User StoriesNow that I know who my users are and what their needs are, I begin investigating "what do they want to do?" I list the user stories that answer this question and then group them into these categories:
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Sketching the Concepts Task Flow Diagrams
From the user stories, I create hand drawn task flow diagrams to identify system-user interaction. In Figure 1 (left), the user actions are written across the bottom of the task flow. The system (player) responses are written across the top. Each square represents a potential page. |
Low Fidelity Mock-Ups
I used the task flow diagrams to guide me as I created low fidelity mock ups. In Figure 2 (left), you can see my attempts to "keep it simple." Player controls are minimal. Calls to action are represented by images, not words, as the intended audience for this task are non- or beginning readers. |
Figure 1. Listen-to-a-Story Task Flow Diagram
Figure 2. Listen-to-a-Story Low Fidelity Mock-Up
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Unique Experiences
To begin design, I focused on three core user stories: 1) select a book, 2) record a book, and 3) listen to a book. Using task flow diagrams, I quickly learned that even though both recorders and listeners need to be able to search for and select books, their purposes required the searches to be very different experiences. The recorder experience is more like going to a bookstore. The listener experience is more akin to going to your home library. I developed a more refined syntax to describe the task flows I needed to design. User story 1 became two stories: 1.a) a recorder selects an e-book from the bookstore, 1.b) a listener selects an audiobook from his family library.
Universal Design
So how do you design a software application that is appealing and usable by people ages zero through 80-plus? These are the design tenants I kept ever-present in my mind as I developed the user stories, task flows, and mock-ups:
- Keep it simple
- Design for the non-reader first
- Keep task flows short, easy to abandon, easy to resume
- Keep controls minimal
- Minimize visual noise
- Identify tasks that can be completed as part of set-up and configuration, such as storing photos
- Design for small and large families