Nav 101 Design

Synopsis

Users of the BigScreenLive application were having trouble remembering some of the basics of the program. I was asked to design a solution that would provide users with the help content they needed and deliver it in a way that they would find useful. After researching typical customer use of the computer, I designed the Nav101 cheat sheet to be a physical artifact that users could refer to while they were on the computer.

Research

The challenge of this project was that there wasn't a clear solution at the outset. My first step was to conduct weekly research sessions at a nearby senior retirement community. During these sessions I was able to interact with the seniors and learn first hand what problems they were encountering. My two biggest takeaways were that many of the seniors were unfamiliar with computer conventions that I took for granted and that they overwhelmingly preferred to refer to own notebooks for help rather then use the online help features of the program.

Design and Iteration

Based on my research the design team I was on decided to make the Nav 101 a physical artifact that users could interact with. I started by making a paper prototype and getting feedback from the design team. The next iteration was done on powerpoint and printed out for a member of the marketing team to test. Based on her feedback I then began to refine the design through a couple more iterations until both the layout and the language were set.

Results

This project was completed near the end of my internship but early feedback from some users was that the Nav 101 helped them quickly reference basic functions. By giving them needed help and presenting it in a form that the users were comfortable with; the design empowered them and allowed users to focus on the experience of being on the internet as opposed to struggling with the program.

This project also demonstrated to me the extent to which design is a social process. The final solution was informed by my team members and the users which was expected. However I was surprised when a casual conversation with a co-worker helped me avoid a design mistake.