Calculator Project

Amanda Wallis Fall Semester 2013

P R O J E C T 01 S T E P 0 0 | P R O C E S S B L O G P O S T

(Paste process blog post here)

Table of Contents

2 Part 1: Presentation 8 Part 2: Process 9 Research and Brainstorming 10 Research and Brainstorming: Learning Summary 11 Visual Research 15 Visual Research: Learning Summary 16 Sketches 18 Sketches: Learning Summary 19 Digital Sketches 20 User Testing 21 Digital Sketches and User Testing: Learning Summary 22 Final Sketches 23 Final Sketches: Learning Summary

Part 1 | Presentation

Time Duration Calculator Apps

Time Since

+
x

Time Since

+
x

Time Since
Last oil change

+
x

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Time Since

+
x

Time Since

+
x

Time Since
Last oil change

+
x

No indication
OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Unclear what is active

Add Entry

Add Entry

More Direction

Add Entry

Add Title...
Set Date...
OFF

Finals
Set Date...
OFF

Finals

+
Monday, October 7, 2013
ON

Gray/black show active/inactive

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

+
10

+
07

+
13

done

Set

Today

Add Entry
Add Title...
Set Date...
OFF

Add Entry

Add Entry

Finals
Set Date...
OFF

Finals

+
Monday, October 7, 2013
ON

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

+
10

+
07

+
13

done

Set

Today

Part 2 | Process

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | R E S E A R C H A N D B R A I N S T O R M I N G

Calculator Brainstorm
-Sleep cycle calculator -Regular 4 function calculator -Food calculator -Sodium calculator -Time duration calculator

Features I want to include

-time since -time until -alarm? -title -month -days -hours -min -Sec? -option to delete -catagorize in order of importance

Time Duration Calculator

My reason for choosing a time duration calculator for my project is because I always want to know how long something is going to take or how long it has been since a certain event. For example I always like to calculate how many hours of sleep I will get at night or know how much time I have for a project or until my birthday etc.

Titles
-From time to time -Time Span -How long -Time Tracker

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | R E S E A R C H A N D B R A I N S T O R M : L E A R N I N G S U M M A R Y

My Experience When I first started thinking about what kind of calculator I wanted to do I thought of just sticking with the basic 4 function calculator for simplicity and because it was really the only calculator I could really think of. It wasnt until I went onto itunes and searched for calculator apps that I could see just what kinds of different calculators there are. I then started looking at what was interesting to me and thought about a sleep cycle calculator first. I knew I was getting close to what I wanted then, but I wanted it to be less complicated than that, but with the same kind of idea. I thought about why the sleep calculator was interesting to me and it was because I was thinking about the idea that I like to count how many hours of sleep I get at night right before I go to bed. I then decided that I wanted to do some kind of a countdown/ time calculator and thats how I came up with the time duration calculator. As I did further research on my chosen calculator idea I only found a couple that were nicely designed and that functioned well in the itunes app store. I found one I really liked called Time (Duration Calculator) shown in my visual research. I ended up purchasing it for 99 cents so I could get inside and see the functionality for myself. This was the nicest of the Time Duration calculators I could find and I made my own designs based off of this model. Challenges Some challenges I found at the beginning of this project was just getting started. At first I wasnt set on even knowing what I wanted to do until I just started doing some research to get ideas and then I found out what I was really interested in and it came together nicely.

Thoughts After coming up with my calculator idea and finding some good research for my designs I started thinking about what I wanted my calculator to include. It was helpful for me to see other examples so that I knew all the basic functionalities I would end up needing in the end.

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | V I S U A L R E S E A R C H

Other Time Duration Calculators

Date & Time Calculator (9 in 1)

Days Until

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | V I S U A L R E S E A R C H

FromToDate date duration calculator

Time (Duration Calculator)

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | V I S U A L R E S E A R C H

Time Diff

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | V I S U A L R E S E A R C H

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | V I S U A L R E S E A R C H : L E A R N I N G S U M M A R Y

My Experience During my visual researching I noticed that many of the time duration calculator apps were not as professional looking as I was expecting them to be. I knew that I wanted me app to look professional enough so that people would not question its credibility when looking at it. The time duration app that I found to be the most impressive looking was the Time (Duration Calculator) app show in my visual research screenshots. I ended up using this app as a model for my own designs and it was most helpful. More visual research I did consisted of finding different iphone features such as the keyboard and the date scroller. I knew I would be needing them later for my digital sketches so I went on to google images and found a few that worked for me. Challenges The main challenge I had with my visual research was that I couldnt find very many time duration calculator apps that looked very useful or credible. I was expecting more of a variety of the best apps, but I was surprised to find that there were not very many that were professional all the way around. Thoughts It really helped me to see the screenshots of the different apps when I did my visual research and I realized that showing any particular screen should convince me that any app Im looking at is a good one. The fact that I did not feel that way about most of the time duration calculator apps that I looked at told me that the creators must not have payed attention to the design as well. I realized that in whatever screen is being presented for my own app, it should look professional and credible enough for someone to be interested in getting it for themselves.

