DIS 1 - WS 10/11 Project by Tuan Dung Nguyen, Arkadi Judizki, Stefan Guha.
Objective
“Create a better user interface for a specific task of an expert user in a non-IT,
craft-based profession (like carpenters, butchers, etc.). The system should not utilize
a typical keyboard-and-screen computer, but instead other (perhaps multiple) devices.
It should be used in his/her workspace that is not an office desk. The technology
must be realistic within 5 years.”
Define Project (P01)
Goal Description
The idea of the iCaretaker DIS-1 final project is to create a system
which provides computer-aided task collection and organization helper
functionality to a facility's technical supervisor.
In traditional work flow we assume the facility's users
(inhabitants, workers, departments) to call the caretaker
on the phone and tell him about any problematic situation.
Then the caretaker will probably promise to work on it as soon as possible.
Besides these incident-based tasks there are also other jobs for
a caretaker that he is expected to work on. Those usually go unnoticed
by the actual users because the problem in itself is not
severe enough to cause discomfort.
On this second category, count in the following scenarios:
A lighting installed in a cellar/hallway becomes defective.
Aircondition installations are not working properly.
The thermostat for a part of the heating installation is broken.
...
The System that is being developed will trace both user-reported problems
as well as automatically-discovered technical problems and present
those in a portable tablet-computer user interface for the
user to tackle and report on the items.
Target User Base
We have gone for janitors or other professions where
a few employees have to care for specific needs of a few.
The system created by our group might also possibly be used
by IT admins/personnel administration, for example.
However it was not designed for those kind of professionals
and some features are really geared specifically towards janitors/caretakers.
Introduce ourselves and the context of our project
Show gratitude for taking part in the interview
Convey general idea of trying to improve communication with janitors (not mentioning product)
Questions About Daily Work Life (10-15 min)
Please describe a representative course of your work day.
What happens especially if someone in the building wants to ask for something to be repaired/set up/arranged.
Begin with the call/... of the inhabitant/employee until the process has been fully completed.
Are there some well-known problems or distractions that occur during the day on a regular basis? Please describe these.
What kind of help on the organization of your work is available right now? Do you utilize it?
Please explain and rate your experience with these.
What is good, what is bad? What is missing in your opinion?
How would you believe to have the processes of your work facilitated/accelerated even better by the use of a to-be-designed technical helper tool?
What would be the most comfortable way to electronically
collect user inquiries about things that need to be taken care of?
In what way would you think it will be beneficial to your work?
How does follow-up on facility issues work at present time?
Please estimate the ratio of incident-based work versus recurring (daily/weekly) tasks.
What is the usual way that defective lights/... are being discovered at present?
In what kinds of situations do you sometimes take hand-written notes to not forget things?
What circle of other persons are usually involved in the work as well? (Such as craftspeople business, ...)
At present time, how important is it to document the work executed? Does it depend on the kind of work?
Do you have general ideas and suggestions for a project helping janitors?
How big is your personal interest in a device that would help you to automatically
keep track of technical defects in the building? Do you think this could facilitate your work?
in case of positive answer:
What feature-set would such a device need to offer to be actually helpful
to daily work tasks and resolve the problems (of question 4)
in case of negative answer:
Assume some other people of your profession could make use of such a device, ask quesion
Asking the User on Our Product Idea (10-15 min)
Walkthrough Storyboard
What do you see to be of value to your work life when considering the usage of iCaretaker device?
How helpful would it be to have electronic notification for the reporting user to simply see that his problem has been fixed rather than call him up again for follow-up?
Specific Feature discussion TODO
What does a Pad-Software need to offer as essential core functionality to be worth carrying it around when at work?
What kind of additional functionality would you expect from a device like this
to support your work well? (Do you need a calendar application, special audio signals required?)
Do you have concrete requirements on the design/appearance of the device?
What would you suggest in terms of the device's physical dimensions? Size of buttons? Font size? Other specifics?
Concluding this interview, please let us know your questions?
Gather Basic User Information
Brief notes about interview partner (anonymous / name changed)
User Information
Report of Interview
Questions About Daily Work Life
Please describe a representative course of your work day.
Of course there is a part of our work which
is basically the same each day. But for the most part,
it really reduces to the door opening in the morning
and closing them in the evenings. In between lots of
different tasks and things to take care of approach us
every day. This is particularly true for me and my colleagues
here at the Super-C because this building is a place
where important meetings and events happen. These
contribute to the prestige of the university.
