https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/tree/master/Promotional%20Material
Link to prototype: https://asklocal.uqcloud.net/
You can visit this on your mobile however it is recommended to view it on a desktop as some icons and buttons may appear small on a mobile screen.
Once on the web app, you can login with your name and input any password you like. There is no authentication as we did not want to spend time getting users to register a new account before they login at the showcase. Next, you can choose a location on the map or from the list displayed underneath the map. This selection will take you to the questions page where you can view questions that have been asked with links to their answers below. You can ask a new question for the location or you can view the answers for any previously asked question. On the answers page, there are buttons below each answer to vote up or down. Voting up increases the answer’s rating and voting down reduces the score. The answer with the highest score will be displayed at the top as it will be seen as the most reliable. At any point on the web app you can use the top navigation buttons to go back to the home page, log out, or view your profile. On the profile page you can see your profile image as well as your points which allow you to ask questions.
The problem space chosen by the team is Active Communities, the team has had a strong focus on solving the issue of delay in response times and lack of information of locations. Moreover, we see that Google or other websites that provide data about locations do not always have the most reliable information. This could be due to the business closing or failing to update their details which could result in people receiving incorrect information.
AskLocal aims to address this problem by providing a real-time question and answer platform which would provide the most reliable information. This would be ensured by only allowing people at the location to have the ability to respond to questions. Moreover, introducing a point system to disallow spam posting of questions and a rating system for others to vote on the best answer given by other users. In general, we wish to provide data that is not readily available when searching online and may require users to spend hours finding the information.
The initial idea for AskLocal was made by Matt, it had the general idea of users being able to ask questions about one specific location and other users present at that location or users who have been to that location within a certain timespan to answer the asked questions.
Based on this, we conducted user research with the help of surveys and some casual interviews with people we know. We asked our participants whether they use the internet to find information about certain places before they go to the place and what kind of information they look for. We also asked users about the reliability of the information they find and whether the outcome of this is good or bad once they reach the location. For some participants we also provided a scenario of supposing they are interested in seeing a waterfall and how they would go about finding information on whether the waterfall is flowing or not. The results from the online survey can be found here: https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/tree/master/Research and a summary of the results can be found in the first part of the week 8 stand-up document: https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/blob/master/Week%208%20Stand%20Up.md
Following this, we created personas to understand the user group we are targeting. At first, we were mainly focused on targeting everyone as we are aware that everyone goes out and from our research it was found that 90% of the people search online about the location before heading out to it. However, we still created some personas. We created a persona of a male in his mid 20's that often goes out to bars and is always wanting to know which bar is less crowded so he can have a good time with his friends. This kind of information is rare to be able to find online and using the AskLocal app would ensure a real-time response from someone who is either at the location or somewhere near it. The second persona was a housewife who often buys groceries from the local market but will never know which market has good deals or has the fresh fruit that she is after without actually going to the place. AskLocal would help her avoid this issue as she could have the ability to compare questions and answers from 2 or more markets and decide which market is worth going to based on that. Finally, the third persona was of an adventurist who likes visiting waterfalls and is curious to know whether a certain waterfall is flowing. Based on these personas it was found that users would be interested in comparing the same question in 2 locations and getting a list of similar locations to what they are after.
As it is the very first prototype, it was paper based and has only introduced the very basic and primary features of AskLocal. With this prototype we aimed to get a quick idea of what people thought of our concept and any improvements or additions we should make in the early stages to ensure that the outcome of the concept is good. We designed the basic function of question posting and answering for as well as a notification page to demonstrate how the app encourages users to answer questions and earn points. Below is an image of the map screen of the app, the remaining screens can be found here: https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/blob/master/paper%20prototype/paper%20prototype.md
The second prototype created was a digital click through made by Adobe XD. The purpose of this prototype was to demonstrate all potential pages of the AskLocal app and give users a more in-depth idea of the concept and how it will work. This prototype contains the following pages; login page, personal profile page, map page for searching location, location information page and questions page for the selected location. It also contains a group of new functions, such as voting system to rate answers and the ability to set points, category and duration when asking questions. The link to the digital prototype is: https://xd.adobe.com/view/ddef515a-d55d-4ffa-8b5a-361f245c35d9
The final prototype was aimed to incorporate as much of the design choices made in above prototypes in a functional manner. The pages that were included for this to be successful are; login, select location via map or list, profile, question page and answer page. We ensured users can login and have their name displayed on the home page after they login to provide a personalised experience. We did not have authentication for the login as we did not want users registering their details and setting up an account at the showcase. However, for future implementations we will have a register page as well as the ability to login with an existing Google or Facebook account. Moreover, users have the ability to ask questions and also answer questions. As it is real time, users are expected to get an immediate answer for the question they ask.
User testing was conducted after the creation of each prototype, the feedback from the tests were collected and carefully evaluated to put into action in future prototypes. User testing was a primary tool the team used for refining existing ideas and improving user experience. All user testing sessions were conducted in a face to face environment to get the most accurate results possible and receiving a better understanding of the user's requirements.
First Prototype Participants: 3 The first user testing session was conducted to test the paper prototype. It aims to test the interface of the application and to see whether we can add more unique functions. It also tested whether the user can be able to easily use the application (such as, how easy to find the button to post question). The session has received lots of valuable feedback on visual design and usability. All the testers are able to use the map to ask questions. The concept was acceptable with a few improvements needed such as the app needing a menu bar at the top of each page to navigate better. All the users liked the point system as it seemed incentive and was a way to provide something to the community. Most users also made the suggestion to allow the question poster to decide how the points should be divided to each user who answers the question. Another suggestion was to also let the question poster to decide how long their question should remain on the app and possibly will require more points if they want the question to remain longer. The results of the user testing session can be found here: https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/blob/master/paper%20prototype/User%20testing%20-%20Paper%20prototype.pdf
Second Prototype Participants: 5 The second user testing was conducted to test the click through prototype. It was focused on the functional aspect of AskLocal. Users were provided with a scenario before the session began so they get a better understanding of how the app can be used. Some of the feedback received was around what users expect to see on location page and the types of categories they would want to select from when asking questions. The results of the user testing session can be found here: https://github.com/deco3500-2017/TeamSupreme/blob/master/digital%20prototype/User%20testing%20-%20Digital%20prototype.pdf
The third user testing was for the functional prototype, this was mainly conducted at the exhibition however we did have some quick suggestions prior to the exhibition which we took into consideration and changed before the exhibit. Overall, we received lots of helpful feedback from peers and tutors for future development. Some of these suggestions were around how we can make the points system better and using Google Maps API when searching for locations.
| Team Member | Student Number | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Sanika Naik | 43949263 | Reworking existing idea throughout the semester, Market and technology research, First prototype - user testing, First prototype - feedback evaluation, Second prototype - design, Second prototype - make prototype, Second prototype - user testing, Second prototype - feedback evaluation, Third prototype - design (front end), Promotional material - Poster, Documentation. |
| Carol Yan | 43801642 | Reworking existing idea throughout the semester, First prototype - design, First prototype - make paper prototype, First prototype - user testing, Second prototype - design, Second prototype - user testing, Second prototype - feedback evaluation, Promotional material - Brochures, Documentation. |
| Bosco Bartilomo | 4356893 | Reworking existing idea throughout the semester, Market and technology research, Third prototype -back-end implementation, |
| Matthew Moss | 43231454 | Initial Idea, Reworking existing idea throughout the semester, Second prototype - design, Second prototype - make prototype, Third prototype - design (front end), |
| Liam Buttery | 43531538 | Third prototype - design (front end), |