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | S K E T C H E S

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | S K E T C H E S

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | S K E T C H E S : L E A R N I N G S U M M A R Y

My Experience For my paper sketches it was difficult for me to practice drawing each state of my calculator app. I found that the workings of an app are more complicated than they might seem. It really made me think about each little thing that I needed to pay attention to and the constraints I wanted to make sure to have for my own app. Challenges Not only was it difficult to realize all the different states that are needed for a calculator to function, but I also realized that the design and layout is just as important as the content and functions.

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | D I G I TA L S K E T C H E S

Time Duration Calculator

Time Since Time Until

Time Since

+
x

Time Since

+
x

Time Since
Last oil change

+
x

Monday, March 12, 2012

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

+ +

OFF

Time Since
Last oil change

+
x

Time Since
Last oil change

+
x

Time Since

+
x

Time Duration Calculator

Time Since
Last oil change
YEAR WEEKS

Monday, March 12, 2012

OFF

Monday, March 12, 2012

ON

Monday, March 12, 2012

ON

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

+
01 28 02
DAYS

Time Until

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | U S E R T E S T I N G

User Testing Notes:

-Switch time since/until -Specify start date -Specify alarm Ask, How would a countdown app be useful to you? -Add times as well as dates -Have option to delete -Add title to start page -Click anywhere on time until -Calendar -scroll -pick date -Option for now today -Scroll through list when builds up? -Notification center -consider changing to a check mark instead of a +

Things to fix:
-Find way to edit entrys -Find way to delete things -Do time until walk through -Find way to minimize amount of variables-Color scheme -Placement -Type -Date entry -Indicate title -What you do after done adding entry

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | D I G I TA L S K E T C H E S & U S E R T E S T I N G : L E A R N I N G S U M M A R Y

My Experience Digital sketches were easier for me because I am used to working with designs on the computer. I used Adobe Illustrator to make my digital sketches and it was much easier than my paper sketches to move things around, create new artboards and make a good layout. For my first digital sketches I didnt worry too much about the design because I knew I could go in and touch it up later. I mostly focused on the basic functions that I wanted my calculator to perform. I created enough sketches to go through a walk through of my app for user testing. I put pictures of my digital sketches into the P.O.P. (Prototyping on Paper) App. In class I did user testing on my calulator and found that although I thought I had provided enough visual information, my user was confused because there was a lack of direction in my prototype. I took notes on the things that I knew I needed to fix for my calculator app so that I could go back and apply them for my final digital version. Challenges One challenge I had with making a prototype was the hastle of downloading the images onto my phone to use for the P.O.P. app. I ended up just taking pictures of my computer screen that had my digital sketches on them and that ended up working just fine, although it didnt look near as clean as it could have. Thoughts It really helped me to see the screenshots of the different apps when I did my visual research and I realized that showing any particular screen should convince me that any app Im looking at is a good one. The fact that I did not feel that way about most of the time duration calculator apps that I looked at told me that the creators must not have payed attention to the design as well. I realized that in whatever

screen is being presented for my own app, it should look professional and credible enough for someone to be interested in getting it for themselves.

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | F I N A L S K E T C H E S

Time Calculator
Time Since Time Until

Add Entry

Add Entry

Add Entry

+ +

Add Title...
Set Date...
OFF

+
Set Date...
OFF

Finals
Set Date...
OFF

done

done

Add Entry
Finals

Add Entry

Add Entry

Time Calculator

+
Monday, October 7, 2013
OFF

Finals

+
Monday, October 7, 2013
ON

Finals

+
Monday, October 7, 2013
ON

Time Since Time Until

Finals

71
DAYS

+ +

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

+
10

+
07

+
13

+
10

+
07

+
13

C A L C U L AT O R P R O J E C T | F I N A L S K E T C H E S : L E A R N I N G S U M M A R Y

My Experience The user testing was very helpful for me to touch up my digital sketches because I was able to go back and add things in that I needed to. One of the things I changed was the title/entry label. I put the words, Add Title as an indicator for the user to put a title instead of just leaving it blank. I did that for adding a date as well. These indicators were important in my calculator app, but I didnt notice them before I had someone try it out. I changed the + sign in the top right corner of the entrys to a check mark instead to indicate when it is finished. I changed a lot with the overall design as well. The color scheme I changed to blue because its light and inviting. I changed the font to Edmonsans and used both regular and medium weights. Instead of the standard scroll wheel for the dates I made my own version with + and - buttons to scroll through the dates. I liked this better because I was able to keep my overall look and theme. Although the default for entering the dates will be the current date I also added a Today button in case the user scrolls through the dates and then instead wants the dates to revert back to the current date. Challenges The challenge I had with my final sketches was to make sure that I had all the buttons I needed as well as the changes I needed to make from my original digital sketches. I wrote down most of the things I needed to change so that I could refer back to it, but I still wanted to make sure that the overall design looked nice and that I payed attention to the things that I needed to make more clear.

Thoughts Overall Im happy about the way my time duration calculator turned out. I learned a lot in making sure that I provide all the necessary constraints and affordances so that users will be able to easily navigate around the application without confusion.