selfie café
The challenge
A group of researchers including myself was curious about how to promote social interaction among students, faculties, staff, and visitors. So, we decided to create an application which encourages people to meet in a public place. The chosen place was an environment around a coffee machine situated inside of a University Campus.
The application name is Selfie Café. As the application name suggests, it is an application that allows users to take a selfie (a photo of themselves) sharing it publicly.
Methodology
User testing and prototype evolution
Low-fidelity
We performed tests with users using the Thinking Aloud technique. A paper prototype was presented to the test participants, who interacted with the prototype. First, we presented the prototype that users will use to take pictures.
Next, we showed the prototype that users will vote the best picture.
High-fidelity
After rounds of discussion iteration about prototype according to users feedback collected through Thinking Aloud, we developed a new prototype. Following there is a prototype for public display and mobile.
Also, we created a navigation map:
We ran the usability test with several users. We provided them a set of tasks to follow and we register there answers and actions.
Deployments
We did 4 deployments of partial product versions. In the first deploy, among the various forms of observation, we used the nonparticipatory exploratory observation. The observation was made in a real environment, exactly where the prototype would be placed. This type of observation does not contemplate contact with the observed ones, thus, no interviews or questionnaires were done. In order to perform the data collection, observations were made in loco (short intervals of greater passage) making annotations of common behaviors.​
In the second deploy, the prototype evolved with the Kinect aggregation to take pictures. A questionnaire was prepared to collect the data of people who, in some way, attend the computer department. The main data collected were the profiles of people, their habits in that place and their motivations of attending the environment.
In the third deploy, the users were able to vote in the photos and to consult the ranking. In this way, the Selfie Café presentation appeared on the smart TV, with a photo carousel showing the pictures taken in the kitchen area during the deploy sections, with information from the Selfie Café (accessed through the website).
In the fourth deploy, the users were interviewed through a questionnaire elaborated according to the SUMI (Software Usability Measurement Inventory), following the scales and orientations of the method. In the end, users answered the SAM (Self Assessment Manikin) questionnaire to measure motivation, control, and satisfaction of use.
RESULTS
Please see the academic article about this work:
