Increasingly industrial designers are required to engage in the design of computer-embedded products. Due to the interactive nature of these products, efficient prototyping is becoming more critical in the design process. This paper presents a designer-oriented prototype development method that facilitates the construction of fully functional physical prototypes. Unlike the multi-media authoring tools commonly used to date, this method employs a cheap and widely available software application: Microsoft PowerPoint with embedded Visual Basic. The method has been designed for use by programming non-literate designers and allows interactive physical prototypes to be created and tested without extensive specialist knowledge. This was achieved in part by simple modifications to a standard computer keyboard. Our case study on the use of this method in the teaching of information ergonomics demonstrated that students could effectively produce software-hardware hybrid prototypes with minimum effort in a short time scale. This method offers an excellent means of collaboration between designers and professionals from different domains. The prototyping method enables rapid and iterative design cycles in design education, research and practice

Steve Gill (7062860)

Tek Jin Nam (7151867)

English

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

   This item was submitted to Loughborough’s Institutional Repository by the author and is made available under the following Creative Commons Licence conditions.      For the full text of this licence, please go to: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/  134Nam and GillIDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityAn effective prototyping method for deliveringinteraction design in industrial design educationTek Jin Nam and Steve GillUniversity of Wales Institute, CardiffAbstractIncreasingly industrial designers are required to engage in the design of computer-embeddedproducts.  Due to the interactive nature of these products, efficient prototyping is becomingmore critical in the design process. This paper presents a designer-oriented prototypedevelopment method that facilitates the construction of fully functional physical prototypes.Unlike the multi-media authoring tools commonly used to date, this method employs a cheapand widely available software application: Microsoft PowerPoint with embedded Visual Basic.The method has been designed for use by programming non-literate designers and allowsinteractive physical prototypes to be created and tested without extensive specialist knowledge.This was achieved in part by simple modifications to a standard computer keyboard. Ourcase study on the use of this method in the teaching of information ergonomics demonstratedthat students could effectively produce software-hardware hybrid prototypes with minimumeffort in a short time scale. This method offers an excellent means of collaboration betweendesigners and professionals from different domains. The prototyping method enables rapidand iterative design cycles in design education, research and practice.Keywords: prototyping, interaction design, industrial design, design tools, computer-supporteddesign, ergonomics & designIntroductionWith the rapid development of computertechnologies, more and more products arecomputer-embedded, or informationappliances (Norman, 1999). Mobile phones,digital cameras, digital audio players, homeautomation devices and so on are all examplesof such information appliances. Many peoplerefer to these products’ emergence asubiquitous computing, pervasive computingor smart environments (Ark and Selker, 1999).Because of the interactive nature of theseproducts the trend has enhanced theimportance of Information Ergonomics ingeneral and Interaction Design in particular.Modern education must address these issueseffectively in order to maintain and enhanceits relevance. Several domains, includingcomputer science, psychology, andergonomics, have recognised the need toinclude interaction design in their educationand a number of universities around the worldare actively engaged in the research anddelivery of interaction design theories andpractices (ACM SIGCHI CurriculumDevelopment Group, 1996).In industrial design education, an awarenessof information ergonomics for computer-embedded products is becoming ever morecrucial. Among the systems-based majorprojects carried out by students of Universityof Wales Institute, Cardiff ’s (UWIC) IndustrialDesign course, about 70% develop conceptsfor information appliances. The industrialdesign domain must deal not only with thestatic and physical properties of theseproducts but also the dynamic and interactiveproperties. Despite the strong emergence ofcomputer-embedded products however,many industrial design courses have to datestruggled to provide a systematic approach todelivering interaction design content.One of the most important factors indelivering interaction design in an industrialdesign curriculum is the selection of anappropriate prototyping tool. Severalprototyping tools and methods have135IDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityNam and Gillpreviously been investigated in the industrialdesign domain. Sharp (1998:49) reviewedthree product interface simulation techniques:prototypes using immersive Virtual Reality,touch-screen virtual prototypes, and physicalprototypes driven by virtual simulation. Usinga prototyping technique based on touchscreen technology, he showed that a virtualsimulation prototype of a microwave oven washighly effective in predicting users’performance with the real product. Since thevirtual simulation was based on touch-screentechnology however, it could only allow twodimensional input and display and so therange of products that can be simulated withthis technique is limited. For some productsa physical interactive prototype is the only wayto fully examine the product interface.The other major issue is that there is nodedicated prototyping software available.There are packages capable of producingsophisticated interaction prototypes, Directorand HyperCard to name but two. While thesepackages offer a number of benefits, there areproblems associated with them. One of theseis that more time can be spent understandingthe software than the fundamental principlesof interface design.In order to address this problem we haveresearched and developed ways in whichstudents can design and build effectiveinterface prototypes with minimum softwareknowledge. We hope thereby to be in aposition to concentrate on the study of thespecialism: i.e. human-product interaction. Inthe following sections we briefly discuss theappropriateness of tools currently used ininteraction design and then describe our ownprototyping methods. We next offer a casestudy in which the resultant method was usedfor the delivery of Information Ergonomics inour university and conclude with a discussionon the potential for future development.Prototyping of computer embeddedproducts with existing toolsThe lack of dedicated software for prototypingcomputer-embedded products has led to theuse of multimedia authoring tools likeToolbook (Hustedde, 1996), Director (Gross,1999) and Hypercard (Goodman, 1998). Themost popular of these among professionalinteraction designers is Director byMacromedia.Director uses a theatre metaphor with a timeline to combine graphical, text, sound andvideo objects in a series of frames (Director,1999). Interactive features can be added usinga program-specific scripting language calledLingo. The program is generally used to createinteractive media for the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, information kiosks, presentations, andinteractive TV. Director is a capable andcomplex program able to cope with mostmulti-media authoring, but its broad range ofcapabilities makes the user’s learning curvelonger and steeper.One of the problems with the use ofmultimedia authoring tools for theprototyping of computer-embeddedproducts is that with most authoring toolsmulti-media interactivity is largely based onmouse or touch screen. Computer-embeddedproducts on the other hand usually have theirown interface elements such as buttons,switches, dials or small display panels. Physicalfeedback to the user of interface elementsplays an important role in the success (orotherwise) of the interface design.The use of programming language withinauthoring tools is generally essential in orderto achieve full interactivity with prototypes,because the basic features of standardauthoring tools are not sufficient forimplementing the operations of computer-embedded products. This means that usersnot only need to learn the basic functions ofthe authoring package but also complexprogramming routines. Designers thereforehave to learn a great deal before they can makeany effective use of these languages as a designtool. Even when this has been achieved theperformance and scalability of package-basedprogramming language tends to be limited.One of the greatest obstacles in building anoperational prototype is the difficulty ofbuilding a hardware prototype. Traditionalmethods require sophisticated language (i.e.C++) with additional electronic components,such as interface or communication devices.136Nam and GillIDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityThe use of low-level communication protocolsis required to control the communicationbetween the software simulation and thehardware component. Interface elements andgraphical representation is usually limitedsince it must be managed within a low levelprogramming environment.A new prototyping methodFrom the review of existing prototyping toolsused in the design domain, we have identifiedthe following requirements for a designer-oriented prototyping method.• Scalable to complex level for products withsophisticated operations• Capable of producing detailed graphicalrepresentation of products• Ease of use for programming non-literatedesigners• Allow a flexible and evolutionary approachto interface design.• Utilise a widely available  softwareapplication• Provide a good metaphor for thedevelopment of interface concepts.Based on these requirements we devised aprototyping method using MicrosoftPowerpoint in conjunction with its ownembedded Visual Basic programminglanguage. We soon discovered that bycombining the two features a uniquelydesigner-oriented prototyping method couldbe constructed.The approach is different from a standardVisual Basic programming environmentbecause users can make use of a variety ofpresentation features so that the necessity forcomplex programming is dramaticallyreduced. Users first develop an interactionmodel using standard modelling techniquessuch as state diagrams. The model istransferred into a slide show using hyperlinksto join the various slides. Each slide representsa certain state of the product interface andthe hyperlink represents an event change. Thisbasic slide show using state transitions canthen be evolved into a dynamic prototypeusing the programming features. For example,when a user presses a button to show analtered status in the product, the associatedVisual Basic script can control the visibility ofa graphic element in the presentation. Figure1 illustrates an example of script changing thestates of a product in a single slide. Bychanging the visibility of the icon graphics, itis possible to show multiple product status ina single slide.One of the strengths of this prototypingmethod is that the application is widelyavailable and performance is satisfactory evenon low specification computers. It also allowsan evolutionary approach since it is possibleto start with a simple slide show developedlater to a fully functional prototype includingdynamic interactivity. Text, graphics, soundand video objects, can easily be included usingstandard presentation features. Graphic ormultimedia objects can be manipulated usingthe object-oriented structures that VisualBasic offers. Above all the simplicity of themethod allows designers to quickly focus onthe interactive aspects of his or her design.Having developed this approach our next goalwas to look at methods of  building a physicalhardware prototypes driven by softwareFigure 1 Sample Visual Basic script allowing dynamic interactivity within a single slide137IDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityNam and Gillsimulation  Using operational hardwareprototypes, a designer can examine tangibleaspects of interface elements, such as the sizeand arrangement of the controls. We foundthat this could be easily achieved byconnecting the interactive software simulationto a hardware mock-up through a specialkeyboard. The keyboard intercepts externalinterface events and converts them into keystrokes (Figure 2). The hardware mock-up canbe built easily as it uses simple electroniccomponents, such as standard key switches.A CASE Study: Information ErgonomicsModule Delivery at UWICUWIC’s BA Industrial Design and BSc ProductDesign & Manufacture courses share a level 2module called Information Ergonomics. Itwas in this module that the feasibility of ourprototyping method was examined.The aim of the Information Ergonomicsmodule is to teach students how to deal witha range of human-product interface issues forcomputer-embedded and other products.Students are expected to deliver criticallydeveloped information-based productsconsidering various static and dynamicinteractivity issues. The module is divided intothree main phases. In the first phase, studentsare introduced the overall concept ofinteraction design, in the second phase theylearn a variety of techniques required to carryout a project and in the third phase they aregiven a practical project in which they areFigure 2 Modified Keyboardrequired to produce a demonstrableprototype. It should be clear then that in orderto achieve the aims of the module, effectiveand easy prototyping tools are essential. Themodule is run over the course of a singlesemester, which leaves little time to considerthe details of the tool itself. It follows then thatthe tool needs to be consistent throughoutthe module and scalable to the final outcome– that is, a functional hardware prototype.The assignment we chose was a hand-heldMP3 player because it was thought to have theright scale and number of interface elements.Students were required to build a software-based prototype using their newly learnedinformation ergonomics theories andtechniques. At the end of the module ahardware prototype was developed using themethod detailed above.State diagrams were used as a modellingtechnique for the MP3 user interface (Figure3) and translated into a slide show that acts asthe basic prototype. In the slide show, eachslide represents different states of the interfaceand the event links between states can bedefined using hyperlinks.  The slide show isthen evolved into a dynamic prototype usingVisual Basic.. In this way dynamic MP3 playerfeatures could be demonstrated within a singleslide.  Next, mouse-based interface wasconverted into key-based simulation. A modelwas built and connected to the customisedkeyboard which translates impulses from138Nam and GillIDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityFigure 3 Sample State Diagram of MP3player interfaceFigure 4 A student hardware-software hybrid prototypeswitches mounted in the model. The resultwas a prototype that demonstrated all theoperations of the student’s MP3 player (Figure4).DiscussionThe above case study has demonstrated thevalidity of the prototyping method. Althoughminimum time was spent teaching thesoftware application, students were able toproduce a demonstrable prototype. Althoughour students had little or no background inprogramming, acceptance of the techniquewas surprisingly high. Part of the reason forthis was that material was made available onthe Web so that lines of sample code could becut and pasted into the Visual Basic editorfor their own use. Students were pleased withthe outcome and experiences and the newprototyping method is now a vital componentof the module.To date comparatively little attention has beenpaid to computer programming in industrialdesign education or practice, although therapid growth of computer-embeddedproducts make such skills essential. One ofthe traditional difficulties of teachingprogramming to design students is the time ittakes for them to see the results of theiracquired knowledge. Since the programmingskill is directly related to the quality andrealism of the prototypes produced, studentsusing this method appear to understand thenecessity of the skill more directly. A varietyof program samples help them to understandthe principles of products’ operation and theresults of their modifications to the standardsample code can be observed very quickly. Asa result, the effort to understand programmingtechniques can be minimised and designstudents can focus on user interface issues ingreater detail.This method of prototyping offers an excellentmeans of collaboration between professionalsfrom different domains. Since many product139IDATER 2000  Loughborough UniversityNam and Gillfeatures can be easily demonstrated using aninteractive prototype, communicationbetween designers, ergonomists andengineers becomes easier increasing theefficiency of multi-disciplinary collaborativeprojects. In addition, the application of thistype of methodology is not restricted toeducation. Applications abound in bothresearch and practice. For example, designresearch activities are better facilitated sincefuller interface analysis is possible using fullyfunctional prototypes.Future ResearchThis work suggests several future directions.One of the most obvious benefits ofdemonstrable prototypes is in the userevaluation phase of new productdevelopment. Using this method a system ofanalytic product evaluations can beincorporated within the prototype. Forexample, statistical software may be connectedor incorporated to examine the usefulness ofcertain controls. By measuring the frequencyand the time used for each of the interactiveelements it will be possible to quantify theefficiency of interaction in a quantitativemanner.More control elements need to be developedfor the realistic simulation of physical interfaceelements. Although various control objects,such as timers and key event handlers areavailable, it is difficult to realistically simulatesome control elements, such as levers andsliders that have tactile feedback. Aninvestigation into mechanisms and methodsis required to develop such control objects foruse within our prototyping environment.Consideration might also be given to the waysof further incorporating the prototyping toolinto UWIC’s Industrial Design programme. Byincorporating elements of the prototypingmethodology earlier in the programme wehope to create graduates with high abilitylevels in this important and neglected area.By combining this study with other subjectssuch as model making and user study yet moredepth can be added.ConclusionThe role of designers in the development ofthe growing number of computer-embeddedproducts make the study of interaction designever more crucial. We have presented anefficient and evolutionary prototypingmethodology that employs cheap and widelyavailable software applications. Our case studyon the use of this method in the teaching ofinformation ergonomics demonstrated thatdesigners could effectively produce a softwareand hardware hybrid prototype with minimumeffort in a short time scale. This workcontributes towards design education,research and practice by providing an efficientdesigner-oriented prototype developmentmethod that produces tangible designs witha functioning interactive element.References• ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction CurriculumDevelopment Group (1996), Curricula forhuman-computer interaction, ACM Press.Available at http://www.acm.org/sigchi/cdg/index.html• Ark, W.S. and Selker T. (1999) ‘A look athuman interaction in pervasive computers’.IBM systems journal, 38, 4, 504- 507.• Goodman, D. (1998), Complete HyperCard2.2 Handbook, iUniverse.• Gross, P. (1999), macromedia DIRECTOR7 and LINGO AUTHORIZED, macromediaPRESS.• Hustedde, S.F. (1996), Developing withasymetrix toolbook: appliedprogramming theory, Wadsworth Pub Co.• Norman (1999), Invisible computers, MITPress, London.• Sharp, J. (1998), Interaction design forelectronic products products using virtualsimulations, PhD Thesis, Brunel University,UK.

An effective prototyping method for delivering interaction design in industrial design education

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An effective prototyping method for delivering interaction design in industrial design education

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