Process

The Design Cycle

Before beginning any design, we first gathered data by conducting research and contextual inquiries. Then from there, we brainstormed ideas for a possible design. This design directly fed into an implementation (initially we started from low fidelity paper prototypes and progressed to high fidelity html prototypes) which we then tested with users. The results of the user tests fed directly into our design phase again restarting the iteration cycle.

User Needs

To build an usable and easy-to-use interface for electronic manuals, we guided our design decisions around the user needs. We identified these user needs from contextual inquiries and user interviews.

Navigating different levels of diagrams

"We have the diagram on the [computer] screen so we can look at it bigger [than on paper]" – Participant during contextual inquiry in CMU's ECE department
Our visit to Norfolk emphasized how users preferred to ‘zoom’ into parts of the diagram.

Switching between different documents

“We usually have [many] diagrams to look at” – Participants during contextual inquiry at CMU's ECE “...two to three manuals as reference within a single task.” – Participants during contextual inquiry at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics

Placeholding – remembering where you are

Persistence pointers to important content – observed during contextual inquiries at CMU's ECE, Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and Norfolk Navy Base
Using fingers and tools to ‘placehold’ pages - Participants during contextual inquiry at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and user interviews at Norfolk Navy Base

Signal tracing

Personnel traced a circuit’s signal through the diagram - Participants during contextual inquiries at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and task analysis videos from Norfolk

Control in hands-busy situations

Many hands-busy situations where the personnel looked at the manual, and then focused on fixing or working with equipment - Contextual inquiries at CMU's ECE and Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics