UX Research
Product Design
Usability Testing
Prototype Link
September - December 2023
(4 Months)
Timeline
Samrudhi (Design)
Shubhi (Research)
Lalita (Design)
Team
Role
Design a user-experience aimed at increasing awareness and accessibility of real-time water quality information across a university campus. HydroPace addresses the critical issue of water quality on university campuses by developing a real-time water quality awareness system. Recognizing the reliance on water coolers, the project integrates physical and digital elements, providing instantaneous information.
Project Overview
Collaboration with:
Limited awareness about the safety of drinking water!!
The Challenge:
To increase awareness and accessibility of real-time water quality information across a university campus.
Contribute to the overall well-being of students, faculty, and staff by addressing the critical concern of water quality on university campuses
To mitigate potential health risks associated with the consumption of unsafe water.
Goals 🎯:
Our initial research methods include surveys for quantitative insights and user interviews for qualitative depth. We use a structured questionnaire to delve into participants' experiences and concerns. We emphasized a "think out loud" approach. The questions covered water usage, awareness, technology preferences, and app features, ensuring a holistic understanding.
Research:
72 million
Number of people in the US who are affected by water borne diseases.
15,000
Number of students and staff at Pace University.
91 miles
Distance travelled by the water from the reservoirs to the campus.
Insights From Users:
01 Participants highly value water quality, mainly judging it based on taste and clarity.
02 Primary challenges include slow dispensing fountains, health concerns related to water coolers, and navigation issues accessing coolers.
03 Participants usually trust university standards and rely heavily on word-of-mouth for their water needs on campus.
Initial Concept:
Water fountain will include water quality status indicator light, feedback button, and NFC tags that link to web-app.
The web-app will show the floor map, which indicate water cooler location and status as well as water quality information educational articles.
Ideation:
MVP
We created the MVP of physical concept of water cooler by employ a Red/Yellow/Green light indicating the quality of water and state of the cooler, along with mock NFC Tags and repair-me button.
Unassigned tasks targeted 22 incidental participants interacting with the physical prototype on campus.
The test focused on testing the intuitiveness of the physical prototype, observing user behavior towards indicator lights, mock NFC tags, and a mock 'Repair-Me' button. This unstructured task aimed to capture natural user interactions with the physical elements, providing insights into the use of system-status indicators, attempts to access additional information via NFC tags, and attention to physical signage.
The concept integrates prominent features, such as physical water cooler indicators, including indicator lights and visual signals, aimed at providing immediate feedback on water quality. The incorporation of crowd-sourced feedback through NFC tags encourages user participation and allows for efficient issue reporting. Simultaneously, digital water quality information, facilitated by NFC tags and comprehensive data display, offers users detailed insights.
Physical Prototype
Users
15
Our team conducted a comprehensive field study at Pace University's 15 Beekman Street, focusing on bustling floors 1, 6, and 9. The primary objective was to evaluate user interactions with both physical and digital prototypes, aiming to assess their effectiveness and user acceptance.
Usability Testing
Tasks
4
Success Rate
86%
We set up our prototype for the field test at Pace University’s 15 Beekman Street building.
We performed our Usability Test from a pool of participants that consisted of students and staff. With a combined set of diverse backgrounds and unique opinions, we felt we were able to gather very valuable data across the spectrum of all our potential users.
Identify measurable metrics representing quantitative data obtained from usability testing across all four tasks.
Task 1: Approach the water cooler as you would usually. Please observe the color of the light and let us know what you interpret from it.
Task 2: Let’s say you have just used the cooler to fill up your bottle and encountered an issue with the taste of the water and its appearance. You want to notify the system of this issue.
Task 3: Let’s say that you have just approached a water cooler station. You want to know whether the water being dispensed is safe for consumption or not before you fill your bottle.
Task 4: Let’s say you're on the 4th floor of 15 Beekman Street and are trying to find the water coolers on that floor. You notice the ‘Drinking-water’ signage right in front of the elevators.
Usability Testing Results
Key Findings:
Iterations:
