key frames of the storyboard visualize important aspects of the interaction and can be translated into the following working principles:

P1: Periscope is a mobile device that can be used by the passengers of a car to explore the outside environment (story:able to take a look at the sights ahead; storyboard: frame 2).

P2: Only one person can use Periscope at a time, triggering conversation about discoveries (He discovers a castleandtells his parents, frame 3).

P3: Discoveries can be shared by actively handing over the Periscope, enabling the explo-ration of points of interest as a group (let me have a look at it and taking turns looking through the periscope, frame 4).

P4: The co-driver can access detailed information once a discovery is made (Anna browses through more information, frame 5).

P5: Once the group has discovered a point of interest, audio feedback enriches the experi-ence (they can already hear two knights fighting, frame 6).

P6: A discovered point of interest can be chosen as a next destination (he really likes to visit the castle, frame 7).

6.3 The First Periscope Experience Prototype 89

Figure 6.3: First storyboard visualizing the ’Periscope’ concept. Passengers can explore the environment (frames 2 and 3), share discoveries with others (4), retrieve additional information (5 and 6) and navigate to the new destination. Drawn by Marc Landau.

Software and Hardware

The implementation was done in roughly one day and therefore features low fidelity and resolution. The body of the prototype is an actual toy telescope with a length of 30 cm.

First, I removed the lenses and all other components from the inside of the housing. Second, I attached a small 1 inch TFT display to the front opening of the telescope. The display is powered and controlled by an Arduino, meaning that a cable runs from the board to the Periscope. The display features an SD card reader where I stored some images of restaurants nearby. I attached the prototype to the roof of the car mock-up between the front seats so that it was easy to reach for co-driver as well as passengers in the back seat.

Interaction

One possible action is taking the Periscope and looking through the opening. The images of the restaurants are now visible and presented as a slide show automatically switching to the next picture after five seconds. Now, the person exploring the images can pass the prototype to another passenger and they can start a conversation about choosing one of the shown restaurants. The prototype features a low interactivity and is rather far from the actual use case of a driving situation. But when presented with the story before using the Periscope people were able to imagine the given scenario and treat the low-fidelity prototype as the illustrated device.

Qualitative Evaluation

To discuss the concept and explore the Periscope experience, we conducted a workshop with ten participants including the members of the design team as well as other project related persons. We collected qualitative feedback by observing the usage of the prototype and evolving situations. We also took pictures documenting the interaction as well as notes gathering statements and comments. By analyzing and structuring the feedback we extracted further details enhancing the interaction design for the Periscope. This lead to an updated and more detailed storyboard illustrated in figure 6.4.

An interactive map representing the outside environment

When looking ’through’ the Periscope, a part of a map showing the outside environment is visible. This part of the map will adapt to the user’s movements. E.g., when turning to the side while holding the periscope, the view will dynamically pan in the specific direction.

Thus, a map covering 360 degrees will be available.

The exploration of interesting sights

The user can zoom in and out of the map and thus increase the level of detail. When spotting a new point of interest, it is possible to zoom towards the location. This will unveil additional information such as the distance or a picture.

An option to lock the current view

With the visible part of the map adapting to the user’s movements, a discovered point of interest would get lost when handing over the Periscope to another passenger. Therefore, it provides a function for locking the current view (see frame 3 in the storyboard shown in figure 6.4). When the next person is done looking at the shared discovery, the view can be unlocked and the exploration continues.

Story and storyboard provide the context for early prototypes

Donald Norman, who was the scientific consultant during our project, likes to try prototypes and play with them. Without knowing the story or the concept, he took the Periscope and looked at the pictures for a minute. Then he said "Well, this is pretty cute but worthless."

But after listening to the story and taking a look at the first storyboard depicted in figure 6.3 he interacted with the prototype again, now knowing the context of use, and stated more positive and constructive feedback about the concept. This was a general observation we made when presenting and using early implementations in user studies. The low-fidelity and low-resolution prototype with its limited interactivity only unfolded its full potential in combination with the context illustrated by story and storyboard.

A dedicated device

One issue discussed during the workshop was the kind of device realizing the Periscope ex-perience. One suggestion was the implementation of an app running on the central display in the dashboard of the car. We decided against this solution because the story clearly defines a moment where the visualization is only visible to one person at a time triggering conver-sation about points of interest. For the same reason, we did not choose to implement an app for the smartphone or a tablet. Another aspect arguing against the use of a mobile device is

6.3 The First Periscope Experience Prototype 91

Figure 6.4: Second storyboard visualizing the enhanced ’Periscope’ concept. A discovery can be ’locked’ before passing the Prototype on (frame 3) and the user can zoom in and out of the visualized map (5). Drawn by Marc Landau.

its private character as it belongs to one of the passengers, which contradicts the moment of sharing the experience with others when passing on the Periscope. The design decision of realizing a dedicated device is an example of how the implementation of a concept must pay attention to all aspects of the story in order to achieve a consistent experience.