So, to make sure that everything runs smoothly at
these events is our primary priority. For example,
to meet the technical requirements of the respective
events' hosts is very important for us.
Everything else is queued.
What happens especially if someone in the building wants to ask for something to be repaired/set up/arranged.
Begin with the call/... of the inhabitant/employee until the process has been fully completed.
Usually they call here in the janitors' office
via the telephone and report about things that
require our attention. Often times they also
write emails to us. Of course we work on the
issues given to us as soon as possible but we do not explicitly
report back to the calling user in regular cases. I think
that they know that things are being taken care of as soon as
our work load allows it.
What kind of help on the organization of your work is available right now? Do you utilize it?
Please explain and rate your experience with these.
What is good, what is bad? What is missing in your opinion?
For each week there is schedule plan printed and given to
us about the upcoming events. This document lists and describes
what the respective events need, speaking of equipment. Because the
events in the top floor are administered by the room allocation dept (Raumvergabe)
they already ask (in their forms) for needed specialities
in the process of booking the halls/conference rooms. Thus, usually
we receive this requirements information already in a
structured manner.
How would you believe to have the processes of your work
facilitated/accelerated even better by the use of
a to-be-designed technical helper tool?
Well I don't know yet.
What would be the most comfortable way to electronically
collect user inquiries about things that need to be taken care of?
In what way would you think it will be beneficial to your work?
Well I don't know yet.
How does follow-up on facility issues work at present time?
We usually don’t forget most things so easy because everytime
we go past them we are simply reminded of them again.
But, at times, it can get a bit busy
and sometimes people kindly query whether we
are still on track with their particular issue.
Please estimate the ratio of incident-based work versus recurring (daily/weekly) tasks.
This is really very biased ... towards a variety of work each day.
What is the usual way that defective lights/... are being discovered at present
Normally, we ourselves notice and keep in mind such things that are not like they should be.
In what kinds of situations do you sometimes take hand-written notes to not forget things?
Of course when someone is calling or walks by our office some notes are worth to be taken down.
What circle of other persons are usually involved in the work as well? (Such as craftspeople business, ...)
In cases when repair or installation activity is required
which we do not carry out by ourselves we have the possibility
to access the RWTH Stoerdienst. There is a broad variety of
issues that this department can take care of without having to
call for external companies.
At present time, how important is it to document the work executed? Does it depend on the kind of work?
Well I don't know yet.
Do you have general ideas and suggestions for a project helping janitors?
How big is your personal interest in a device that would help you to automatically
keep track of technical defects in the building? Do you think this could facilitate your work?
Well I don't know yet.
in case of positive answer:
What feature-set would such a device need to offer to be actually helpful
to daily work tasks and resolve the problems (of question 4)
in case of negative answer:
Assume some other people of your profession could make use of such a device, ask quesion
Asking User on Product Idea
Walkthrough Storyboard
What do you see to be of value to your work life when considering the usage of iCaretaker device?
Well I don't know yet.
How helpful would it be to have electronic notification for the reporting user to simply see that his problem has been fixed rather than call him up again for follow-up?
Well I don't know yet.
Specific Feature discussion TODO
What does a Pad-Software need to offer as essential core functionality to be worth carrying it around when at work?
Well I don't know yet.
What kind of additional functionality would you expect from a device like this
to support your work well? (Do you need a calendar application, special audio signals required?)
Well I don't know yet.
Do you have concrete requirements on the design/appearance of the device?
What would you suggest in terms of the device's physical dimensions? Size of buttons? Font size? Other specifics?
Well I don't know yet.
Concluding this interview, please let us know your questions?
Well I don't know yet.
Low-Fidelity Prototyping and User Test (P03)
Post-It Prototype
Begin Software Prototype (P04)
For the development of a prototype we have utilized
Microsoft Silverlight Technology (after talking to Gero about this)
in order to showcase the proposed functionality of our
application to potential users.
We have chosen this technology because it is rather simple to define mock-up
UIs using the XAML language. This can be used to facilitate describing how
it should look like without having to "draw" anything or create the UI programmatically.
With this prototype we are able to demo the general idea of some example interface flows with iCaretaker.
Beyond the possibilities of what can be presented prototype we have thought about the following things to support
