Dynamo
A mobile information service that helps commuters choose the optimal mode of transportation for their exercise goal.
CONCEPT
Dynamo helps commuters choose the optimal mode of transportation for their exercise goal.
PROJECT SCOPE
The aim of this project was to design an interface for a mobile information service, and a service dashboard to help the service provider manage the operation of the service. We needed to select a target user group, conduct research to identify needs and opportunities and design a service to fill them. We also needed to identify a potential (fictional) client for this service, and design a dashboard to help them collect information and monitor the operation of the service. The duration of this project was 6 weeks.
TARGET USERS
We selected commuters to be the mobile information seekers for whom we designed our service.
RESEARCH
We interviewed 6 commuters to find out more about their commuting habits. We interviewed a mix of people who had several alternative commuting options available to them- cyclists, walkers, people who drive and people who take the bus. We found that personal goals and time constraints were key deciding factors when people selected their mode of transportation for every commuter.
PERSONA AND SCENARIO
The first step in the design process was to create a persona and a scenario. We built a persona to capture the needs and goals of a user of our service. We also created a scenario that described a typical use-case for our service. We started with two personas and two scenarios, which we refined and merged into one persona and one scenario.
INITIAL DESIGN DIRECTION
Our first design allowed the commuter to prioritize four goals - Eco-Friendliness, Fitness, Cost and Time. When the commuter selected a starting point and destination, and the application suggested routes based on the set priorities and the distance.
FINAL DESIGN DIRECTION
In the second version of the prototype, we stripped the application of any unnecessary features, and focused on one goal, that is, the fitness goal. We restricted the application to providing recommendations between cycling and walking routes.
DASHBOARD DESIGN
We first created a persona for the dashboard user and then determined what kind of data would be relevant to him in monitoring the functionality of the application. We then determined how we could represent this data and designed a dashboard accordingly.